Manager, Cloud Optimization Engineering (FinOps)

Platform Engineering | Multiple Locations

About the Role

We are looking for a strategic, technically deep leader to build and lead our Cloud Optimization Engineering function. This team operates at the intersection of Engineering, Finance, and Product, and plays a critical role in shaping how we scale our SaaS platform efficiently.

This is not a traditional cost optimization or CloudOps role. Success in this position comes from the ability to influence decisions across a wide range of engineering teams, translate complex technical systems into financial impact, and challenge assumptions to drive better outcomes.

You will define how cost is understood, communicated, and acted on across the organization—ensuring that as we grow, we do so with intentional, data-driven tradeoffs between cost, performance, and scalability.

Responsibilities 

Shape Cost-Aware Engineering Decisions

• Influence architecture and design decisions across engineering teams by providing clear visibility into cost drivers, tradeoffs, and long-term implications

• Partner with teams to embed cost-awareness into day-to-day engineering decisions, without relying on direct ownership or mandate

• Proactively challenge assumptions and guide teams toward solutions that balance cost, performance, and reliability

Bridge Engineering, Finance, and Leadership

• Act as a translator between Engineering, FP&A, and executive leadership by turning complex infrastructure usage and architecture into clear financial narratives and actionable insights

• Ensure financial goals are grounded in technical reality, and engineering decisions are understood in financial terms

• Support planning cycles, budgeting, and long-range forecasting with accurate, data-driven models

Drive Strategic Cost Management

• Own the company’s approach to cloud cost visibility, forecasting, and optimization across AWS, GCP, Azure, and SaaS vendors

• Lead cost modeling for major initiatives (e.g., new product launches, architectural changes, scaling events)

• Identify and drive high-impact opportunities to improve efficiency—both through optimization and by influencing upstream decisions

• Partner in vendor strategy, including commitment management, pricing models, and negotiations

Build Systems, Tooling, and Processes

• Establish scalable frameworks for cost allocation, anomaly detection, and unit economics (e.g., cost per customer, product, or workload)

• Ensure engineers have actionable, accessible insights into their cost footprint

• Drive adoption of best practices in tagging, attribution, and cost observability

Lead and Grow a High-Impact Team

• Build and lead a team of engineers focused on cloud optimization and cost-aware systems

• Set clear priorities aligned with company-level financial and technical goals

• Develop a culture of ownership, curiosity, and continuous improvement

• Serve as the executive-facing owner of cloud cost strategy and outcomes

Qualifications & Traits

Core Experience

• 7+ years in software engineering, infrastructure, or platform engineering roles

• 3+ years of experience leading or mentoring engineers or technical teams

• Deep experience with public cloud environments (AWS preferred) and modern SaaS architectures

• Strong understanding of distributed systems, data-intensive workloads, and cloud cost drivers

Strategic & Analytical Thinking

• Ability to evaluate and communicate tradeoffs between cost, performance, and scalability

• Experience modeling the financial impact of technical decisions or system changes

• Systems-level thinker who can connect architecture decisions to business outcomes

Influence & Communication

• Demonstrated ability to influence engineering teams and drive change without direct authority

• Exceptional communica