Senior FinOps Specialist

What You'll Be Doing

The Senior FinOps Specialist is responsible for leading cloud financial management and cost optimization strategies across the enterprise's multi-cloud and SaaS environments. This role partners with technology, finance, and business stakeholders to establish FinOps practices that drive accountability, transparency, and efficient use of cloud resources. The Senior FinOps Specialist develops and implements cost governance frameworks, builds forecasting and showback models, identifies optimization opportunities, and enables data-driven decision-making to maximize the business value of cloud investments while maintaining alignment with regulatory and compliance requirements.

What We're Looking For

• Develop and execute FinOps strategies and operating models to optimize cloud spend across AWS, Azure, and other cloud platforms.
• Design and implement cost allocation models, including showback frameworks, to drive accountability and transparency across business units.
• Build and maintain cloud cost forecasting, budgeting, and variance analysis capabilities through vendor and business partnerships to support financial planning and governance.
• Identify, prioritize, and drive implementation of cost optimization opportunities including rightsizing, reserved capacity planning, spot instance strategies, and architectural recommendations.
• Partner with engineering and platform teams to embed cost awareness into development practices, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code standards.
• Establish and manage tagging governance policies to ensure accurate cost attribution and reporting across all cloud resources.
• Create and deliver executive dashboards, cost reports, and KPIs that communicate cloud financial performance to leadership and business stakeholders.
• Lead FinOps governance processes including cost anomaly detection, budget alerting, and spend review cadences.
• Negotiate and manage cloud provider commitments, including Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, and Enterprise Discount Programs.
• Collaborate with IT Governance and Finance to align cloud financial management with enterprise budgeting and procurement processes.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and trusted advisor on FinOps practices, educating teams on cost-conscious cloud consumption.
• Stay current with FinOps Foundation frameworks, cloud provider pricing models, and emerging best practices to continuously mature the organization's FinOps capabilities.

What You'll Bring

• Deep understanding of FinOps principles, frameworks, and practices as defined by the FinOps Foundation.
• Strong knowledge of cloud pricing models, billing structures, and cost optimization levers across major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Proven ability to translate complex cloud financial data into actionable insights and executive-level recommendations.
• Strong analytical, financial modeling, and data analysis skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence across technical and business teams.
• Experience building and operationalizing cost governance processes and policies.
• Ability to work cross-functionally and manage multiple priorities in a complex, fast-paced environment.

Education & Experience

• Minimum Required: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Information Technology, Business Administration, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum Required: 5+ years of experience in cloud financial management, IT finance, cloud operations, or a related discipline with progressive responsibility. 2+ years of hands-on experience with cloud cost management and optimization in enterprise multi-cloud and SaaS environments.
• Financial services or regulated industry experience strongly preferred.

Licenses & Credentials

• Preferred: FinOps Certified Practitioner or FinOps Certified Professional certification.
• Cloud certifications (AWS Solutions Architect, Azure Administrator, or equivalent) a plus.

Systems & Technology

• Expert proficiency with native cloud cost management tools (AWS Cost Explorer, AWS Cost and Usage Reports, Azure Cost Management, GCP Billing).
• Experience with leading third-party FinOps platforms. Cloudability experience a plus.
• Strong skills in data visualization and reporting tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, QuickSight) for building cost dashboards.

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About Stifel

Stifel is more than 130 years old and still thinking like a start-up. We are a global wealth management and investment banking firm serious about innovation and fresh ideas. Built on a simple premise of safeguarding our clients' money as if it were our own, coined by our namesake, Herman Stifel, our success is intimately tied to our commitment to helping families, companies, and municipalities find their own success.

While our headquarters is in St. Louis, we have offices in New York, San Francisco, Baltimore, London, Frankfurt, Toronto, and more than 400 other locations. Stifel is home to approximately 9,000 individuals who are currently building their careers as financial advisors, research analysts, project managers, marketing specialists, developers, bankers, operations associates, among hundreds more. Let's talk about how you can find your place here at Stifel, where success meets success.

At Stifel we offer an entrepreneurial environment, comprehensive benefits package to include health, dental and vision care, 401k, wellness initiatives, life insurance, and paid time off.

Stifel is an Equal Opportunity Employer.