Principal Engineer Cloud Fin Ops Dallas or Detroit metro

Cloud FinOps Principal Engineer

We are seeking a highly skilled and analytical Cloud FinOps Principal Engineer to join our team. In this critical hands-on role, you will be instrumental in identifying, designing, and implementing technical solutions that drive significant cost efficiencies and optimize resource utilization across our cloud platforms. You will work closely with enterprise architecture, cloud engineering and product teams to embed cost-conscious practices and build scalable, efficient systems that directly contribute to our profitability and continued growth.

Key Responsibilities and requirements:

• Technical Analysis & Identification: Conduct deep technical analysis of cloud compute and storage consumption patterns to proactively identify efficiency opportunities and cost-saving potentials.
• Solution Design & Implementation: Design, develop, and implement automated solutions, tools, and processes for cloud resource optimization (e.g., instance right-sizing, auto-scaling strategies, storage tiering, lifecycle management).
• Utilization & Optimization Drive: Lead and execute initiatives to increase the utilization of existing cloud resources, including identifying and reclaiming idle or underutilized assets, and promoting shared resource models.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner directly with enterprise architecture, product and infrastructure teams to understand their resource needs, ensure efficient resource allocation, and integrate cost-aware practices into their workflows.
• Cost Allocation & Reporting: Establish cost allocation tags, budgets, and detailed cost reports for various teams, departments, and projects. Provide transparent reporting on cloud spending and cost projections.
• Platform Guardrails & Best Practices: Contribute to the evolution of internal platform standards, policies, and guardrails that promote cost-efficiency and optimal resource usage from the design phase onwards.
  Strong analytical skills and experience modeling savings strategies in AWS environments.
• Cloud Cost Optimization: Continuously monitor and analyze cloud resource usage and spending using tools such as AWS Cost Explorer and CUDOs Quicksight. Collaborate with our cloud partners to identify cost-saving opportunities, implement policies to optimize resource consumption, and control unnecessary expenditure.
• Automation & Infrastructure as Code: Leverage terraform for infrastructure provisioning, scaling, and cost-related processes; implement automated cost control practices.
• Cost Efficiency Strategy: Collaborate with development, architecture, operations teams and managed service provider to recommend and implement cost-effective practices.
• Monitoring & Alerts: Implement cost monitoring and anomaly, set up alerts on resource utilization, cost spikes, and budget thresholds.
• Security & Compliance: Ensure security and compliance best practices are followed while optimizing for cost. Implement Identity and Access Management (IAM) controls, encryption, and other cloud security policies to safeguard resources.
• Continuous Learning: Stay up to date with the latest AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform solutions, services, pricing models and best practices as they emerge.
• Experienced with DevOps, Infrastructure-as-Code, and CI/CD tools, Terraform experience helpful.
• Must have hands-on software development experience and experience using APIs and working with cloud infrastructure metadata.

Position Responsibilities:
Design and Methodology

• Work closely with business units, application teams, infrastructure areas and vendors to identity, review and evaluate the solution requirements.
• Investigate and propose strategic fits for virtualization, consolidation and rationalization solution opportunities within the infrastructure or business. Propose changes to the technical architecture and design solutions as applicable.
• Evaluate and align strategic fit solutions across infrastructure platforms and solutions specific to system hardware and software technologies.
• Understand, participate, review and influence long term capacity planning and technology investments.

Technical Consulting

• Provide Client consulting and planning guidance as applicable for moderate to large highly complex projects/programs.
• Provide consultation and works closely with other functional infrastructure areas/departments on multiple initiatives to meet common organizational / business goals and objectives.
• Participate in and provides consulting to project teams on architectural, design development, integration opportunities, planning of highly complex systems and assures it is aligned to our established strategies, guiding principles, rationales and practices.

Planning and Organizing

• Identify and evaluate projects/programs/initiatives and design processes that enhance and rationalize existing and upcoming solutions.
• Map requirements into standard services solution, identity opportunities for integrating to existing or reuse technology and provide cost effective solutions for moderate to large highly complex project/programs/initiatives.
• Review, identify and manage requirements for moderate to complex solutions and do a cost value, feasibility and risk analysis.

Risk Management

• Review, participate, develop and update architectural standards, guiding principles, rationales and strategies.
• Evaluate, review and approve highly complex design solutions for business and Infrastructure project or programs or initiatives.