AI Automation Lead (m/f/d) in Böblingen

The AI Automation Lead drives FutureLog's AI-first transformation outside of engineering — designing, building, and embedding automation and AI-enabled workflows across internal business processes such as Operations, HR and Finance. This is a hands-on, technical role first and a strategist second: the Lead personally builds and ships automations rather than only designing and delegating them, working close to the ground the way a forward-deployed engineer would.

This role operates horizontally across functions it does not own, partnering with Operations, HR and Finance leadership to identify, prioritize, and deliver high-value automation. Delivery is only half the job: the role also builds the internal capability and habits that let those functions keep improving on their own — a community of practice, upskilled managers, and enough grass-roots momentum that AI adoption doesn't depend solely on this one person.

The role reports directly to the CTO as a deliberate strategic lever for company-wide AI adoption.

General Tasks and Responsibilities

• Transformation agenda: Develop and maintain an ambitious internal AI transformation plan, sequenced and negotiated jointly with sponsoring function leaders.
• Process discovery & prioritization: Map automation opportunities across Operations, HR and Finance, and other internal operations; prioritize by cost/time savings, risk, and strategic value
• Hands-on delivery & tooling: Personally design, build, and ship AI-enabled workflow automations using low-code platforms (e.g. n8n, Langdock, Power Automate).
• Change management & adoption: Drive adoption of new automated workflows within the receiving teams, including training, documentation, and process redesign — delivery is not complete until the function actually works differently.
• Community & upskilling: Build communities of practice around AI-enabled ways of working; upskill managers directly so adoption compounds rather than staying dependent on this one role.
• Stakeholder partnership: Co-design changes with the functional owners of each process (Operations, HR and Finance), since the processes themselves belong to other departments, not this role.
• Governance & compliance: Ensure automations meet data-protection, security, and audit requirements (GDPR, ISO 27001), coordinating with IT & Security on access, data handling, and no-training-on-customer-data constraints.
• Measurement, reporting & self-funding: Define and track ROI/impact metrics (hours saved, cost avoided, error/exception rate) per initiative; operate the function as self-funding — efficiencies found are reinvested to grow the team, which is how it earns its next hires rather than through a standing budget ask. Report progress and roadmap directly to the CTO.

Qualifications

• Technical fluency, first and foremost: Hands-on ability to personally build and debug automations end-to-end with low-code workflow/AI platforms (e.g. n8n, Langdock, Power Automate), plus enough scripting/API skill to go beyond their limits when needed — this is a technical-expert role, not a strategy/consulting role with automation as a topic. The team starts as one person, so the Lead has to be the builder, not just the architect.
• Professional experience: Proven delivery of business-process automation or AI-enabled workflow projects in a cross-functional setting spanning Operations, HR and Finance — not purely an IT/engineering background.
• Stakeholder influence: Demonstrated ability to drive change with senior stakeholders who do not report to them, securing buy-in and adoption without formal line authority.
• Change management: Experience running adoption/change programs and building lasting capability (communities of practice, enablement/upskilling), not only shipping the automation itself.
• Business acumen: Working understanding of Operations, HR and Finance processes sufficient to identify credible high-value automation targets and evaluate operational risk.
• Data protection awareness: Understanding of GDPR and data-handling constraints relevant to applying AI to internal and company data.
• fluent in English and German

Behavioural Characteristics

• Hands-on bias: Genuinely prefers building and shipping over presenting plans; treats "technical expert" as core identity, not a secondary skill behind the strategy.
• Influence without authority: Builds trust and credibility with executives and process owners across departments they do not manage.
• Leads by example: Visibly adopts and models the AI-enabled ways of working being asked of others, starting with their own habits and FutureLog's leadership/management layer.
• Bias to action: Ships pragmatic automations quickly rather than waiting for perfect processes or full consensus.
• Multiplies through others: Builds community and upskills managers rather than keeping all delivery capacity personally bottlenecked.
• Communication skills: Translates technical/AI concepts into business terms for non-technical stakeholders (HR, Finance, Operations).
• Ownership & accountability: Owns outcomes end-to-end — adoption and measured impact, not just delivery of the automation artifact.

What We Offer

• A highly visible leadership role with direct impact on FutureLog’s international growth
• The opportunity to shape and build a global commercial function
• Close collaboration with executive leadership and international teams
• An entrepreneurial and open-minded company culture with short decision paths
• Flexibility, ownership, and room for ideas and initiative
• A professional but pragmatic environment where teamwork and trust matter

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