Finops Lead

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FinOps Lead

Overview

The FinOps Lead is responsible for overseeing cloud financial management across the organization by implementing best practices in cloud cost optimization, budgeting, chargeback, and forecasting. This role drives accountability for cloud spend, partners with engineering, product, and finance teams, and leads the FinOps team to ensure transparent, efficient, and cost-effective cloud usage.

Education

A combination of education, experience, and training should qualify the candidate.

Certification(s)

Preferred certifications include but are not limited to:

• FinOps Certified Practitioner or FinOps Certified Professional
• AWS Cloud Financial Management Certification
• Certified Cloud Cost Management Professional (CCMP)

Role and Responsibilities

The FinOps Lead is responsible for leading the strategy, implementation, and execution of FinOps practices across all business units and cloud platforms. This role ensures visibility into cloud spending, drives cost-efficiency, and enables teams to make informed decisions based on financial data.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the FinOps function within the Cloud Business Organization to ensure governance and accountability of cloud spend.
• Design and implement cloud cost allocation and chargeback models across departments and business units.
• Collaborate with finance, engineering, product, and procurement to align budgets, forecasts, and actual cloud spend.
• Establish and monitor KPIs and dashboards that provide visibility into cloud usage and efficiency.
• Identify and recommend cost-saving opportunities, including rightsizing, reservations, and scaling policies with the input of the technical teams.
• Own the monthly cloud financial reporting, including variance analysis and executive summaries.
• Lead FinOps team members, setting strategic priorities and ensuring team growth and development.
• Define and implement FinOps maturity model roadmaps to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure FinOps practices align with corporate financial planning, procurement, and compliance standards.
• Participate in cloud service RFPs and negotiations to evaluate cost and value.

Candidate Qualifications

• A minimum of 3-5 years of experience in cloud financial management, FinOps, or cloud operations with a financial accountability component.
• Strong understanding of public cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure.
• Proven experience in budgeting, forecasting, cost analysis, and financial modeling in a cloud context.
• Proficiency with cloud cost management and observability tools such as AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management, GCP Billing, CloudHealth, Cloudability, or Apptio or others.
• Familiarity with financial systems (ERP, GL) and reporting platforms is preferred.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to translate technical usage data into financial insights.
• Demonstrated leadership and team management skills in a cross-functional environment.

Required Skills

• Deep understanding of cloud billing models and cost optimization techniques.
• Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships across technical and non-technical teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, especially when translating financial data for technical teams or executives.
• Skilled in financial planning, budget management, and vendor negotiation.

Additional Responsibilities

• Establish governance policies for cloud spend and cost allocation.
• Drive culture change around cloud financial accountability and transparency.
• Facilitate FinOps education and training across engineering and product teams.
• Provide actionable recommendations and support for cloud architecture decisions with cost implications.

The FinOps Lead plays a strategic and operational role in enabling cloud financial excellence across the organization, ensuring accountability, cost control, and value realization from cloud investments.

SF-DICE-MIT

SF-LI-SC