At a Glance
- Tasks: Drive financial accountability and optimise costs across Sphera’s technology estate.
- Company: Join Sphera, a leader in sustainability software and services.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, inclusive culture, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Dynamic team environment with a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on sustainability while managing cutting-edge technology costs.
- Qualifications: Experience in FinOps and cloud cost management is essential.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 € per year.
Sphera is a leading global provider of enterprise software and services that enables companies to manage and optimize their environmental, health, safety and sustainability. Our mission is to create a safer, more sustainable and productive world. Sphera is a portfolio company of Blackstone, a U.S.-based alternative asset investment company that focuses on private equity, technology and innovation, and more. Blackstone businesses succeed through strong partnerships, a personalized approach and a commitment to exceptional performance with uncompromising integrity. Sphera and Blackstone are leaders in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) space.
We are guided by our core values of Customer Centricity, Accountability, Bias to Action, Innovation, and Collaboration. These values help us recruit the right talent to join our rapidly expanding team around the globe. It is important to us that each and every Spherion is not only eager to challenge themselves and knows how to get work done but is an awesome addition to our company culture.
The FinOps Manager will drive financial accountability and cost optimization across Sphera’s technology estate, covering Azure, AWS, Heroku, AI usage, and private data centre environments. The role sits at the intersection of Engineering, Product, DevOps, Operations, and Finance, ensuring infrastructure and platform spend is visible, governed, and optimized in line with business value.
This is a hands-on role responsible for operating and refining Sphera’s FinOps strategy, tooling, and governance cadence. The FinOps Manager will help solution families understand their cost drivers, improve usage discipline, optimize reservations and savings plans, and take ownership of actions that reduce waste and improve efficiency across cloud and hybrid environments.
Key Responsibilities- Operate and continuously improve Sphera’s FinOps strategy, policies, governance forums, and operating model across Azure, AWS, Heroku, AI-related consumption, and private data centre environments.
- Run regular cost governance processes including forecasting, budgeting, optimization tracking, variance analysis, and business reviews in close partnership with Finance.
- Administer and improve FinOps tooling and data quality, including tagging standards, cost allocation, usage transparency, optimization tracking, and governance workflows across solution families.
- Monitor and optimize commercial mechanisms including Azure Reservations, Azure Savings Plans, AWS Savings Plans, Reserved Instances, and other commitment-based cost levers.
- Provide visibility, challenge, and practical guidance to solution families so they actively manage infrastructure and AI usage in a cost-effective and accountable manner.
- Design and maintain showback and chargeback models with Finance to support transparent and fair cost allocation across products, functions, and solution families.
- Identify, prioritize, and track optimization opportunities across compute, storage, database, platform services, Heroku usage, AI consumption, and private infrastructure.
- Partner with Engineering, Product, DevOps, and Operations teams to embed cost awareness into architecture, delivery, and operational decision-making.
- Build dashboards, KPIs, and executive reporting covering spend trends, forecast accuracy, commitment coverage, utilization, realized savings, and key consumption patterns.
- Support financial planning processes with robust spend analysis, accrual support, and clear explanations of spend drivers and optimization actions.
- Build FinOps maturity across the organization by establishing repeatable practices, accountability mechanisms, and a strong network of stakeholders across engineering and product teams.
- Strong experience in FinOps, cloud cost management, technology financial operations, or a related infrastructure cost governance role.
- Hands-on experience managing spend across Azure and AWS, with familiarity in Heroku and private data centre or hosted infrastructure environments.
- Strong understanding of reservations, savings plans, reserved instances, enterprise agreements, and other cloud commercial optimization levers.
- Experience operating FinOps platforms or cloud cost management tools to support visibility, allocation, optimization, and governance in multi-cloud and hybrid estates.
- Proven ability to run forecasting, budgeting, and cloud cost review processes with Finance and technical stakeholders.
- Experience designing and operating tagging, allocation, showback, and chargeback approaches.
- Strong analytical capability using Excel, SQL, and BI/reporting tools to interpret cost and usage data and turn insight into action.
- Ability to work credibly with Engineering, Product, DevOps, Finance, and senior leaders in a global organization.
- Fluent in English with strong communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to explain technical cost drivers to non-technical stakeholders and challenge teams constructively.
- FinOps Certified Practitioner or similar cloud financial management certification.
- Experience in multi-cloud SaaS or product engineering environments.
- Experience managing or governing AI platform or model-related costs.
- Familiarity with data platforms such as Snowflake and Databricks from a cost and consumption perspective.
- Familiarity with CI/CD, cloud-native architectures, and modern DevOps/SRE practices.
- Experience defining FinOps KPIs, governance forums, and accountability models across decentralized engineering organizations.
- Experience using Azure DevOps or Jira to track optimization actions through delivery backlogs.
- Improved visibility and accountability for infrastructure and AI spend across solution families.
- Increased utilization and effectiveness of reservations, savings plans, and other commitment strategies.
- Reduction in avoidable spend and improved tracking of realized optimization benefits.
- Higher quality cost allocation, tagging, and forecasting accuracy.
- Established FinOps governance cadence with clear ownership and action tracking across Engineering, Product, Operations, and Finance.
Sphera is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all colleagues.
This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the job and the general nature and level of work performed by job holders within this job. This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of qualifications, skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities or working conditions associated with the position.
FinOps Manager employer: Sphera
Sphera is an exceptional employer that prioritises a culture of innovation, collaboration, and accountability, making it an ideal place for a FinOps Manager to thrive. With a commitment to employee growth and development, Sphera offers robust opportunities for professional advancement while working at the forefront of environmental sustainability in a dynamic global environment. Employees benefit from a supportive atmosphere that values diversity and fosters meaningful contributions to a safer, more sustainable world.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land FinOps Manager
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to current employees at Sphera on LinkedIn and ask about their experiences. A friendly chat can give you insider info and might even lead to a referral!
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview by understanding Sphera's mission and values. Show how your skills align with their focus on sustainability and innovation. We want to see your passion for making a difference!
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your answers to common FinOps questions, but don’t sound robotic. Be ready to discuss your hands-on experience with Azure and AWS, and how you've optimised costs in previous roles. Authenticity is key!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to follow up after your interview! A quick thank-you email reiterating your interest in the role can keep you top of mind. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely keen on joining the Sphera team!
We think you need these skills to ace FinOps Manager
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to highlight your experience in FinOps and cloud cost management. We want to see how your skills align with our mission at Sphera!
Show Your Passion for Sustainability:Since we’re all about creating a safer and more sustainable world, let your enthusiasm for environmental, health, safety, and sustainability shine through in your application. It’s a big part of who we are!
Be Clear and Concise:When writing your application, keep it straightforward and to the point. We appreciate clarity, so make sure your key achievements and experiences stand out without any fluff.
Apply Through Our Website:Don’t forget to submit your application through our website! It’s the best way for us to receive your details and ensures you’re considered for the role. We can’t wait to hear from you!
How to prepare for a job interview at Sphera
✨Know Your FinOps Fundamentals
Before the interview, brush up on your FinOps knowledge. Understand the key principles of cloud cost management and be ready to discuss how you’ve applied them in previous roles. This will show that you’re not just familiar with the concepts but can also implement them effectively.
✨Showcase Your Analytical Skills
Be prepared to demonstrate your analytical capabilities. Bring examples of how you've used tools like Excel or SQL to interpret cost data and drive decisions. Highlight specific instances where your insights led to cost savings or improved efficiency.
✨Understand Sphera's Mission and Values
Familiarise yourself with Sphera’s mission to create a safer and more sustainable world. Be ready to discuss how your values align with theirs, particularly around customer centricity and collaboration. This will help you connect with the interviewers on a cultural level.
✨Prepare for Scenario-Based Questions
Expect scenario-based questions that assess your problem-solving skills in real-world situations. Think about challenges you’ve faced in managing cloud costs and how you overcame them. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your responses clearly.
