Hiring for a pricing role isn’t just about technical skills. It’s about matching the interview process to the kind of pricing work that needs to get done — and to the level of ownership expected.

Too many interviews lean on generic prompts or resume walk-throughs. But in pricing, that often leads to false positives. The candidate who sounds great may have only supported the work. The one who struggles with a vague question may be exceptional if scoped correctly.

We’ve supported hundreds of pricing hires across role types and levels. In every case, the best evaluation structures are tailored, not templated.

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The Four C’s: A Framework to Build On 

At Jennings, we use the Four C’s as a foundational lens to shape interview strategy:

- Cred – Have they actually done the work, or just supported it?

- Craft – Do they understand pricing logic, margin math, and how pricing connects to the business?

- Change – Can they drive adoption, influence behavior, and lead cross-functional work?

- Culture – Will they thrive in your environment — whether it’s fast-moving, matrixed, highly analytical, or founder-led?

We don’t assign a letter to each question. Instead, we design the interview process so the combination of prompts surfaces all four. If you skip one entirely, you’re likely to miss something that matters.

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Pricing Leaders (Director/VP) 

These hires own strategy, set structure, and influence executive stakeholders.

Question: “If pricing performance is lagging, how would you diagnose where the issue sits — and what kind of talent or tooling might fix it?”

Listen for:

- Distinction between price, mix, volume, and margin drivers

- Comfort leading change without perfect data

- References to team structure, roles, or workflows

Question: “What’s your approach to setting up a pricing function in a business that’s never had one?”

Listen for:

- Prioritization of quick wins vs. long-term structure

- Stakeholder sequencing (e.g. finance, sales, product)

- Recognition of political and operational realities

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Strategy Partner (Product or Sales-Facing Roles)

These roles bridge pricing with commercial functions. They're expected to shape policy, inform

strategy, and influence decisions — even if they don’t directly own systems or analytics.

Question: “Sales says a key account is threatening to walk unless they get a price rollback. What’s your response?”

Listen for:

- Questions about deal context and profitability

- Balance between customer retention and pricing integrity

- Comfort playing the role of translator between pricing logic and sales instincts

Question: “You’ve been asked to coordinate a price increase across sales, product, and finance. How do you approach it?”

Listen for:

- Stakeholder mapping and sequencing

- Recognition of incentive misalignment

- Communication strategy, not just analysis

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Data Science-Oriented Pricing Roles 

These hires bring analytical horsepower — building models, estimating elasticity, identifying profit levers.

Question: “How would you estimate elasticity using transaction data?”

Listen for:

- Understanding of key assumptions and data structure

- Comfort with regression or proxy methods

- How they handle promotional overlap, seasonality, or outliers

Question: “How would you structure a test to evaluate whether a price change improved margin?

Listen for:

- Framing of control vs. treatment logic

- Ability to spot confounding variables

- Awareness of statistical significance, sample size, or test duration

Question: “Tell me about a time your analysis was technically correct but didn’t land with the business. What happened?”

Listen for:

- Humility and adaptability

- Effort to bridge the gap between analysis and application

- Willingness to revisit assumptions or storytelling

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Systems and Process Ownership 

These hires often maintain price files, own quote workflows, or manage integration between ERP, CRM, and CPQ systems. They are the execution layer — and the control layer.

Question: “What’s your process for validating pricing data between systems?”

Listen for:

- Checks for unit of measure issues, currency mismatches, overrides

- Clear system-of-record logic

- Examples of reducing error rates or audit flags

Question: “How would you design a quoting process that reduces errors and rework without slowing down sales?”

Listen for:

- Use of templates, validations, or pre-approved ranges

- Collaboration with sales ops or IT

- Awareness of pain points that cause rework

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Interview Design Matters 

A strong pricing interview doesn’t just test knowledge — it reveals how someone thinks, navigates tradeoffs, and communicates under pressure.

But judgment shows up differently depending on the role:

- A systems candidate might shine through process rigor and speed

- A strategy partner might shine through synthesis and stakeholder fluency

- A pricing leader might shine through clarity, prioritization, and calm under ambiguity

If your interview process treats every pricing role the same, you’re going to miss the signal.

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