Cloud FinOps Finance Lead

Location: Northern

# Cloud Fin Ops Finance Lead Chicago Fin Ops
100k – 150k21/05/2026

Full-time

Hybrid

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Job Description 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 Fin Ops 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 Fin Ops 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.  

Key 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.  

Cost Governance & Optimization  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 Fin Ops, Cloud Engineering, and Infrastructure teams to operationalize optimization recommendations.  Ensure expense governance aligns with architectural policies and funding protocols.  Investment & Business Case Support  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.  Financial Reporting & Insights  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.  Cross‐Functional Leadership  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.  Success Measures  Forecast accuracy across cloud consumption and productivity targets.  Improved financial transparency and cost discipline within cloud spending.  Timely, high‐quality insights enabling leadership decision‐making.  Effectiveness of cloud cost optimization efforts and governance processes.  Strength of cross‐functional relationships and trust in the cloud finance function.  

Qualifications  Required  Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Engineering, or related field.  10-15+ years of experience in FP&A,…