Director of Engineering | Remote | Europe
n8n · Spain
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $200,000 / year
- Spain
Job highlights
- Lead and scale Core Experience engineering organization.
- Manage multiple engineering teams and leaders.
- Drive technical strategy and product execution.
- Shape AI-native product development.
- Foster high-performance, high-ownership culture.
About the role
About n8n
The AI orchestration of your wildest imagination. n8n is the open workflow orchestration platform built for the new era of AI. We give technical teams the freedom of code with the speed of no-code, so they can automate faster, smarter, and without limits. Backed by a fiercely inventive community and 500+ builder-approved integrations, we’re changing the way people bring systems together and scale ideas for impact.
Since our founding in 2019, we’ve grown into a diverse team of over 220 - working across Europe and the US, connected by a shared builder spirit and with our centre of gravity in Berlin. Along the way, we’ve:
- Cultivated a community of more than 650,000 active developers and builders
- Earned 145k+ GitHub stars, making us one of the world’s Top 40 most popular projects
- Been ranked as one of Europe’s most promising privately held SaaS startups (4th in Sifted’s 2025 B2B SaaS Rising 100)
- Raised $240m to date, from Sequoia’s first German seed to our recent $180m Series C - bringing us to a $2.5bn valuation
That’s the company we’ve built. Now we’d love to see what you can build. If you’re applying, try n8n out - whether you’re technical or not - and share a screenshot of your first workflow with us. The easiest place to start is here: app.n8n.cloud/register.
We’re in a defining moment of an incredible journey. Come and build with us.
Your Role as Director of Engineering
Your main goal will be to lead and scale n8n’s Core Experience engineering organization - helping a broad, growing set of product teams deliver excellent user experiences, strong technical foundations, and ambitious AI-native product innovation.
To do so, you’ll lead a significant and expanding part of our engineering organization, supporting multiple leaders and their teams (AI, Nodes, Community, and Adoption & Retention) while shaping how we build product experiences in a fast-moving, AI-native environment.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and grow high-performing engineering teams: Lead and develop multiple engineering teams across Core Experience. Design the organization for scale across a multi-team area that includes established product surfaces and a growing cluster of AI-focused teams. Foster a high-performance, high-ownership culture where engineers can do ambitious work, grow quickly, and stay closely connected to product impact.
- Drive technical strategy and product execution: Set technical direction across your area, helping teams make sound architectural decisions and trade-offs. Partner closely with Product, Design, and Engineering leadership to translate strategy into clear priorities and execution. Ensure teams deliver meaningful outcomes with the right balance of speed, quality, and long-term maintainability.
- Shape AI-native product development: Support and guide teams building AI-powered product experiences, especially where we are harnessing LLMs in the product. Bring informed judgment to the opportunities and pitfalls of AI product development, helping teams move proactively and responsibly. Help shape how n8n builds products that both leverage AI internally and enable customers to build powerful AI workflows and agents themselves.
- Build clarity, alignment, and engineering excellence: Create the conditions for teams to operate effectively through growth, ambiguity, and changing priorities. Coach leaders and teams toward strong execution, healthy collaboration, and consistently high engineering standards. Represent the Core Experience area within the broader engineering leadership team and align its direction with company goals.
Requirements
Must-haves
- Engineering leadership at scale: Several years of experience leading multiple engineering teams and directly managing Engineering Managers in a high-growth product organization.
- Technical strategy and roadmap ownership: Ability to set direction across a broad product area and turn technical strategy into clear priorities and outcomes.
- Strong technical credibility: Solid engineering background with the ability to contribute meaningfully to architecture discussions and technical decision-making.
- Coaching and people leadership: Proven ability to develop leaders, give clear feedback, and help teams grow in ownership, performance, and judgement.
- Product engineering experience: Led product engineering teams that shipped meaningful user-facing experiences in a fast-moving SaaS environment.
- AI product exposure: Experience with AI-native products or leading teams building AI-powered product experiences, navigating opportunities and pitfalls.
- Distributed leadership experience: Comfortable leading teams across countries in a remote-first environment.
- Execution and quality mindset: Built systems and ways of working that improve delivery, maintain quality, and keep teams focused on meaningful outcomes.
- Experience in growth-stage companies: Worked in a scaling company and experienced the organizational growing pains of building teams and processes at pace.
Nice-to-haves
- Developer tools or workflow automation experience.
- Open-source or developer tooling interest.
- TypeScript / Node.js familiarity.
- Strong product sense.
About Working at n8n
n8n is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity and inclusion. Our company language is English.
We can sponsor visas to Germany; for any other country, you need to have existing right to work.
Benefits:
- Competitive compensation & ownership (equity)
- Excellent work/life balance with generous vacation days
- Health & wellness benefits
- Future planning (pension/401k match)
- Financial security (disability and life insurance)
- Career growth opportunities (€1K annual learning budget)
- Passionate team with regular hackathons
- Remote-first environment with team off-sites
- Monthly contribution to open-source projects
- Unlimited AI budget for productivity tools
- Transparent company operations
- Ambitious but kind culture (eNPS of 94)
Key skills/competency
- Engineering Leadership
- Team Management
- Technical Strategy
- Product Execution
- AI Product Development
- Distributed Teams
- SaaS
- Growth Stage Companies
- People Development
- Workflow Automation
Skills & topics
- Director of Engineering
- Engineering Leadership
- Team Management
- Technical Strategy
- AI Product Development
- SaaS
- Remote
- Workflow Automation
- Growth Stage
- People Management
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight your experience in engineering leadership, AI product development, and managing distributed teams, using keywords from the job description.
- Showcase your impact: Quantify your achievements in previous roles, demonstrating your ability to scale teams and drive technical strategy in SaaS environments.
- Engage with n8n's product: Try out n8n on app.n8n.cloud/register and include a screenshot of your first workflow with your application to show initiative.
- Prepare for technical and behavioral questions: Be ready to discuss your approach to technical strategy, AI product development, and people leadership, especially in a remote, growth-stage company context.
- Demonstrate cultural fit: Research n8n's builder spirit and commitment to open-source and AI innovation to align your answers with their values.
Technical preparation
Review n8n's architecture and tech stack.,Prepare to discuss AI/LLM integration strategies.,Outline experience scaling distributed engineering teams.,Be ready for architecture and technical trade-offs.
Behavioral questions
Describe leading teams through rapid growth.,How do you foster a high-ownership culture?,Share an experience shaping AI product direction.,How do you balance speed, quality, and maintainability?
Frequently asked questions
- What does n8n do and why is it innovative?
- n8n provides an open workflow orchestration platform designed for the AI era, enabling technical teams to automate faster with the flexibility of code and the speed of no-code. Its innovation lies in empowering users to connect systems, scale ideas, and build AI-native products, supported by a large community and numerous integrations.
- What is the primary goal of the Director of Engineering role at n8n?
- The primary goal for the Director of Engineering at n8n is to lead and scale the Core Experience engineering organization, enabling product teams to deliver excellent user experiences, robust technical foundations, and innovative AI-native product features.
- What kind of teams will the Director of Engineering manage?
- The Director of Engineering will lead and develop multiple engineering teams within the Core Experience area. This includes established product surfaces and a growing cluster of AI-focused teams, with responsibilities spanning AI, Nodes, Community, and Adoption & Retention.
- What is n8n's approach to AI product development?
- n8n is actively shaping AI-native product development, focusing on harnessing LLMs within their product. They encourage teams to move proactively and responsibly in AI product development, enabling customers to build powerful AI workflows and agents themselves.
- What are the must-have qualifications for this Director of Engineering position?
- Key must-have qualifications include several years of experience leading multiple engineering teams and managing Engineering Managers in high-growth SaaS companies, strong technical credibility, proven people leadership and coaching skills, experience with AI-native products, and comfort leading distributed, remote teams.
- Does n8n offer visa sponsorship for this role?
- Yes, n8n can sponsor visas to Germany. For other countries, candidates must possess existing work authorization.
- What is the work environment like at n8n for this role?
- n8n operates on a remote-first model, with teams distributed across Europe and the US. They foster an ambitious yet kind culture, emphasize transparency, and organize regular off-sites for team bonding.
- How does n8n support career growth for its employees?
- n8n supports career growth by offering a €1K annual budget for courses, books, events, or coaching. They hire rising stars who are expected to grow with the company, providing opportunities for skill development and advancement.