Associate Director, Cloud FinOps Manager

About the role We are looking for a business-oriented leader to architect and own the financial operating model for our entire cloud infrastructure. This isn't a reporting role; you are the single-threaded owner responsible for optimizing one of the company's largest technology investments. Your mission is to transform our cloud spend from a complex cost center into a predictable, efficient engine for innovation. You will report to senior leadership and be empowered to support the negotiation of multi-million dollar contracts, drive cultural change across engineering, and provide the financial clarity required for strategic business decisions. What You'll Do Cultural Change: Act as the evangelist for Cloud FinOps. Champion a culture of cost ownership across our engineering organization by empowering teams with the dashboards, insights, and training needed to make cost an integral part of their design and operating principles. Governance & Visibility: Architect a system of governance and accountability. Design and implement a universal resource tagging strategy, moving beyond simple reporting to create robust showback/chargeback models that give engineering teams true ownership of their spend. Optimization & Efficiency: Drive a company-wide optimization program. Go beyond "low-hanging fruit" to create a continuous optimization program, partnering with engineering to refactor applications for cost, adopt new pricing models, and eliminate systemic waste. Commercial Strategy & Negotiation: Develop and execute the strategy to lead negotiations with our cloud vendors, right-sizing our commitments to align with our business strategy and eliminating financial risk. Forecasting & Budgeting: Build and operate our data-driven forecasting model. Partner directly with the Tech and Finance organizations to eliminate spending volatility and provide the business with a reliable cloud budget and accurate forecast. What You'll Bring You are a seasoned leader who operates at the intersection of technology and finance. You are just as comfortable debating architectural trade-offs with a principal engineer as you are presenting a business case to a CFO. You are a strong team player who loves to share knowledge, enable others, and provide and receive feedback. Proven Experience: A track record of 7+ years in dedicated Cloud FinOps or Cloud Financial Management roles, with clear success in managing significant AWS spend. Mastery of Cloud Economics: Deep expertise in AWS cost structures, including the nuances of Savings Plans, Reserved Instances, Spot, and the Cost and Usage Report (CUR). Data-Driven Strategist : Exceptional analytical and financial modeling skills. You don't just create dashboards; you build data-driven business cases to influence executive-level decisions. Technical Credibility & Influence: You have hands-on experience and a proven ability to partner with engineering teams to optimize application architecture for cost. You can engage and communicate complex ideas effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Proven Negotiator: Demonstrable, material experience leading or participating in large-scale commercial negotiations with a major cloud vendor. Builder's Mentality: You have a proven track record of designing and building a Cloud FinOps practice from an early stage, creating process and strategy where none existed before. Proficiency with scripting (e.g., Python/Bash) and experience with third-party tools (e.g., Vantage, CloudHealth) are strong pluses. Let’s cut to the cheese, this is why you'll love it here Box Discount - Amazing discounts on 1 box per week! 75% discount on weekly HelloFresh and Chefs Plate meal kits AND 50% off weekly Factor meal box. Health & Wellness - Health & Dental benefits from day 1, a Health Spending Account, unlimited access to the Headspace app to meet your self-care needs, and 25% discount on GoodLife fitness memberships! Vacation & PTO - Time off is also an important part of self-c