Cloud FinOps Finance Lead

Northern Trust • Chicago, IL

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

About Northern Trust: Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889. Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service. The Cloud FinOps Finance Lead is a strategic finance leader responsible for driving financial planning, cost governance, forecasting accuracy, and analytical insight across the organization’s cloud portfolio (Azure, AWS, Snowflake, and related platforms). This role partners closely with Technology, Cloud Engineering, Procurement, and Business Unit CFO teams to ensure financial discipline, improve cost transparency, and support investment decisions across cloud consumption, migrations, and modernization initiatives. The Cloud FinOps Finance Lead will oversee cloud financial frameworks, enable cloud‑cost optimization, guide budgeting processes, and provide timely insights to senior leadership to support decision‑making in a rapidly expanding and evolving cloud environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Engineering, or related field.
• 10-15+ years of experience in FP&A, Technology Finance, or related financial leadership roles.
• CPA, CFA, MBA, or FinOps Certification.
• Strong understanding of cloud economics (Azure, AWS, Snowflake, etc.) or a willingness to rapidly learn.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret complex technical concepts into financial outcomes.
• Advanced financial modeling, forecasting, and analytical skills.
• Experience interacting with senior leaders and influencing cross‑functional decision-making.

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of FinOps principles and cloud governance frameworks.
• Experience with cloud reporting tools (e.g., Apptio/Cloudability/Flexera, native CSP cost management tools).
• Prior work supporting cloud migrations, modernization initiatives, or technology portfolios.

Responsibilities

• Cloud Financial Planning & Analysis Lead monthly/quarterly cloud forecasting, variance analysis, and long‑range planning across multiple cloud providers.
• Maintain and enhance cloud cost models, demand forecasting methodologies, and productivity assumptions.
• Partner with Technology Finance and CIO organizations to align cloud demand with enterprise budget constraints and strategic priorities.
• Translate complex cloud usage patterns into clear financial impacts for non‑technical stakeholders.
• Build and maintain frameworks for cloud cost governance, including spend controls, tagging hygiene, and savings accountability.
• Identify cost‑optimization opportunities such as reserved instances, rightsizing, storage optimization, and platform consolidation.
• Work with FinOps, Cloud Engineering, and Infrastructure teams to operationalize optimization recommendations.
• Ensure expense governance aligns with architectural policies and funding protocols.
• Evaluate cloud migration proposals and prepare financial business cases including: cost‑to‑migrate run‑rate cloud expense versus on‑prem costs TCO benefits contract and licensing implications
• Model sensitivities, risks, and capital/expense impacts associated with large‑scale cloud initiatives.
• Partner with Procurement on cloud‑related vendor negotiations and renewals.
• Create executive‑level reporting on cloud KPIs, consumption trends, efficiency metrics, and spend drivers.
• Develop and maintain dashboards to support transparency across CIO organizations and Steering Committees.
• Monitor and report progress relative to cloud productivity targets and demand reduction initiatives.
• Partner with Cloud Engineering, Architecture, Security, and Product teams to understand upcoming migrations, platform requirements, and financial implications.
• Act as the finance representative in cross‑functional cloud governance forums.
• Provide guidance to BU partners on cloud forecasting, cost drivers, and financial accountability.

Benefits

• Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits.
• Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees