# Job Description: FinOps Practitioner

## About the Role
We are seeking a dedicated FinOps Practitioner to manage cloud cost forecasting and spend tracking across our multi-cloud environment. This role is the primary point of accountability for understanding current and future cloud expenditures, along with the underlying factors influencing any discrepancies. The position requires close collaboration with engineering, IT finance, and business planning teams to ensure forecasts are aligned and presented effectively to executive leadership.

The successful candidate will be integral to cross-functional initiatives, packaging relevant financial insights into concise summaries for senior stakeholders. The focus will be on maintaining cost visibility, identifying savings opportunities, and addressing discrepancies in cloud spend.

## Key Responsibilities
– **Forecasting and Spend Tracking**
– Develop and maintain monthly and quarterly forecasts for AWS, Azure, and GCP cloud spend.
– Monitor actual expenditures against forecasts and budgets to identify and explain variances.
– Ensure cost visibility at various levels, including account, service, environment, and application.
– Identify anomalies and unexpected growth trends, facilitating resolutions with responsible teams.

– **Cross-Team Alignment**
– Collaborate with the Cloud Build team on workload changes, migrations, and new infrastructure to reflect in forecasts.
– Coordinate with the SDIT FinOps team to align reporting and avoid inconsistencies in spend tracking.
– Work alongside Business Planning teams to integrate cloud forecasts into budget cycles and funding discussions.

– **Executive Reporting**
– Produce recurring and ad hoc reports for executive review, highlighting key metrics and actionable recommendations.
– Present financial findings to senior leadership, defending assumptions with clear rationale.

– **Optimization**
– Identify and quantify savings opportunities related to Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, rightsizing, and other cost reduction strategies.
– Collaborate with relevant teams to socialize identified opportunities and track resulting savings.

## Required Skills
– Proven experience in FinOps or cloud financial management, preferably within a multi-cloud framework.
– Familiarity with native cloud cost management tools: AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management, GCP Billing, and BigQuery exports. Experience with third-party platforms (e.g., Apptio Cloudability, CloudHealth, Flexera) is advantageous.
– Strong analytical skills in forecasting and variance analysis with the ability to discern meaningful trends from data.
– Ability to communicate effectively with senior technical and finance stakeholders.
– Excellent written communication skills, with experience preparing executive-level materials.
– Capacity to work with uncertainty and rapidly adapt in high-pressure situations.

## Preferred Skills
– Understanding of unit economics and chargeback/showback models.
– Familiarity with financial frameworks in enterprise IT, especially in contexts separating central IT and business unit spending.

## Benefits
– Competitive salary and performance-based incentives.
– Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
– Flexible working hours and remote work opportunities.
– Professional development and continuing education support.

## Useful Links
– [Company Website](https://…)
– [LinkedIn](https://…)
– [Careers](https://…)

## Why You Might Be Interested
This role offers a unique chance to significantly impact cloud financial management at a strategic level while collaborating with cross-functional teams and senior leadership. The opportunity to engage with advanced cloud cost optimization strategies provides a dynamic and challenging work environment.