[Behavioral] Tell me about a time you had to influence a decision without formal authority.

I had a situation where the stakeholders already leaned toward one supplier because the path felt easier, but the comparison work was showing meaningful service and execution risk that was getting discounted. I did not own the budget or the final decision, so my influence had to come from clarity.

I laid out the tradeoff in business terms, showed where the risk would show up operationally, and made the...