Cloud FinOps/Financial Management Lead

Location: Houston, TX - Hybrid or Remote

Description

• Guide customers on how to invest, store, process, analyze, and explore Cloud billing data on the AWS and Azure Cloud Platforms

• Build scalable, flexible, and customized solutions for our customers and company

• Owns and manages end to end cost management of all cloud infrastructure services including oversight and negotiation of vendor discount programs, savings plans, reserved instances and rate cards.

• Develops and manages to a Cost Management roadmap that drives additional cost transparency, providing stakeholders with metrics and information to enable cost effective decision making.

• Owns cost and usage analysis, trending, and forecasting, buying strategies, and best practices for cloud adoption.

• Uses sophisticated analytical thought to monitor cloud consumption trends and develops, recommends, and gains consensus with stakeholders to optimize cloud costs.

• Stays up to date on cost savings programs and strategies as well as industry trends.

• Gathers insights and develops new opinions and recommendations around cloud optimization and present solutions to leadership.

• Participates in the annual budgeting process to ensure proper budgeting of cloud infrastructure spend and partners with Finance in developing cost allocation methodologies.

• Partner with Procurement and Global IT to realize procurement synergies and best leverage vendor partnerships.

• Administers cloud cost management tools and creates and implements effective metrics and monitoring processes for cost data accuracy and visibility.

• Leads projects, develops detailed work plans, and coordinates resources across the organization; works with teams in an iterative and Agile framework when necessary.

• Acts as a mentor and influences the quality of work for colleagues with less experience.

• Create governance on cloud spending

• Lead regularly cadenced calls providing expert advice and consulting on cloud financial management activities

• Analyze data and produce quantitative financial models to track and forecast spend, efficiency, savings, and other metrics

• Configure and manage cloud cost optimization tools

• Create and maintain internal documentation on FinOps and cost optimization processes and customer environments

• Ability to analyze and produce meaningful insights from large datasets

• Experience with 3rd party cloud cost optimization tools (CloudCheckr, CloudHealth, Cloudability, etc.)

• Support customers in cost optimization activities and understanding their cloud costs, and how they relate to their business goals

• Provide data driven cost optimization opportunities for customer and internal teams

• Make data-driven decisions on long-term commitments, reserved capacity, and other optimizations

• Analyze data and produce quantitative financial models to track and forecast spend, efficiency, savings, and other metrics

• Create and maintain internal documentation on FinOps and cost optimization processes and customer environments What we are looking for

Skills and Competencies

• Effective communicator with ability to drive consensus among stakeholders from entry level to executive level that represent various departments with competing goals

• Ability to work with multiple internal teams to provide the best experience for our customers

• Ability to analyze and produce meaningful insights from large datasets

• Ability to manage time efficiently to deliver on multiple projects simultaneously

• Strong analytical background with an aptitude for understanding technology

• Experience with Excel and Power BI reporting

• Experience with at least one of the major cloud providers’ (AWS, Azure, GCP) billing and cost management tools and processes

• Design, deploy, and support cost-efficient cloud solutions

• Research cloud cost abnormalities and provide insights into its financial impact and solutions for supporting needed changes for correction

• Identify areas of high influence that can be implemented centrally to increase the overall efficiency of our cloud spend

• Work with lines of businesses to implement savings opportunities within their cloud footprints and applications

• Create and implement actionable plans for the highest cost applications, working with application and division leads to drive savings

• Provide technical leadership and guidance around architectural best practices that help elevate Cost Optimization

• Exceptional interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to document solutions and present ideas to cross-functional teams

• Meticulous attention to detail

• Solid understanding of AWS and Azure solutions and services

• A solid understanding of what comprises a scalable, robust, supportable design

• A passion to drive cost savings strategies

• Ability to work in a flexible work environment that embraces rapid change, emphasizes continuous learning, and attacks new challenges

• Ability to work as part of an integrated team that is geographically dispersed, as well as work independently as required

Preferred:

• Experience with 3rd party cloud cost management tools

• Proven experience in Cloud Cost Management

• Experience major cloud providers’ (AWS, Azure) billing and cost management tools and processes

• Experience working with multidimensional data and deriving insights from large datasets

• Ability to work seamlessly across a large global organization

• Experience with Power BI

• Advanced/Expert Excel skills

• Ability to communicate effectively orally and with written communication

• Comfortable presenting nuanced findings in data analytics to stakeholders and executive leadership

• Proactive approach to new technologies and tools

• Ability to quickly adapt to new methods and work under tight deadlines

• Specific knowledge of AWS and Azure products and cost savings programs.

• FinOps Certification

• Familiarity with Savings programs including Savings Plans and Reserved Instances

• Familiarity with Cloud tagging strategies

• Design, deploy, and support cost-efficient cost solutions

• Identify areas of high influence that can be implemented centrally to increase the overall efficiency of our cloud and division leads to drive savings.

• Provide technical leadership and guidance around cost optimization and financial management best practices that help elevate Cost Optimization

• Meticulous attention to detail

• Solid understanding of AWS and Azure solutions and services

• A solid understanding of what comprises a scalable, robust, supportable design

• A passion to drive cost savings strategies

• Ability to adequately discuss technical issues with technicians, engineers, architects and vendors.

• Ability to work as part of an integrated team that is geographically dispersed, as well as work independently as required.

• Proficient knowledge of common DevOps tools

• Bachelor’s Degree or relevant years of experience

• 3+ years of enterprise experience in Azure, AWS, or other public cloud

• 3+ years of experience leading cloud cost management initiatives with cross-functional teams that include engineering, finance or product

• 3+ years of experience with API’s

• 3+ years of experience with pricing models

• 3+ years support cloud native solutions

• 3+ years experience with cloud financial management

• 3+ years IT-related experience, such as Business Analyst, Financial Analyst, Data Analyst, etc.

• Proficient knowledge of common DevOps tools