Senior FinOps Strategy Consultant

•Applicants must be based in the ET Zone and be flexible with up to 15-20% travel. About Infinitive Infinitive is a data and AI consultancy that enables its clients to modernize and operationalize their data to create lasting and substantial value. We bring deep industry and technology expertise to drive and sustain adoption of new capabilities. We match our people and personalities to our clients' culture while bringing the right mix of talent and skills to enable measurable value. Infinitive has been named Best Small Firms to Work For by Consulting Magazine 8 times, most recently in 2025. Infinitive has also been named a Washington Post Top Workplace, Washington Business Journal Best Places to Work, and Virginia Business Best Places to Work. Position Overview We are seeking a high-caliber Senior FinOps Strategy Consultant with deep Azure expertise to bridge the gap between cloud engineering, finance, and business leadership. This is a strategic role focused on architecting our Microsoft Azure financial management ecosystem. You will be responsible for designing the organizational "rules of engagement," ensuring every Azure credit and dollar spent is mapped to business value, and empowering engineering teams to optimize their environments through standardized playbooks. Key Responsibilities 1.

Operating Model & Governance Design Azure Governance Framework:

Align the FinOps operating model with Azure-specific structures, including Management Groups, Subscriptions, and Resource Groups.

RACI Development:

Define clear roles across Finance, Azure Engineering, and Product owners to eliminate ownership gaps.

Tagging & Policy Enforcement:

Establish global tagging policies and utilize Azure Policy to automate governance and cost attribution compliance. 2.

Financial Integration & Allocation Allocation Methodology:

Partner with Finance to develop sophisticated showback/chargeback models using Azure Cost Management + Billing.

Cost Transparency:

Build logic for shared cost allocation, specifically addressing shared services like Azure ExpressRoute, shared Hub-and-Spoke networking, and Azure Firewall.

Budgeting & Forecasting:

Leverage Azure's consumption data to move from static annual budgets to dynamic, consumption-based forecasting. 3.

Engineering Excellence & Optimization Rightsizing Playbook:

Collaborate with DevOps teams to design a "Rightsizing Playbook" focusing on Azure-specific levers (e.g., B-Series vs. D-Series VMs, SQL Database DTU vs. vCore).

Commitment Strategy:

Develop strategies for Azure Reservations and Azure Savings Plans for compute, ensuring alignment with long-term engineering roadmaps. Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB): Maximize value by identifying opportunities to apply existing on-premises SQL and Windows Server licenses to Azure resources. 4.

Enablement & Culture Training Materials:

Create and deliver Azure-specific FinOps workshops (e.g., "Navigating the Azure Pricing Calculator" and "Interpreting Azure Advisor Recommendations").

KPI Framework:

Establish North Star metrics such as Unit Economics per Azure resource and percentage of orphaned Azure Managed Disks.

Required Qualifications Experience:

5+ years in Cloud Financial Management or IT Strategy with a focus on the Microsoft ecosystem.

Framework Knowledge:

Mastery of the FinOps Foundation Framework (Inform, Optimize, Operate).

Azure Proficiency:

Deep understanding of Azure billing accounts (EA/MCA), Azure Cost Management, and native optimization tools.

Strategic Communication:

Ability to translate complex Azure meter data into actionable insights for C-suite executives.

Preferred Skills & Certifications FinOps Specific Certifications FinOps Certified Professional:

Highly preferred for leadership-level mastery. FinOps Certified Practitioner (FCP): Required baseline certification.

FinOps Certified Educator:

A plus for training material development.

Azure & Technical Skills Azure Certifications:

AZ-305 (Azure Solutions Architect Expert) or AZ-104 (Azure Administrator Associate) is strongly preferred.

Tooling Expertise:

Experience with Azure-native tools (Azure Advisor, Azure Resource Graph) and third-party platforms like CloudHealth or Apptio Cloudability.

Automation:

Familiarity with Azure PowerShell, CLI, or ARM/Bicep templates for implementing automated cost-savings measures.

Data Literacy:

Experience with Power BI for building custom Azure cost dashboards via the Azure Cost Management connector.