Cloud FinOps Lead

Lets talk numbers. When it comes to UK retail its hard to find a bigger name. We sell thousands of items an hour and are expanding our ecommerce business by the second. For anyone in Tech this is the place to learn. To grow. And to thrive.

The Cloud FinOps Lead will be instrumental in designing implementing and maintaining policies processes and frameworks for cloud financial management. The successful candidate will help the organisation maximise return on cloud investments driving efficiencies and optimising usage while fostering a culture of financial accountability across cloud teams. You will drive financial accountability and cloud optimization as we expand our Cloud footprint. This is an exciting opportunity to shape and lead a new practice enabling NEXT to derive maximum value from our cloud investments.

About the role

In this role you will develop and implement FinOps frameworks including policies processes and best practices to ensure effective cloud financial management aligned with organisational goals. Responsibilities include identifying costsaving opportunities optimising resources and tracking utilisation for efficiency. Collaboration with cloud engineers DevOps finance and procurement teams is key to integrating FinOps principles and promoting responsible cloud usage. You will also create financial dashboards provide insights and forecasts to senior stakeholders and foster a culture of cloud financial responsibility through training. Additionally you will manage Azure cloud service budgets negotiate with vendors and conduct regular FinOps maturity assessments to drive continuous improvement. Key accountabilities include ensuring budget alignment report accuracy policy compliance and leading initiatives to enhance cloud financial management in line with industry best practices.

About the team

Infrastructure & Cloud Services are at the forefront of everything from Cloud to Networking Data Centres to virtual servers/servers (Windows and Linux) as well as desktops Licensing and mobile phones! Every piece of infrastructure at Head office in the stores the warehouses for the website or the contact centre are supported by this area. Central services such as Microsoft Azure GSuite and GCP file services Citrix Active Directory (and much more) are all provided and supported by this area.

About you

• Microsoft Azure: Advanced knowledge and experience in Microsoft Azure cloud services including Azure Cost Management Reserved Instances and Azure Advisor.
• Cloud Cost Management Tools: Familiarity with cloud cost management and monitoring tools such as Azure Cost Management Infracost or other FinOps tooling.
• FinOps: Experience with implementing costsaving initiatives generating detailed cost reports and conducting regular reviews with stakeholders to align cloud spending with financial goals and operational efficiency.
• Automation & Scripting: Proficiency in automation and scripting tools (e.g. PowerShell) to create custom reports and automate repetitive tasks related to cost monitoring and management.
• FinOps Certification:Certification from the FinOps Foundation (e.g. FinOps Certified Practitioner) is required to ensure a solid understanding of FinOps principles processes and tools.
• Data Analysis and Visualization: Advanced proficiency in data analysis and visualisation tools such as Microsoft Power BI and Google Sheets to build complex data models and impactful visualisations for a wide range of audiences and requirements
• Azure Cost Management: Expertise in Azurespecific cost management tools and features including billing management budgeting and pricing strategies.
• Policy and Governance: Ability to design implement and enforce cloud financial governance policies and processes to ensure financial accountability across cloud projects.
• Cloud Performance Optimization: Familiarity with performance optimization practices such as instance rightsizing workload optimization and autoscaling in Azure.
• Budgeting and Forecasting: Skilled in cloud budgeting and forecasting techniques with a proven track record of cost reduction and budget adherence.