## About the Role
The FinOps Specialist will support Koniag Data Solutions and its government customer, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), on cloud financial management activities. This is a remote position and requires the ability to obtain a Public Trust clearance. The role supports ACF’s cloud modernization, cybersecurity, operational resilience, and mission delivery efforts.
This position sits at the intersection of finance, cloud operations, and program delivery. It works closely with engineering, cloud architecture, DevOps, procurement, vendor management, program management, and finance stakeholders to improve cost visibility, strengthen governance, and support budget discipline.
The role also serves as a subject matter resource on FinOps practices, helping stakeholders understand cloud pricing, allocation, reporting, and cost-control tradeoffs. In addition, it supports documentation and validation of other direct costs (ODCs) and tracks required approvals and supporting records before costs are incurred.
## Key Responsibilities
– Analyze cloud spend across AWS, Azure, and GCP to identify trends, anomalies, optimization opportunities, and risks.
– Develop and maintain chargeback and showback models for accurate cost allocation across teams, programs, systems, and cost centers.
– Build and deliver biweekly dashboards and reports covering spend trends, budget variances, utilization, forecast changes, issues, and risks.
– Monitor cloud budgets, forecast future spend, and provide variance analysis and recommendations to leadership and stakeholders.
– Work with engineering, cloud architecture, and DevOps teams on cost-saving actions such as rightsizing, savings plans, reserved instances, scheduling, storage optimization, and tagging improvements.
– Support cloud cost-governance policies, tagging standards, allocation rules, budget controls, and financial management best practices.
– Partner with procurement and vendor management on pricing agreements, discount programs, consumption commitments, and contract terms.
– Support project budget adherence by identifying cost pressures, reporting risks, and coordinating corrective actions.
– Document, track, and validate ODC expenditures, including cost records, supporting documentation, and written COR pre-approval status.
– Assess whether proposed ODC expenditures appear fair and reasonable, and escalate findings to the appropriate authority for review.
– Participate in Agile or program-management ceremonies such as sprint planning and backlog refinement.
– Maintain documentation for chargeback methods, allocation models, dashboard logic, forecasts, optimization findings, ODC records, and governance decisions.
– Serve as a FinOps subject matter resource for technical, financial, and program stakeholders.
## Required Skills
– Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related field from an accredited college or university.
– 3+ years of experience in cloud financial management, FinOps, IT finance, or a related discipline.
– Experience with cloud cost management tools such as AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management, GCP Billing, CloudHealth, Apptio Cloudability, or similar platforms.
– Experience developing and managing chargeback or showback models in a multi-team or enterprise environment.
– Strong understanding of cloud pricing models, billing structures, and cost-optimization strategies across major cloud providers.
– Experience producing financial reports, dashboards, and visualizations for technical and non-technical audiences.
– Ability to perform cloud spend forecasting and variance analysis, identify budget deviations, and recommend corrective actions.
– Familiarity with tagging strategies and governance practices that support cost attribution, accountability, and data quality.
– Experience documenting, tracking, or validating costs, approvals, and supporting records in a program, contract, procurement, or financial-control environment.
– Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with high attention to detail.
– Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
– Ability to work collaboratively with engineering, finance, procurement, contracts, and program-management stakeholders.
– Proficiency in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
– Ability to obtain a Public Trust clearance.
## Preferred Skills
– 5+ years of experience in FinOps, cloud financial operations, or IT financial management.
– Experience supporting federal government or public-sector cloud environments.
– FinOps Certified Practitioner or equivalent certification.
– Experience with CloudHealth, Apptio Cloudability, Spot.io, or similar cloud management platforms.
– Knowledge of IaC concepts such as Terraform or CloudFormation.
– Familiarity with Agile methodologies, especially Scrum.
– Experience with Power BI, Tableau, or Looker.
– AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900), or an equivalent cloud certification.
– Understanding of ITIL or ITSM frameworks as they relate to cloud financial operations.
– Experience supporting ODC documentation, COR pre-approval tracking, or federal contract cost-control processes.
## Cloud Platforms & Technologies
– **Cloud Providers:** AWS, Azure, GCP
– **FinOps Platforms:** AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management, GCP Billing, CloudHealth, Apptio Cloudability, Spot.io
– **Infrastructure as Code:** Terraform, CloudFormation
– **Reporting & BI:** Power BI, Tableau, Looker
– **Collaboration Tools:** Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets
## FinOps Responsibilities
– Analyze cloud spend to identify trends, anomalies, and optimization opportunities.
– Manage chargeback and showback models for accurate cost allocation.
– Forecast cloud spend and report budget variances to leadership and stakeholders.
– Support cost optimization through rightsizing, savings plans, reserved instances, scheduling, storage optimization, and tagging improvements.
– Help enforce cost-governance policies, tagging standards, allocation rules, and budget controls.
– Evaluate pricing agreements, discount programs, commitments, and contract terms with procurement and vendor teams.
– Track and validate ODC records, including supporting documentation and COR pre-approval status.
– Maintain documentation for models, forecasts, dashboards, optimization findings, and governance decisions.
## Benefits
– Competitive compensation
– Health, dental, and vision insurance
– 401(k) with company matching
– Flexible spending accounts
– Paid holidays
– Three weeks of paid time off
## Useful Links
– Company Website: www.koniag-gs.com
## Why You Might Be Interested
This role offers the chance to work in a remote FinOps position supporting a federal customer and cloud modernization efforts. It combines budgeting, forecasting, chargeback/showback, and cost optimization across major cloud platforms. The work also includes cross-functional collaboration with engineering, procurement, finance, and program stakeholders. If you want a role with direct impact on cloud cost accountability and governance, this is a strong fit.
