Senior FinOps Engineer

What if the work you did every day could impact the lives of people you know? Or all of humanity?

At Illumina, we are expanding access to genomic technology to realize health equity for billions of people around the world. Our efforts enable life-changing discoveries that are transforming human health through the early detection and diagnosis of diseases and new treatment options for patients.

Working at Illumina means being part of something bigger than yourself. Every person, in every role, has the opportunity to make a difference. Surrounded by extraordinary people, inspiring leaders, and world changing projects, you will do more and become more than you ever thought possible.

Position: Senior FinOps Engineer

Job Summary

As a Senior FinOps Engineer, you will lead cloud financial operations to optimize usage and costs across multiple platforms. This role involves collaborating closely with various teams to develop cost optimization strategies, establish best practices for cloud cost management, and ensure financial transparency and operational excellence. You will manage cross-functional teams to implement FinOps strategies, enforce financial controls, and provide insights into cloud expenditures for executive leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Cloud Cost Optimization: Analyze and improve cloud resource utilization to minimize waste while maintaining performance.
• Budgeting & Forecasting: Collaborate with finance teams to create budgets, financial models, and accurate cloud expenditure forecasts.
• Cloud Billing Analysis: Conduct thorough analyses of cloud billing data to identify trends and opportunities for cost optimization.
• Cost Allocation & Chargeback: Implement tagging strategies and cost allocation models to support interdepartmental chargebacks.
• Cloud Vendor Management: Negotiate with cloud providers to secure optimal pricing and discounts.
• FinOps Governance: Develop and enforce policies and governance frameworks for cost transparency and control.
• Cost Reporting & Dashboards: Create real-time reporting tools and dashboards for cloud spending insights.
• Collaboration: Work with cross-functional teams to improve cloud efficiency and policy adherence.
• Training & Evangelism: Educate teams on cloud cost management and optimization best practices.
• Automation & Tooling: Implement automation tools for tracking and optimizing cloud costs.
• Research & Improvement: Identify and implement strategies for ongoing cloud cost optimization.
• Audits & Compliance: Regularly audit cloud accounts for proper resource allocation and cost accuracy.
• Strategic Development: Develop cloud cost budgeting and forecasting processes aligned with business objectives.
• Cross-Functional Support: Assist in FinOps projects that enhance accountability and governance.
• Analytics Tools: Use cloud cost management tools to meet operational requirements.
• Automation: Streamline FinOps monitoring using cloud automation tools.

General IT Responsibilities

• Problem Solving: Diagnose and resolve technical issues effectively.
• Documentation: Maintain technical documentation.
• Collaboration: Work effectively with team members and stakeholders.
• Continuous Learning: Stay updated on cloud technologies and FinOps best practices.
• Customer Service: Provide exceptional support to end-users.

The responsibilities outlined are essential but not comprehensive, representing the typical duties associated with the role. Individual responsibilities may be adjusted based on evolving business needs.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Experience: 5+ years in FinOps, Cloud Engineering, or Cloud Financial Management focused on cost optimization strategies and governance.
• Typically requires a Bachelor’s degree
• 3+ years of experience managing AWS or Azure Cloud environments and financial controls.
• Cloud Platforms: Proficiency in at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
• Analytical Skills: Proven abilities in cloud billing analysis and forecasting.
• Tools & Automation: Familiarity with cloud cost management tools and automation.
• Collaboration: Ability to work effectively with technical and non-technical teams.
• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Skills

• Scripting & Automation: Experience with scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash, PowerShell), Terraform, CloudFormation for automation tasks.
• Cloud Native Tools: Proficiency with monitoring tools like AWS CloudWatch and Azure Monitor.
• Other Tools: Grafana, Splunk, Prometheus
• Financial Background: Strong grasp of financial accounting principles related to cloud computing.
• DevOps & CI/CD: Experience with integrating financial management in DevOps practices.
• Multi-Cloud Management: Experience managing costs across multiple cloud platforms.
• Change Management: Expertise in driving the adoption of cloud financial practices.

Certifications (Preferred)

• Cloud certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Azure Certified Solutions Architect).
• FinOps certifications (e.g., FinOps Certified Practitioner).

Illumina believes that everyone has the ability to make an impact, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to providing employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, creed, color, gender, religion, marital status, domestic partner status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, pregnancy, military or veteran status, citizenship status, and genetic information.