Head of Application Security

n8n

. Your main goal will be to define and raise n8n’s security posture so we can scale product innovation, support enterprise growth, and help engineering teams ship securely by default.

Posted 4/27/2026full-timeRemote • 🇩🇪 GermanyLeadWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudSDLC

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Your main goal will be to define and raise n8n’s security posture so we can scale product innovation, support enterprise growth, and help engineering teams ship securely by default.
Define what “secure” means for n8n across product, platform, and customer-facing security commitments.
Set the security roadmap, clarify priorities, and drive pragmatic decisions on the highest-impact risks.
Act as the company’s central security leader, bringing visibility, direction, and accountability across engineering and leadership.
Build the tooling, guardrails, and workflows that help engineering teams ship secure code without unnecessary friction.
Embed security into the SDLC through pragmatic reviews, standards, automation, and developer education.
Partner with teams across product and engineering to ensure security is considered early in architecture, infrastructure, and delivery decisions.
Own vulnerability management operations, including intake, triage, disclosure, bug bounty coordination, and remediation follow-through.
Lead incident readiness and response by creating playbooks, running exercises, and coordinating investigations when needed.
Drive Trust & Safety enablement by improving how we handle abuse risk, AI-related threat vectors, and platform misuse.
Build and lead n8n’s security function over time, including hiring and shaping the team based on evolving business needs.
Support enterprise growth through strong security questionnaire responses, customer conversations, and clear evidence of our practices.
Establish scalable ways of working with Engineering, IT, Legal, and leadership so security responsibilities are clear and effective.

Requirements

What you’ll need

🛡️ Security leadership experience: You have significant experience leading security in a SaaS, cloud, or product-led technology environment, with ownership beyond isolated technical tasks.
🧰 Hands-on product and platform security depth: You have strong practical experience in application security, cloud or platform security, vulnerability management, and secure engineering practices.
⚖️ Pragmatic risk judgment: You know how to define priorities, make trade-offs, and focus teams on the security work that matters most.
🤝 Cross-functional influence: You’re able to work credibly with engineers, engineering leadership, and non-technical stakeholders to drive action on security topics.
🚀 Builder mindset: You’ve operated in ambiguity before and know how to create structure, standards, and momentum where little existed previously.
📣 Clear communication: You can explain security risks, decisions, and expectations clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences, including customers when needed.
🧑‍💻 Security enablement approach: You see security as an enabler of product velocity and know how to build guardrails, tooling, and workflows that teams will actually adopt.
🔥 Incident and vulnerability ownership: You have experience leading or coordinating vulnerability disclosure, remediation, and incident response processes in practice.
🧱 Resilience under pressure: You stay calm, credible, and effective when dealing with external pressure, urgent incidents, customer escalations, or high-stakes security discussions.
🌍 Executive maturity and judgment: You’re comfortable representing security externally and internally, and you know how to balance urgency, transparency, and sound decision-making in sensitive situations.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Competitive compensation 💸 – We offer fair and attractive pay.
Ownership 💪 – Our core value is to “empower others,” and we mean it—you’ll get a slice of n8n with equity.
Work/life balance 🏖️ – We work hard but ensure you have time to recharge:
- Europe: 30 days of vacation, plus public holidays wherever you are.
- US: 20 vacation days, 8 sick days, plus public holidays wherever you are.
Health & wellness 🩺 –
- Europe: We provide benefits according to local country norms.*
- US: Multiple low-premium, low-deductible medical plans with coverage for individuals and families—plus a no-cost premium HDHP option with a pre-seeded 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 according to local country norms.*
- US: Company-paid short-term and long-term disability insurance, plus life insurance to support you and your loved ones.
Career growth 📈 – We hire rising stars who grow with us! You’ll get €1K (or equivalent) per year to spend on courses, books, events, or coaching to level up your skills.
A passionate team 🤩 – We love our product, and we prove it with regular hackathons where we see who can build the coolest thing with it!
Remote-first 🌏 – Our team works remotely across Europe, with regular off-sites for team bonding. Some roles, like sales in the US, are hybrid—please check the job description.
Giving back 🤝 – We're big fans of open source, and you'll get $100 per month to support projects you care about.
AI enablement 🤖 – We believe in working smarter—everyone gets an unlimited AI budget to explore and use the best tools to boost productivity and creativity.
Transparency 🙏 – We all know what everyone’s working on, how the company is doing—the whole shebang.
An ambitious but kind culture 😍 – People love working here—our eNPS for 2024 is 94!

ATS Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

application securitycloud securityplatform securityvulnerability managementsecure engineering practicesincident responsesecurity assessmentssecurity automationsecurity standardssecurity tooling

Soft Skills

security leadershippragmatic risk judgmentcross-functional influenceclear communicationbuilder mindsetsecurity enablementresilience under pressureexecutive maturitydecision-makingteam collaboration