Head of Forward Deployment

Role Description

Your main goal will be to build and lead n8n’s Forward Deployment function from scratch, turning our most strategic enterprise customers into long-term expansion stories through hands-on adoption, technical enablement, and repeatable deployment playbooks.

• Start as a hands-on player-coach while building the function, team, and methodology.
• Step into the role of Deployment Strategist, hiring and partnering with the first FDE on initial engagements.
• Fully step into your leadership role once the decision has been made to scale the function.

• Build the Forward Deployment function.
• Define how we select strategic accounts, scope engagements, run 5-day on-site boot camps, measure success, and hand off cleanly to Customer Success.
• Create the operating model for a paired Deployment Strategist and Forward Deployed Engineer team.
• Decide when to build internal capability versus when to work with partners.

• Lead strategic enterprise deployments.
• Lead 5-day on-site engagements with enterprise customers.
• Map customer organizations to identify champions, power users, decision-makers, and cultural dynamics.
• Build automation ROI stories in the customer’s language.

• Turn field learnings into repeatable playbooks.
• Codify each engagement into reusable use-case plays.
• Partner closely with the Forward Deployed Engineer to prioritize customer value.
• Build a playbook library for future teams.

• Represent the customer internally.
• Own the feedback loop between field observations and Product needs.
• Advocate for customers regarding product gaps, technical blockers, or adoption risks.
• Provide insights into how large organizations deploy automation.

Qualifications

• Forward deployment or implementation leadership experience.
• Enterprise customer experience.
• Technical fluency.
• Organizational navigation skills.
• Hiring and coaching experience.
• Strategic judgment.
• English fluency.

• European languages (nice-to-have).
• Automation experience (nice-to-have).
• Expansion mindset (nice-to-have).
• Zero-to-one leadership experience (nice-to-have).

Requirements

• Must-haves:
• Experience leading enterprise customer deployments.
• On-site experience with large enterprise customers.
• Understanding of technical architecture.
• Ability to navigate organizational dynamics.
• Experience hiring and developing technical talent.
• Ability to make strategic judgments.
• Fluency in English.

• Nice-to-haves:
• Additional European languages.
• Experience with automation and workflow tools.
• Experience in expanding enterprise deployments.
• Experience building functions or playbooks from scratch.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation.
• Ownership through equity.
• Work/life balance:
  • Europe: 30 days of vacation plus public holidays.
  • US: 20 vacation days, 8 sick days, plus public holidays.
• Health & wellness benefits.
• Future planning:
  • Pension contributions in Europe.
  • 401(k) retirement plan with a 4% employer match in the US.
• Financial security benefits.
• Career growth opportunities.
• A passionate team with regular hackathons.
• Remote-first work culture.
• Giving back to open source projects.
• AI enablement budget.
• Transparency in company operations.