Sr. Manager, Data Center Cost Strategy & Operations

Oracle•Nashville, TN

1d•$126,200 - $264,100•Onsite

About The Position

Based in Nashville, Tennessee, this role leads the Finance & Planning and business operations capability supporting Data Center Operations within Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The Senior Manager builds and manages a team of five individual contributors, establishes a scalable operating model, and translates data center operating requirements into disciplined plans, dependable forecasts, controlled purchasing execution, and decision-ready leadership insights. As the primary business partner to Data Center Operations leadership, the role owns team priorities, service delivery, talent development, and continuous improvement. The role connects portfolio economics with day-to-day execution across purchase requisitions, purchase orders, invoicing, onboarding, and escalations. It partners with Finance, Accounting, Procurement, Accounts Payable, Supply Chain, Construction, and Capacity Planning. Responsibilities include leading planning and forecasting, interpreting data center cost drivers, evaluating investment decisions, overseeing procurement and invoice operations, and establishing controls, reporting, and escalation processes. The position is accountable for a productive five-person team, dependable service coverage, employee development, improved forecast accuracy and close inputs, shorter purchasing and invoice-resolution cycles, reduced aged backlog and stale commitments, timely onboarding and escalation closure, consistent control compliance, and Finance-validated improvements in cost, productivity, and decision quality. Baselines and measurable targets are to be agreed with leadership during the first 90 days.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
At least 8 years of progressively responsible experience in finance, planning, business operations, or procurement operations.
At least 3 years of direct people-management experience, including accountability for hiring, coaching, performance management, and team outcomes.
Finance or business operations experience supporting data centers, cloud infrastructure, colocation, or similarly capital-intensive operations, with a strong understanding of data center operating cost drivers.
Experience owning planning and forecasting cycles, variance analysis, executive reviews, and investment decision support.
Practical knowledge of commitments, accruals, expense-versus-capital distinctions, and cash-flow timing.
Experience managing PR/PO workflows, invoice exceptions, supplier onboarding, and internal controls across a matrixed organization.
Evidence of building or scaling a team or shared operating capability.
Strong financial modeling, data analysis, executive communication, prioritization, and conflict-resolution skills.
Ability to translate operational ambiguity into clear decisions and accountable execution.

Nice To Haves

MBA, CPA, CMA, or equivalent advanced qualification.
Experience supporting multi-site or global infrastructure portfolios.
Familiarity with Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP/Procurement, Oracle Cloud EPM Planning, and analytics tools such as Oracle Analytics or Power BI.
Experience improving workflows through automation.

Responsibilities

Build and directly manage a team of five professionals, including defining roles, hiring and onboarding, setting objectives, coaching, conducting performance reviews, and creating development and succession plans.
Design and maintain the team’s service catalog, intake process, workload allocation, service-level expectations, quality checks, backup coverage, onboarding program, knowledge management, procedures, training, and cross-training.
Balance transactional work with planning, analysis, and improvement priorities; delegate execution; monitor throughput, accuracy, backlog aging, and stakeholder experience; and address performance gaps.
Lead annual operating plans, long-range plans, rolling forecasts, and business reviews for the assigned data center portfolio in partnership with Finance.
Hold operating owners accountable for assumptions, submissions, and corrective actions, and connect site and regional plans to capacity delivery, service readiness, staffing, maintenance, and supplier requirements.
Advise leaders on tradeoffs involving cost, reliability, capacity, execution timing, and growth; maintain and reconcile views of actuals, open commitments, accruals, uncommitted forecast spend, and cash timing.
Build driver-based expense and capital forecasts by site, region, cost center, project, and spend category; explain cost changes and model operating and infrastructure decisions.
Assess data center cost drivers, including utility tariffs, energy consumption, demand charges, PUE, contracted versus consumed power, colocation charges, lease escalators, and operating service agreements.
Evaluate the financial impact of facilities maintenance, electrical and cooling infrastructure, spares, repairs, vendor services, labor, security, network connectivity, equipment lifecycle decisions, redundancy, and resilience requirements.
Partner with engineering and capacity partners to evaluate high-density and AI infrastructure impacts, including power availability, rack density, cooling requirements, capacity ramp schedules, operating costs, capital deployment, and readiness.
Partner with Accounting on expense versus capital treatment, accrual support, prepayments, asset in-service timing, depreciation assumptions, and construction-to-operations handoffs under applicable policies.
Develop business cases using total cost of ownership, payback, net present value, and scenario analysis; quantify investment, recurring cost, dependencies, and reliability implications; and validate realized benefits with Finance.
Establish comparable portfolio metrics, including cost per provisioned or utilized kW/MW, cost per rack, maintenance cost, and vendor spend; define denominators and normalize comparisons for site maturity, utilization, redundancy, and geography.
Own operational delivery from procurement intake through PR preparation, approval tracking, PO coordination, changes and renewals, receipt confirmation, invoice exception resolution, and closure.
Ensure Procurement and authorized approvers retain their decision rights; require business justification, approved funding, accurate coding, supporting contracts or statements of work, and appropriate authorization before requests advance.
Track procurement lead times against service and project milestones; oversee open-PO reviews, balances, consumption, renewal dates, and stale commitments; coordinate PO adjustments and closeout.
Direct resolution of invoice discrepancies, missing receipts, pricing or quantity mismatches, holds, credits, and disputed charges; coordinate PO/receipt/invoice matching and payment readiness with Accounts Payable and receiving owners.
Coordinate supplier and service-provider onboarding with Procurement and control functions, including documentation, supplier setup, and operational readiness; manage employee onboarding into team workflows and approved systems access.
Establish approval and escalation matrices, segregation of duties, evidence standards, and documented handoffs across Operations, Finance, Procurement, and Accounts Payable; exercise spending authority only within delegated limits.
Own the quality and timeliness of operating reviews, reporting, PAQ responses, audit support, and leadership inquiries; maintain consistent definitions, accountable data owners, reconciliations, and a single action-and-risk register.
Act as senior business escalation lead for blocked purchasing, invoice disputes, supplier onboarding delays, funding gaps, and material forecast risks; assess impact, assign owners and deadlines, present decisions to appropriate authorities, and drive closure.
Prioritize escalations that threaten critical maintenance, service continuity, capacity milestones, or supplier performance; turn recurring issues into root-cause improvements, stronger controls, and updated training.
Lead process standardization, dashboards, and workflow automation with system owners; establish baselines and demonstrate improvements in cycle time, accuracy, control effectiveness, and team capacity.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance, including expert medical opinion.
Short-term and long-term disability insurance.
Life insurance and AD&D.
Supplemental life insurance for employees, spouses, and children.
Health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts.
Pre-tax commuter and parking benefits.
401(k) Savings and Investment Plan with company match.
Flexible Vacation for eligible salaried, non-overtime-eligible employees; accrued vacation for other eligible employees, with accrual rates based on hours worked and tenure.
11 paid holidays.
Paid sick leave: 72 hours upon hire, refreshed each calendar year, with unused hours carried over up to a 112-hour cap.
Paid parental leave.
Adoption assistance.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
Financial planning and group legal benefits.
Voluntary auto, homeowner, and pet insurance benefits.
May be eligible for bonus, equity, and compensation deferral.