Senior FinOps Engineer

Senior FinOps Engineer (Data Platforms) Azure / AWS / Snowflake / Databricks / Cloudera Summary We are looking for a Senior FinOps Engineer to lead the financial optimization of our global data estate. You will act as the bridge between Finance (Budget/Forecasting) and Engineering (Performance/Architecture). This is a technical FinOps role, but you are not expected to write production data pipelines. Instead, you will use your technical understanding of cloud platforms to identify waste, model unit economics, and drive governance. You will operate as an analyst who speaks the language of engineering. Key Responsibilities • Cloud Economics & Cost Optimisation • Analyze billing data and usage logs (Snowflake ACCOUNT_USAGE, Databricks System Tables) to identify trends, anomalies, and cost drivers. • Identify waste and design technical solutions (cluster policies, warehouse sizing rules, storage tiering, auto-suspend/resume). • Develop unit economics models (cost per job, query, TB, pipeline) to improve workload placement decisions. • Build TCO/ROI analyses for platform options and provide recommendations to Architecture and Engineering. • Define and maintain cloud commitment strategies (Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, capacity optimisation). • Engineering Collaboration • Partner with Platform Engineering, Data Engineering, and Architecture to embed cost-aware design principles. • Influence engineering decisions through cost/performance trade-off analysis. • Review platform configurations (clusters, warehouses, pipelines) and propose changes to reduce waste without impacting performance. • Develop optimisation playbooks for recurring workload patterns (ETL pipelines, ML workloads, streaming jobs). • Automation & Governance • Partner with DevOps to implement Policy-as-Code (e.g., preventing oversized clusters in development environments). • Define and audit a robust tagging policy (Project, Cost Center, Environment, etc.) to ensure accurate chargeback to Business Units. • Build and maintain dashboards in Power BI or Spotfire for engineering teams and leadership. • Reporting, Forecasting & Visibility • Own monthly and quarterly cloud spend reviews, highlighting cost drivers, variances, and recommended actions. • Drive continuous improvement in forecast accuracy and cost allocation. • Establish a transparent model to show Business Units their exact data usage costs. Required Experience Technical Background (Engineer / Architect) • 4–7+ years in a FinOps, Cloud Analyst, or Data Operations role. • Strong understanding of Snowflake pricing (Credits, Warehouses, Storage) and Databricks pricing (DBUs, Photon, All-Purpose vs. Jobs). • Strong SQL skills, especially for joining billing tables and extracting insights from system logs (crucial). • Familiarity with AWS/Azure core concepts (compute, storage classes, data transfer costs). FinOps & Analytical Skills • Familiarity with the FinOps Framework and cloud economics best practices. • Experience with Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, sizing exercises, workload optimisation, and TCO modelling. • Comfortable collaborating with Finance and Procurement on consumption, forecasting, and vendor contracts. Tooling & Data Analysis • Hands-on experience with AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management, Snowflake usage views, Databricks system tables. • SQL proficiency; Python for light automation or data analysis preferred. • Strong analytical skills and ability to communicate financial impact in technical terms. • Advanced Excel skills for building TCO models, forecasting scenarios, and analysing budget variance. • Proven ability to build actionable engineering dashboards (Power BI, Tableau, Spotfire). • Experience with dedicated FinOps platforms is a strong advantage. Soft Skills • Strong communication skills and ability to influence senior engineers. • Ability to translate architectural choices into financial outcomes. • Solid stakeholder management across Engineering, Architecture, Finance, and Procurement.