IT Analyst – Cloud FinOps

The role of the Cloud Financial Operations (FinOps) Analyst is to help collect and analyze data to provide financial and operational insights critical to the success of the organization. This will include monitoring cloud usage and spending data to identify cost-saving opportunities. With a heavy focus on the cloud, you will work with a wide range of stakeholders to promote a culture of cost accountability and awareness around cloud consumption. This role will provide financial modeling, budgeting, and forecasting, consumption analysis including KPIs, show back, analytics, and capacity.

Strategic Activities:

• Establish a cost optimization framework making judicious use of reserved instances, committed use discounts and other elements of Duke’s cloud subscription agreements
• Monitor resource usage and costs/ratesPerform regular cost analysis
  Right-size resources
• Simplify cloud financial management through the use of automation and orchestration
• Ensure optimization recommendations go through the appropriate governance process for action.
• Collaborate with finance, operations, and technology teams to drive cost optimization strategies.
• Participate in developing a consumer-focused FinOps culture

Tactical Activities:

• Support the cloud monthly budget and forecast process in managing consumption, showback, and savings in collaboration with DHTS Finance and technical service owners.
• Support stakeholders so that they understand and successfully manage their cloud spend based on business needs and budgeted forecasts.
• Monitor cloud consumption at the appropriate level of granularity to detect, investigate, and escalate anomalies and unplanned spikes.
• Analyze, report, and produce meaningful insights from large raw datasets within cloud billing and usage tools (e.g. Cloudbolt), data lake, Configuration Management
• Databases, and other asset inventories as applicable to ensure that cloud infrastructure is used efficiently and effectively.
• Collaborate with DHTS leaders and various data analytics, data partnerships, technical teams, and the Cloud Center of Excellence to track resource utilization to define and execute relevant cloud commitment plans and to define strategies.
• Design, develop, and maintain reports and KPIs that provide detailed usage statistics of resources across the cloud landscape.
• Evaluate and investigate data patterns to derive insightful knowledge; taking appropriate action to inform strategic and operational decisions accordingly.
• Participate in business case development, cost modeling, and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
• Participate in automating, integrating, and maturing the Cloud FinOps processes and data.

Required Qualifications at this Level

Education/Training:

• Bachelor’s Degree, Finance or Business Management preferred or equivalent experience

Required Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in financial operations or equivalent experience
  Minimum of 2 years of IT experience or 2 years of experience working with Cloud providers
• Experience managing cloud costing or similar cost consumption and capacity planning models
• Experience managing cloud spending data to identify areas to optimize or reduce costs
• Experience in FinOps practices
• Knowledge of cloud technologies, i.e., Azure, AWS, GCP, and OCI
• Knowledge of cloud financial practices and cost controls, usage, patterns, and pricing
• Knowledge of financial and accounting principles and practicesLegally authorized to work for any US employer

Required Skills:

• Excellent written, presentation, and communication skills
• Ability to communicate technical and financial information effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences at all organizational levels, including executive leadership
• Ability to interpret customer business and technical needs
• Outstanding and collaborative problem-solving and analytical skills
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines