Cloud Financial Operations Specialist

Job Description

SUMMARY: As a Cloud FinOps Specialist at Stride, you will be responsible for managing cloud program operations, governance, cost optimization, and financial reporting activities as they relate to our cloud environment across all major platforms (AWS, Azure, etc).  The Cloud FinOps Specialist will work closely with cross functional teams across the enterprise including Technology, Data, Product and Finance organizations, in additional to 3rd party vendors.  The Cloud FinOps Analyst will develop and maintain a holistic view of our cloud roadmap, cloud operational health and cloud usage data to reduce costs and drive efficiencies, while providing regular updates to executive leadership. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:   Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

• Financial analysis and reporting to monitor finances associated with business operations and cloud
• Financial management of cloud usage data to implement cost savings recommendations and best practices to drive efficiencies (identify cost optimization opportunities, including rightsizing instances, utilizing reserved instances and savings plans, and optimizing storage and networking configurations).
• Identify significant cost savings through optimizations, with clear data and reporting measuring outcomes and highlighting areas of opportunity
• Conduct capacity planning analysis and cloud budget planning; Support the business aspects of new workload migration
• Integrate financial systems with cloud billing tools
• Lead the development and implementation of Cloud FinOps best practices across the organization, including cost governance, budgeting, forecasting, AWS marketplace purchases, and cost allocation methodologies to accurately track spending by department, team, or project.
• Partner with finance and IT teams to develop a comprehensive cloud cost management framework, including budgets, monthly forecasts, investment cost analysis, and variance analysis
• Design and maintain dashboards and reports to provide stakeholders with clear visibility into cloud costs and usage trends.
• Set up the AWS services plan, continuous cost optimization of the services plan, and cost tracking and reporting of the cloud resources
• Track and manage the lifecycle of AWS Marketplace subscriptions, including renewals and terminations.
• Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences to explain cloud cost concepts and recommendations, including the impact of AWS Marketplace purchases.

Supervisory Responsibilities: This position has no formal supervisory responsibilities.

MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in a field related to Finance, Business Administration
• Eight (8) years of direct experience with IT Finance and cloud experience OR
• Equivalent combination of education and experience

Certificates and Licenses: None required.

OTHER REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

• A strong understanding of cloud computing concepts and best practices (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.)
• Solid financial acumen with experience in budgeting, forecasting, and cost analysis
• Experience developing data analytics dashboards and reporting, relating to finance and operational processes
• Cloud cost management tools (CloudZero, Cloudability CloudHealth, etc.)
• Financial modeling and planning software
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with ability to interface with all levels of management and staff
• Integral experience with business projects in determining and driving process, technology and organizational changes/impacts
• Proven problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to apply business judgment to complex problems and make decisions
• Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, Visio, etc.); Web proficiency.
• Ability to travel 5% of the time
• Ability to clear required background check

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This position is virtual and open to residents of the 50 states, D.C.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS: Stride, Inc. considers a person’s education, experience, and qualifications, as well as the position’s work location, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value when determining a new employee’s salary level.  Salaries will differ based on these factors, the position’s level and expected contribution, and the employee’s benefits elections.  Offers will typically be in the bottom half of the range. 

We anticipate the salary range to be $85,224.75 - $149,966.40.  Eligible employees may receive a bonus.  This salary is not guaranteed, as an individual’s compensation can vary based on several factors.  These factors include, but are not limited to, geographic location, experience, training, education, and local market conditions. Stride offers a robust benefits package for eligible employees that can include health benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off. 

Job Type

The above job is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor. All employment is “at-will” as governed by the law of the state where the employee works.  It is further understood that the “at-will” nature of employment is one aspect of employment that cannot be changed except in writing and signed by an authorized officer.