Head of Application Security

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Germany.

📋 Description

• Your primary objective will be to establish and enhance n8n’s security posture, enabling product innovation, supporting enterprise growth, and assisting engineering teams in delivering secure products by default.

• Define the concept of “security” for n8n, encompassing product, platform, and customer-facing security commitments.

• Create the security roadmap, prioritize tasks, and make informed decisions regarding the most significant risks.

• Serve as the organization's main security leader, providing visibility, guidance, and accountability across engineering and leadership teams.

• Develop the tools, guardrails, and workflows that empower engineering teams to deliver secure code without unnecessary obstacles.

• Integrate security into the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) through practical reviews, standards, automation, and developer training.

• Collaborate with various teams across product and engineering to ensure that security considerations are integrated early in architectural, infrastructural, and delivery decisions.

• Manage vulnerability operations, including intake, triage, disclosure, bug bounty coordination, and follow-through on remediation.

• Lead incident preparedness and response by creating playbooks, conducting exercises, and coordinating investigations when necessary.

• Enhance Trust & Safety by improving our methodologies for handling abuse risks, AI-related threats, and platform misuse.

• Build and lead n8n’s security function over time, including recruiting and shaping the team in response to evolving business requirements.

• Facilitate enterprise growth through comprehensive responses to security questionnaires, customer interactions, and clear demonstrations of our security practices.

• Establish scalable collaboration methods with Engineering, IT, Legal, and leadership to ensure security responsibilities are clearly defined and effective.

⛳️ Requirements

• 🛡️ Leadership in security: You possess extensive experience in leading security initiatives within a SaaS, cloud, or product-oriented technology environment, with responsibilities extending beyond isolated technical tasks.

• 🧰 Practical expertise in product and platform security: You have considerable hands-on experience in application security, cloud or platform security, vulnerability management, and secure engineering practices.

• ⚖️ Practical risk assessment: You understand how to prioritize, make trade-offs, and steer teams towards the security initiatives that hold the most significance.

• 🤝 Cross-functional collaboration: You can effectively engage with engineers, engineering leadership, and non-technical stakeholders to drive security-related actions.

• 🚀 Innovative mindset: You are accustomed to navigating ambiguity and have the ability to create structure, standards, and momentum where none existed before.

• 📣 Effective communication: You can articulate security risks, decisions, and expectations clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences, including customers when necessary.

• 🧑‍💻 Security as an enabler: You view security as a facilitator of product velocity and know how to create guardrails, tools, and workflows that teams will genuinely adopt.

• 🔥 Ownership of incidents and vulnerabilities: You have experience in leading or coordinating processes related to vulnerability disclosure, remediation, and incident response.

• 🧱 Composure under pressure: You maintain calmness, credibility, and effectiveness when faced with external pressures, urgent incidents, customer escalations, or high-stakes security discussions.

• 🌍 Executive presence and judgment: You are comfortable representing security both internally and externally, knowing how to balance urgency, transparency, and sound decision-making in sensitive contexts.

🏝️ Benefits

• Competitive compensation 💸 – We offer fair and appealing salary packages.

• Ownership 💪 – Our core principle is to “empower others,” and we truly mean it—you’ll receive a share of n8n through equity.

• Work/life balance 🏖️ – We work diligently while ensuring you have time to recharge:

• - Europe: 30 vacation days, plus public holidays applicable to your location.

• - US: 20 vacation days, 8 sick days, plus public holidays applicable to your location.

• Health & wellness 🩺 –

• - Europe: We offer benefits in accordance with local country standards.*

• - US: Various low-premium, low-deductible medical plans covering individuals and families—plus a no-cost premium HDHP option with a pre-funded HSA, along with dental and vision coverage.

• Future planning 💰 –

• - Europe: We provide pension contributions according to local country norms.*

• - US: 401(k) retirement plan with a 4% employer match.

• Financial security 🛡️ –

• - Europe: We provide benefits in alignment with local country standards.*

• - US: Company-paid short-term and long-term disability insurance, along with life insurance to support you and your loved ones.

• Career advancement 📈 – We seek rising talents who grow alongside us! You’ll receive €1K (or equivalent) annually to invest in courses, books, events, or coaching to enhance your skills.

• A dedicated team 🤩 – We are passionate about our product, demonstrated by regular hackathons where we showcase who can create the most innovative projects using it!

• Remote-first 🌏 – Our team operates remotely throughout Europe, complemented by regular off-site events for team bonding. Some roles, like sales in the US, are hybrid—please refer to the job description for details.

• Community support 🤝 – We are strong advocates of open source, and you'll receive $100 per month to contribute to projects that matter to you.

• AI support 🤖 – We believe in working smarter—everyone has an unlimited AI budget to explore and utilize the best tools to enhance productivity and creativity.

• Transparency 🙏 – We maintain clarity on everyone’s projects and the overall company performance—the full picture.

• An ambitious yet compassionate culture 😍 – Our team enjoys working here—our eNPS for 2024 is 94!