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n8n is an open workflow orchestration platform for AI automation, backed by Sequoia and SAP (valued at $5.2bn), with 650K+ active developers and 190K+ GitHub stars. The company is scaling from ~400 to 500+ employees across Europe and the US, with headquarters in Berlin.
You will own and rebuild n8n's People Operations function, including employment hygiene, analytics, systems, and automation. This is a genuine mandate to design the operating system from the ground up—not maintain an inherited system. You'll have an audit period to diagnose before prescribing changes.
Key responsibilities:
**Employment Hygiene & Compliance**: Own contracts, payroll coordination, visas, employee policies, and SOC 2-related compliance end-to-end. Establish clear, centralized oversight of freelancer and contractor engagement approvals. Step in hands-on when highest-impact.
**People Analytics**: Build n8n's in-house people analytics capability (rather than relying on central data team) due to data sensitivity. Turn people data into actionable insights for leadership—attrition trends, org health, function health reporting to VP People and wider leadership.
**Systems & Automation**: Own and evolve HRIS platforms (HiBob, Mahana). Automate repetitive People Ops work using n8n's own product—you'll dogfood the exact tool the company sells. Ensure solid documentation and consistent processes before automating. Scale the function without proportional headcount growth.
**Team & Onboarding**: Act as onboarding liaison for new hires. 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'll shape the next 2–3 hires on your team as it grows. This role is critical at the 400→500+ stage, where your decisions on hygiene, analytics, systems, and automation define how the company scales.
n8n is remote-first, fair-code, and riding the AI/automation wave. You'll work with the autonomy and talent density that defines how the company builds its own product.
**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; driven process automation in a People function.
- Europe-based: You must be 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: Analytics into people ops, or vice versa.
- Automation partnership: Partnered with or managed workflow-automation or AI tooling specialists.
- Comp benchmarking exposure: Experience with compensation benchmarking or market-data analysis.
- Remote-first scaling: Scaled a People function in a remote-first, distributed organization.
