Senior FinOps Analyst

We are seeking a Senior FinOps Analyst to advise engineering and R&D teams on cloud spending, investigate cost anomalies, and identify actionable optimization opportunities. In this role, you will serve as a primary partner-facing resource for APAC-based teams, helping align cloud spending with forecasts and measurable business outcomes through cost analysis, education, and proactive engagement. Enterprise experience is strongly preferred. Key Responsibilities - Serve as a primary contact for engineering teams seeking cloud cost guidance, responding to questions in real time through Slack and other asynchronous channels. - Proactively engage with high-spending R&D teams to: - Review monthly cloud spending. - Identify cost optimization opportunities. - Understand upcoming engineering roadmap plans and their potential cost implications. - Capture meeting notes, recommendations, recurring questions, and emerging cost patterns. - Monitor cloud and AI/LLM spending for anomalies, spikes, and inefficiencies. - Investigate spending variances, produce written root-cause analyses, and recommend optimization opportunities to team owners. - Document investigations in Jira and flag relevant findings for monthly reporting. - Participate in monthly forecasting by: - Reconciling central forecasts with team-level projections. - Documenting discrepancies. - Capturing team plans and anticipated spending. - Contribute practitioner insights and team-sourced information, including AI/LLM cost drivers, to Showback reporting and spending reviews. - Support cloud cost awareness and education across engineering and R&D teams. - Audit and update technical wiki content and documentation. - Model team cost projections and track team investments and projects. - Respond to cost-related requests through Slack, email, and other communication channels. - Focus on advisory and analytical delivery. Central budget ownership, vendor contract modeling, and platform/tooling engineering are outside the scope of this engagement. Must-Have Skills - Senior-level experience in FinOps (cloud financial operations). - Strong expertise in cloud cost management and optimization. - Proven ability to investigate spending anomalies and produce clear, written root-cause analyses. - Experience advising and consulting directly with R&D or engineering teams in a partner-facing capacity. - Experience with cloud cost forecasting, including aligning central forecasts with team-level projections. - Familiarity with OpenAI/LLM cost drivers and monitoring LLM spending. - Experience with cost modeling and tracking team investments or projects. - Proficiency with Jira for documenting investigations and Slack for real-time and asynchronous support. - Experience maintaining technical documentation or wiki spaces and contributing to recurring reporting, such as Showback. - Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage stakeholders and communicate findings effectively.Nice-to-Have Skills - AI/LLM governance expertise. - AI/LLM variable cost management expertise.Required Tools & Platforms - Jira and Slack. - Familiarity with OpenAI/LLM cost drivers and LLM spend monitoring. - Experience working with technical documentation and wiki spaces; no specific wiki platform is required.Location, Time & Engagement - Open to candidates based in eligible LATAM locations or the United States. - Ability to cover APAC business hours, with some overlap with Pacific Time and the afternoon in Central Time. - Remote contract engagement, 40 hours per week