Pro practiceChief Scientific Officer practice interview
Setting scientific strategy, governing research quality, building senior technical teams and translating uncertain evidence into enterprise decisions. Practise the 6 questions interviewers ask for this role with follow-ups. Paid plans add scored feedback on every answer.
A Pro practice interview, on the Pro plan from ₦5,000 a month billed yearly, or on Premium.
- Lead
- 20 minutes
- 6 questions
- Scored feedback on paid plans
About the role
This executive interview focuses on how you set scientific direction and govern the quality of an organisation's research. The panel is looking for judgement across portfolio choices, ethics, reproducibility, partnerships and talent, along with the ability to explain uncertainty to a board.
How to prepare
- Prepare a scientific strategy decision that changed the concentration of people or funding.
- Review how you use replication, independent review and escalation to protect research integrity.
- Think through a partnership where data rights, publication or intellectual property required careful negotiation.
- Prepare an example of resolving a consequential disagreement between senior scientists.
- Practise explaining a long-horizon research investment to a non-technical board.
Common mistakes
- Describing vision without testable priorities, milestones or stopping rules.
- Relying on personal authority instead of independent scientific challenge.
- Hiding uncertainty from the board rather than presenting decision options.
- Treating partnerships as access arrangements while neglecting data rights and publication freedom.
What to expect
A real first-round interview
6 questions the way interviewers ask for this role, with follow-ups when an answer needs more.
Spoken, like the real thing
Speak your answers in your browser or the free desktop app, with live captions. You can ask the interviewer to repeat anything.
Scored on 5 areas
The things this interview weighs most. With a paid plan, your report shows how you did on each one.
A private report
On Plus, Pro and Premium: every answer scored, your strongest lines quoted and what to say differently next time. Interview creators never see it.
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