LightSpeed Retail

Principal Technical Program Manager - FinOps

LightSpeed Retail$125K — $150K *
Enterprise Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of experience in managing cloud, vendor, or AI cost optimization programs.
  • Strong understanding of AI vendor pricing models and contract structures.
  • Technical expertise in cloud architecture and cost optimization techniques.
  • Experience in building frameworks in unregulated areas without established playbooks.
  • Demonstrated history of running complex, cross-organizational programs.
  • Excellent communication skills for translating technical issues to executives.
  • Proven ability to influence and implement change across teams without formal authority.

Responsibilities

  • Define and own the FinOps strategy for cloud, vendor, and AI cost management.
  • Continuously identify and prioritize optimization opportunities based on spend analytics.
  • Develop frameworks for managing AI costs in a novel and evolving landscape.
  • Analyze data to pinpoint inefficiencies and create actionable cost-reduction strategies.
  • Build and enhance dashboards and automation systems for cost visibility.
  • Manage multiple cost-optimization initiatives and report on their progress effectively.
  • Communicate cost metrics to leadership to aid financial decision-making.

Benefits

  • Flexible work environment to support optimal performance.
  • Culture that celebrates and rewards top performance.
  • Opportunities for significant career growth within a dynamic team.
  • Flexible paid time off and remote work policies.
  • Equity options as a part of ownership in the company.
  • Pension plan contributions for long-term financial security.
  • Access to training opportunities for skill development and career advancement.
  • Health and wellness credits to prioritize employee well-being.
  • Time off for volunteering and community engagement.
  • Employee-led networks and interest groups for social engagement.
  • Computer purchase program for personal technology needs.
  • Enhanced parental leave benefits.
Full Job Description
Principal Technical Program Manager - FinOps

We're looking for a Principal Technical Program Manager to join our Product & Technology Operations team and own how we manage, optimize, and scale cloud, vendor, and AI spend across the organization.

You will define the FinOps strategy itself - not just run an existing cost program, but decide what gets optimized, in what order, and why. Cloud and vendor cost management has an established playbook that we want to scale and automate; AI spend does not. You'll be defining and building FinOps for AI, while also evolving existing practice into a more automated system.

This is a very senior technical IC role. You'll bring enough technical depth to build or directly shape the automations, dashboards, and optimization recommendations yourself, and enough strategic judgment to influence how leadership thinks about cost trade-offs and how we partner with Finance, Procurement and other functions on all things vendor management and optimizations.

What you'll be doing:

Define the FinOps strategy
  • Own the strategy for cloud, vendor, and AI cost management across the organization - not just the execution of an existing roadmap.
  • Continuously reassess what to optimize, in what order, and why, based on where spend and risk are actually concentrated.
  • Build the framework for managing AI cost, an area with no established industry playbook yet.

Drive cost optimization with technical depth
  • Analyze cloud usage, vendor contracts, and AI spend to identify inefficiencies and develop strategies to reduce unnecessary cost.
  • Build or directly shape the dashboards, automations, and monitoring systems that make cost visible and actionable, at a technical depth equivalent to a Senior Engineer.
  • Propose specific technical optimizations, not just process recommendations, and know when a suggestion requires deeper engineering partnership.
  • Apply hands-on experience building and automating with AI, not just directing others to do it.

Lead the program across the organization
  • Oversee and in some cases execute multiple cost-optimization initiatives simultaneously.
  • Own the reporting structure - cost attribution, monitoring, and alerting - and use it to tell leadership a clear, trustworthy story about spend and savings.
  • Partner with FP&A to define and establish key cost metrics giving leadership a sharper financial lens on cost efficiency.
  • Manage cross-functional dependencies, risk, and change across SRE, Engineering, Data, FP&A, and Procurement teams.

Influence at the executive level
  • Bring insights on feasibility, timelines, risk, and cost trade-offs directly to senior and executive stakeholders, shaping decisions that affect real budget and infrastructure choices.
  • Balance centralized cost management standards with the autonomy individual business units need to operate effectively.
  • Proactively surface issues and advocate for change across products and teams, rather than waiting to be asked.

Mentorship
  • Partner with Delivery Ops leadership on TPM career development, best practices, and the foundation of the broader TPM function.
  • Mentor other TPMs, helping raise the technical and strategic bar across the team.


What you need to bring:
  • Experience owning both the strategy and execution for a cloud, vendor or AI cost optimization program - not just executing one someone else designed.
  • Deep knowledge of the AI vendor landscape - pricing models, contract structures, and the specific optimization levers and nuances that differ from traditional cloud cost management.
  • Technical depth in cloud architecture, cost management, and optimization techniques strong enough to build or directly evaluate dashboards and automation yourself.
  • Experience navigating an area with no established playbook, building the framework as you go rather than applying a known model.
  • A track record of running large, cross-organizational programs spanning multiple business units.
  • Strong executive communication skills - able to translate complex technical and cost trade-offs into decisions leadership can act on.
  • Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive change across an organization without formal authority over them.

We know that people are more than what's on their CV. If you're unsure that you have the right profile for the role... hit the 'Apply' button and give it a try!

Be a changemaker

You'll enjoy:
  • A flexible work environment that empowers you to do your best work
  • A culture that celebrates performance
  • The chance to make an impact in a team that's big enough for career growth, but lean enough to make your voice heard
  • Career-defining opportunities

Plus benefits designed to keep you happy, healthy and fulfilled.
  • Flexible paid time off and remote work policies
  • Equity options, because this is your company too
  • Contributions to your pension plan. Your future matters
  • Training opportunities to grow your skills and career
  • Health and wellness credit so you feel your best
  • Time off to volunteer and give back to your community
  • Interest groups, employee led networks, social committees to sponsored sports teams
  • Computer purchase program to get your personal Macbook
  • Enhanced parental leave to support growing families

About LightSpeed Retail

LightSpeed Retail is a cloud-based point-of-sale and e-commerce software provider for retailers and restaurateurs. The company was founded in 2005 by Dax Dasilva and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. LightSpeed Retail's platform allows businesses to manage their inventory, process transactions, and analyze sales data. The company's mission is to help businesses grow by providing them with the tools they need to succeed. LightSpeed Retail has raised over $290 million in funding from investors such as Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, iNovia Capital, and Accel Partners.
Learn more about LightSpeed Retail
Size
1,000 employees
Market Cap
$18.4 billion
Industry
Founded
2005
5 Year Trend
+48.5%

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