FinOps & Cloud Cost Optimization Lead, Digital & Technology Services

Alvarez & Marsal; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 135,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare plans

401(k) retirement savings plan

Paid time off

Parental leave

Performance bonus

Job summary

Alvarez & Marsal seeks a seasoned FinOps leader to bridge finance, engineering, and operations, aligning cloud investments with business value. Lead cost governance, ROI modeling, and AI-driven forecasting across engagements.

You will design cost frameworks, drive roadmaps, and deliver measurable savings while guiding governance and best practices across mission partners. Travel up to 80% and diverse engagements support career growth.

Qualifications

• 8-12+ years of professional experience in cloud cost management and FinOps practice development.
• FinOps Practitioner or FinOps Engineer certification strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated 15–30% cloud cost savings delivery on prior engagements.
• Strong data analytics and visualization skills - experience with SQL, PowerBI, or equivalent.
• Federal FinOps experience helpful but not required - demonstrated cost optimization at scale in any large enterprise is the primary qualifier.
• Bachelor's degree required; Finance, Computer Science, or MIS preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute comprehensive FinOps strategies aligned with business and mission goals, detailing frameworks, processes, and governance.
• Create and maintain FinOps roadmaps embedding cost-conscious practices into engineering and architecture lifecycles.
• Design KPI frameworks with clear targets and accountability mechanisms to monitor FinOps delivery.
• Establish governance frameworks for tagging, budgeting, and resource accountability - including guardrails to prevent unnecessary resource allocation.
• Drive automation and transparency in cost reporting, anomaly detection, and forecasting - providing real-time visibility into cloud spend across mission partners.
• Build ROI models and cost reduction business cases that quantify optimization impact for executive audiences.
• Integrate findings into A&M's broader engagement scope and deliverables.
• Support practice development through internal training, content creation, and people development.

Skills

Cloud cost modeling

FinOps framework

FOCUS

Rightsizing & savings

Tagging automation

Cost management tools

AI-powered cost analytics

Data analytics

SQL/PowerBI

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance/CS/MIS

Tools

AWS Cost Explorer

Azure Cost Management

GCP Billing

Apptio

Flexera

CloudHealth

Job description

Description

About Alvarez & Marsal

Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) is aglobalconsultingfirm withover 10,000 entrepreneurial, action and results-oriented professionalsin over 40 countries. Wetake a hands-on approach to solving our clients' problems andassistingthem in reaching their potential. Our culture celebrates independent thinkers and doers who positivelyimpactour clients and shape ourindustry. The collaborative environment and engaging work—guided by A&M's core values of Integrity, Quality, Objectivity, Fun, Personal Reward, and Inclusive Diversity—are why our people love working at A&M.

The Team

Alvarez & Marsal's Corporate Performance Improvement practice is looking for a FinOps leader who bridges finance, engineering, and operations to align cloud investments with maximum business value. This is both a strategic role - defining cloud financial management roadmaps - and a hands-on tactical role designing and implementing cost avoidance and cost reduction measures.

Experience Should Include

• Cloud cost modeling, optimization, and benchmarking (government and/or commercial comparables) including AI workloads.
• FinOps framework implementation - governance, tagging taxonomy, chargeback/show-back models, KPI frameworks
• FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification (FOCUS)
• Workload rightsizing, auto-scaling, and commitment-based discount strategy (reserved instances, savings plans, committed-use agreements)
• Orphaned/unused resource identification and remediation - VM rightsizing, guardrails, tagging automation
• Native cloud cost management tools (AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management, GCP Billing) and third-party FinOps platforms (Apptio, Flexera, Cloud Health)
• Enterprise software licensing consolidation and optimization
• AI-assisted cost anomaly detection, forecasting, and optimization recommendation engines - must demonstrate active use of AI tools in delivery; AI fluency is required for this role

How you will contribute

• Develop and execute comprehensive FinOps strategies aligned with business and mission goals, detailing frameworks, processes, and governance
• Create and maintain FinOps roadmaps embedding cost-conscious practices into engineering and architecture lifecycles
• Design KPI frameworks with clear targets and accountability mechanisms to monitor FinOps delivery
• Establish governance frameworks for tagging, budgeting, and resource accountability - including guardrails to prevent unnecessary resource allocation
• Drive automation and transparency in cost reporting, anomaly detection, and forecasting - providing real-time visibility into cloud spend across mission partners
• Build ROI models and cost reduction business cases that quantify optimization impact for executive audiences
• Integrate findings into A&M's broader engagement scope and deliverables
• Support practice development through internal training, content creation, and people development

Qualifications

• 8-12+ years of professional experience in cloud cost management and FinOps practice development
• FinOps Practitioner or FinOps Engineer certification strongly preferred
• Demonstrated 15–30% cloud cost savings delivery on prior engagements
• Strong data analytics and visualization skills - experience with SQL, PowerBI, or equivalent
• Federal FinOps experience helpful but not required - demonstrated cost optimization at scale in any large enterprise is the primary qualifier
• Bachelor's degree required; Finance, Computer Science, or MIS preferred
• Comfortable with travel up to 80%
• Full-time, contract, and project-based engagements available

What Distinguishes a Great Candidate

Has built FinOps practices from scratch in large enterprises - not just reported on costs. Can do rate negotiation strategy. Understands both the financial and engineering levers of cloud cost optimization. Brings AI-powered cost analytics and forecasting as standard practice, not as an add-on.

Your journey at A&M

We recognize thatour people are the driving force behind our success, which is why weprioritizeanemployee experience thatfosterseachperson’sunique professional and personal development. Our robustperformancedevelopment processpromotescontinuous learning,rewards your contributions, and fosters a culture of meritocracy.With top-notch training andon-the-joblearning opportunities, you canacquirenew skills and advance your career.

We prioritize your well-being,providing benefits and resources to support you on your personal journey. Our people consistently highlight the growth opportunities, our unique, entrepreneurial culture, and the fun we have together as their favorite aspectsof working at A&M. The possibilities are endless for high-performing and passionate professionals.

• healthcare plans, flexible spending and savings accounts, life, AD&D, and disability coverages at rates determined periodically as well as a 401(k) retirement savings plan.
• Provided the eligibility requirements are met, employees will also receive an annual discretionary contribution to their 401(k) retirement savings plan from Alvarez & Marsal.
• Additionally, employees are eligible for paid time off including vacation, personal days, seventy-two (72) hours of sick time (prorated for part time employees), ten federal holidays, one floating holiday, and parental leave.
• The amount of vacation and personal days available varies based on tenure and role type.

Thesalaryrange for Manager is $135,000- $160,000annually and Director is $150,000- $210,000annually, dependent on several variables including but not limited to education, experience, skills, and geography. In addition, A&M offers a discretionary bonus program which is based on a number of factors, including individual and firm performance. Please ask your recruiter for details.

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