Is the VTEX interview in English?

Partly. Engineering posts ask for English and Portuguese, and one candidate reports English questions in the first conversation. VTEX does not publish which stages are in which language, so prepare for both.

Does VTEX allow AI during the process?

It depends on the post. For Cloud and SRE (2026) the take-home is done with AI and then discussed live; for senior and staff backend roles, using AI during selection is prohibited.

Does VTEX do live coding?

Candidates report pair programming with an engineer and system design interviews. For Cloud and SRE, the format is a take-home plus a live session.

What is the VTEX bar raiser interview?

According to some candidates, an interview with someone from another area of the company, who checks whether you raise the team's bar. VTEX does not describe it officially.

Its engineering posts describe a remote-first culture. There are exceptions, such as Associate Field Software Engineer, with 4 days a week in the São Paulo office.

How long does the VTEX hiring process take?

VTEX does not publish a length. Candidates report anything from about 4 weeks to 2 or 3 months, depending on the role.

Hiring processes · Brazilian tech companies

What the VTEX interview is like

VTEX is the Brazilian commerce platform listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and it works remote-first. Its technical process focuses on how you think rather than memorised algorithms, but one detail changes everything: some posts let you use AI in the exercise and others ban it. And engineering posts ask for both English and Portuguese.

Stages (per candidates): People, pair programming or take-home, system design, manager, sometimes a bar raiser
Cloud and SRE (2026 posts): Take-home with AI tools + live session on your decisions
AI in the process: Depends on the post: allowed for Cloud/SRE, banned for backend
Language: Posts ask for English and Portuguese; some People questions are in English
Team matching: You are matched to a team by skills and seniority
Work model: Remote-first for engineering

What VTEX does and who it hires

VTEX (NYSE: VTEX) is a commerce platform for B2C and B2B companies. According to its job posts, it has 2,400 customers and 3,400 active online stores in 43 countries (end of 2024), and more than 1,300 employees in 25 locations across 16 countries.

Engineering posts are remote-first. The exception we saw is Associate Field Software Engineer, with 4 days a week in the São Paulo office. For students there is the Summer Internship, with a 2-week in-person immersion in Rio de Janeiro.

The stages, in order

VTEX does not publish a single engineering process. Its official blog (2021) describes the interview as a conversation to get to know you: your background, hard and soft skills, projects that went well and badly, and why VTEX. The 2026 posts add the technical format. What candidates report usually follows this order:

People or recruiter conversation: your experience and your interest. One candidate reports it included some questions in English.
Technical 1: pair programming with an engineer, or, in the 2026 Cloud and SRE posts, a take-home you do with the AI tools you would really use.
Technical 2: system design or architecture with engineers; for Cloud and SRE, a live session where they dig into your decisions and solve a problem with you.
Manager (sometimes together with a director or a VP).
According to some candidates, a "bar raiser" interview with someone from another area, or a final one with HR.
Team matching: backend posts say that during the process you are matched with a team based on your skills and level.

What each stage tests

People: communication, how you express ideas and the challenges you have faced (VTEX blog).
Pair programming or take-home: how you think. The Cloud and SRE posts put it plainly: they care far more about how you think than whether you memorised an algorithm.
System design: scalable, resilient design. Candidates report exercises such as a scalable e-commerce module, the architecture of a credit-card payment, or an error-message counter built from a log.
Manager and bar raiser: how you work, your level and culture fit. An Engineering Manager candidate reports being asked how they use AI day to day.

Typical technical topics

Multi-tenant SaaS, which the senior backend post asks for explicitly.
E-commerce and payment architecture: scalability, resilience, what happens when something fails.
JavaScript: some 2024 candidates report a JavaScript test and another one about the product.
Explaining and defending technical decisions live, especially if you did the exercise with AI.

Can you use AI in the VTEX process?

It depends on the post, so read all of it. The 2026 Cloud and SRE posts say the take-home is done with the AI tools you would use at work, and then discussed with you live. The senior and staff backend posts say the opposite: using any form of AI during the selection process is explicitly prohibited.

Which language the interview is in

Engineering posts are written in English and ask you to communicate in English and Portuguese ("Advanced English and Portuguese" for frontend; "Advanced English" for Cloud). VTEX does not publish which stages are in which language. Expect Portuguese with parts in English: one candidate reports English questions already in the People conversation. For Associate Field Software Engineer, English is only a nice-to-have.

Tips

Answer with the STAR method (situation, task, action, result), as the VTEX blog recommends, and prepare a project that went wrong too.
Test your audio and video beforehand, and look up your interviewer on LinkedIn (VTEX blog).
If your exercise allows AI, understand every line: in the live session you will be asked to explain your decisions.
Practise e-commerce and payments system design out loud, since it is what candidates report most.
Prepare your professional introduction in English, even if the interview starts in Portuguese.

Practise the VTEX interview with Entrevia

Paste the real VTEX job post and your CV, and rehearse the People or system design interview out loud with an AI interviewer, in Portuguese, English, Spanish or French. At the end you get a scored debrief: which answers landed, which stayed vague and what you would be asked next.

You can try a free 7-turn web demo without signing up. A free account gives you 2 full interviews. Premium, in the iOS app, costs US$11.99 a month, US$29.99 for 3 months or US$59.99 a year.

Frequently asked questions

Is the VTEX interview in English?: Partly. Engineering posts ask for English and Portuguese, and one candidate reports English questions in the first conversation. VTEX does not publish which stages are in which language, so prepare for both.
Does VTEX allow AI during the process?: It depends on the post. For Cloud and SRE (2026) the take-home is done with AI and then discussed live; for senior and staff backend roles, using AI during selection is prohibited.
Does VTEX do live coding?: Candidates report pair programming with an engineer and system design interviews. For Cloud and SRE, the format is a take-home plus a live session.
What is the VTEX bar raiser interview?: According to some candidates, an interview with someone from another area of the company, who checks whether you raise the team's bar. VTEX does not describe it officially.
Is VTEX remote?: Its engineering posts describe a remote-first culture. There are exceptions, such as Associate Field Software Engineer, with 4 days a week in the São Paulo office.
How long does the VTEX hiring process take?: VTEX does not publish a length. Candidates report anything from about 4 weeks to 2 or 3 months, depending on the role.

Sources

Updated: 2026-10-19

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