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n8n is an open workflow orchestration platform built for the AI era, with 650K+ active developers, 190K+ GitHub stars, and a $5.2bn valuation. The company has grown to 260+ employees across Europe and the US since 2019, with headquarters in Berlin.
You will own and rebuild n8n's People Operations function, including hygiene, analytics, systems, and automation. This is a mandate to design the operating system your way, not maintain an existing structure. You'll have an audit period to diagnose before prescribing changes, and you'll inherit a People Ops team that has successfully managed growth.
Key responsibilities:
**Employment Hygiene & Compliance**: Own employment contracts, payroll coordination, visas, employee policies end-to-end, and SOC 2-related compliance processes. Bring centralized ownership to freelancer and contractor engagement approvals. Step in on hands-on work when it's highest-impact.
**People Analytics**: Stand up n8n's own people analytics capability rather than relying on the central data team. Turn People data into actionable insights for leadership on attrition trends and org health. Report on People function health to the VP People and leadership.
**Systems & Automation**: Own and evolve People systems like HiBob and Mahana. Automate repetitive People Ops work using n8n's own product, partnering with workflow automation engineers on complex builds. Prioritize solid documentation and consistent processes before automation. Reduce manual load so the function scales without proportional headcount growth.
**Team Building & Onboarding**: Act as onboarding liaison to welcome new hires and set them up for success. Build a small, high-trust team by hiring 2–3 specialists in analytics, automation, and systems over 12–24 months. Partner closely with VP People, Talent Acquisition, People Partners, and Finance/Legal.
You'll report directly to the VP People with real visibility and sponsorship. You're joining at ~400 people, heading past 500 by year-end—exactly the stage where your decisions on hygiene, analytics, systems, and automation define how the company scales.
n8n is remote-first and fair-code, riding the AI and automation wave. You'll work with the autonomy and talent density that defines the product team. The company can sponsor visas to Germany; for other countries, you need existing right to work. Company language is English.
**REQUIREMENTS**
Must-haves:
- Proven scaling experience: You've scaled or matured an existing People Operations function through comparable growth (e.g., 500 to 1,000 employees). Not necessarily built from zero.
- Hands-on hygiene ownership: You've personally owned contracts, payroll coordination, visas, employee policies, and SOC 2-adjacent compliance—not just directed others.
- Strategic and hands-on: Comfortable setting vision and prioritizing, and equally comfortable rolling up your sleeves on execution.
- People analytics fluency: Real experience with people analytics and data; willing to build that capability in-house.
- Systems and automation: Hands-on experience with HRIS platforms like HiBob and driven process automation in a People function.
- Europe-based: You are based in Europe.
- Track record: You've run or built this kind of function at least once before; twice is a plus.
- Sequencing judgment: You understand automation is only as good as the process and data behind it; you don't force AI onto undocumented or inconsistent processes.
Nice-to-haves:
- Hybrid background: You've come up through analytics into people ops, or vice versa.
- Automation partnership: You've partnered with or managed workflow-automation or AI tooling specialists.
- Comp benchmarking exposure: You've worked with compensation benchmarking or market-data analysis.
- Remote-first scaling: You've scaled a People function in a remote-first, distributed organization.
