Technology FinOps Lead

We’re 1st Central, a market-leading insurance company utilising smart data and technology at pace. Rapid growth has been based on giving our 1.4 million customers exactly what they want: great value insurance with an excellent service. And that’s the same for our colleagues too; we won Insurance Employer of the Year at the British Insurance Awards 2024 and our Glassdoor score is pretty mega too!

We’re looking for a Technology FinOps Lead to join our IT Governance team who’llplay a crucial role in managing, optimising, and reporting our cloud, technology and data costs. You’ll work closely with cross-functional teams, including value stream teams and finance, to drive technological cost transparency and efficiency within our cloud environment (and other areas of IT spend) to support decision-making.

We value flexible working arrangements, so you can choose to work remotely or maybe you live within a commutable distance from one of our offices in Salford Quays, Manchester, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, or Guernsey, and want to work in the office occasionally.

Core skills were looking for to succeed in the role:

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to engage with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Strong reporting, problem-solving and analytical abilities, with attention to detail.

• Data analysis skills

• Ability to work independently and drive financial accountability within a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

• FinOps Certified Practitioner or Certified Cloud Financial Management or similar certification is highly desirable

• Strong understanding of cloud platforms, particularly Azure, and containerised environments.

What’s involved:

• You’llbe responsible for the proactive monitoring, analysis, and reporting on cloud and technology spending, especially our Azure-based environments.

• You’llbe responsible for governance policies and standards for cloud resource tagging to ensure proper asset categorisation and cost allocation. Collaborate with technical teams and external providers to implement standardised tagging structures for better cost tracking and reporting.

• You’ll own financial models and forecasts for technology and data costs, including cloud. Provide reporting and insights on cost efficiency, resource utilisation, and budget adherence.

• You’ll support value stream leaders with financial data to align technology costs with business objectives.

• You’ll work closely with finance teams to ensure accurate budgeting, forecasting, cost allocation, chargeback models, and financial reporting.

• You’ll stay up to date with Technology FinOps best practices and industry trends to continuously improve financial processes.

• You'll proactively monitor, investigate and report on cost spikes and work with teams to identify remediation activities where required. Enforce FinOps governance policies, ensuring adherence to cost management best practices.

• You’llmaintain cost allocation frameworks to improve accountability across teams.

• You’ll ensure compliance with financial regulations and internal audit requirements as required. Provide oversight to enforce tagging compliance across all cloud environments and report gaps to senior value stream and Tech & Data SLT. Develop and own dashboards and reports to enhance visibility into cloud and other spending trends and cost efficiency. Collaborate with value stream teams to identify and support cost-saving strategies as required.

• You’ll partner with procurement and supplier management teams to optimise cloud agreements, licensing models, and spend.

• You’ll educate stakeholders on FinOps principles, governance policies, and best practices for cost efficiency.

• You’llcomply with the requirements, and act in accordance with, the Group Code of Conduct and Fitness and Propriety policies at all times

• You'll ensure compliance with Company Policies, Values and guidelines and other relevant standards/ regulations at all times

Experience and Knowledge

• Strong understanding of cloud platforms, particularly Azure, and containerised environments.

• Proficiency in financial analysis, budgeting, forecasting, and cost modeling.

• Experience with cloud cost management tools (e.g. Azure Cost Management).

• Expertise in enforcing tagging policies and governance frameworks for cloud cost management.

• Ability to conduct checks and implement compliance measures for cloud resource categorisation and financial accountability.

• Experience with visualisation tools (e.g. Power BI)

• Familiarity with DevOps methodologies and value stream-driven environments.

• Ability to work independently and drive financial accountability within a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

• Proven experience in a FinOps, Cloud Cost Management, or similar financial/technology role.

• Experience in financial services or other regulated industries preferred.

• Experience in developing and enforcing cloud governance policies, including tagging structures and compliance oversight is an advantage.

Skills

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to engage with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Strong reporting, problem-solving and analytical abilities, with attention to detail.

• Data analysis skills

• Ability to work independently and drive financial accountability within a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• FinOps Certified Practitioner or Certified Cloud Financial Management or similar certification.

Behaviours

• Able to demonstrate proactive and collaborative way of working with stakeholders across the business.

• Ability to adapt to change and a willingness to continually develop and learn, with a positive attitude.

• Self-motivated and enthusiastic with the desire to meet or exceed targets.

• Detail oriented approach to working.

• A curious mindset: asking questions and exploring new solutions to improve processes and support innovation.

• Clear communication and able to explain financial and technical information clearly.

• Maintain high standards of compliance and ethics.

• Emphasis on attention to detail and accuracy.

• Drives improvements to contribute to the success of the business.

So, if you’re up for the challenge and would like to join our vibrant and busy team, we want to hear from you today.

What can we do for you?

People first. Always. We’re passionate about our colleagues and know the best people deserve an extraordinary working environment. We owe it to them so that’s what we offer. Our workplaces are energetic, inspirational, supportive. To get a taste of the advantages you’ll enjoy, take a look at all our perks in full here.

Intrigued? Our Talent team can tell you everything you need to know about what we want and what we’re offering, so feel free to get in touch.

Originally posted on Himalayas