Look, you have to do technical interviews. You don't have to be a bully, but you have to find a way to probe the candidate's ability to solve technical problems and code.
Pick a question that tests the skills you're looking for, but not too closely related to the problems you encounter every day, as that will introduce really strong bias. Pick a question that can be answered in 10 or 20 minutes on a white board. The question should seem really easy, so prepare a follow up question (or two) that adds difficulty for the candidate that needs the challenge.
But here's the most important part: use the same question in at least 10 interviews. Test your questions by using them on many candidates. Don't introduce uncertainty by playing a different role in every interview. You'll get much better results.
45 minutes - write a simple API matching the spec in one of the 3 languages on your/our laptop. Use Google if you have to. Someone will be in the room to help answer questions. API should be functional. Returning fake data is fine (or provide data in a sqlite db)
45 minutes - do code review of this extremely buggy code like you'd review a coworker's code
45 minutes - presentation on a technical topic to one or more members
45 minutes - behavioral. Let's talk about failures, conflicts in your career. Who are your role models? What do they do well? Leadership abilities, career progression
45 minutes - troubleshooting. Here's a docker container. Make this thing work.
Rate all these on a scale of 1 to 10. Sum up the scores. Keep calibrating across all your candidates.
Pick a question that tests the skills you're looking for, but not too closely related to the problems you encounter every day, as that will introduce really strong bias. Pick a question that can be answered in 10 or 20 minutes on a white board. The question should seem really easy, so prepare a follow up question (or two) that adds difficulty for the candidate that needs the challenge.
But here's the most important part: use the same question in at least 10 interviews. Test your questions by using them on many candidates. Don't introduce uncertainty by playing a different role in every interview. You'll get much better results.