Started out well with an initial discussion with the recruiter. She was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about working at the company. One of the better recruiters I have spoken with. About (10) days later they coordinated an interview with the hiring manager that went well. It seemed like an excellent fit. She described the team and answered all of my questions. After not hearing back for a few days I decided to reach out to one of the team members on my own for a 1:1 which also went well. I was even more excited. A few days later the recruiter responded back to set up calls with two of the leaders. About a week later I spoke with both of them. The first went well. The second interview was ok. My gut told me they had either already had another candidate or there was some disconnect on what they were looking for as this was a US SLED role (FED/SLED) yet she clearly wanted someone in DC with significant FED experience. The second interview was about 27 minutes of questions leaving me only a few minutes for my own. I felt it was a checkbox and an exercise. I followed up immediately with the recruiter. Heard back about a week later from the recruiter that they had already extended and offer to another candidate (that accepted) that was further along in the process? Overall not a great experience. Guessing they had someone already they wanted to hire yet put me through the paces anyway. Transparency and a timely response would have been appreciated.