Remote Cloud Cost Analyst
at Effectual

Summary

Join our team as a Cloud Cost Analyst and play a pivotal role in supporting cloud modernization initiatives, ensuring cost-efficient and effective migration of workloads to cloud environments. As an Effectual Cloud Cost Analyst, you will be responsible for analyzing, forecasting, and optimizing cloud-related expenses, managing cloud cost efficiency, developing financial reporting related to cloud usage, and ensuring cost-effective cloud resource allocation.

Requirements

• Minimum Education: Bachelor’s degree in related discipline AND Minimum Experience: 4 years on the job experience
• Certifications: At least AWS Cloud Practitioner OR Substitution/Alternative to Minimum Education and Experience: Must have at least 6 years of on-the-job experience OR at least 1 Professional Level Certification
• Be able to work remotely but, be able to go on-site as requested and/or occasionally with potentially some form of post-pandemic cadence, on-site in Washington DC
• Must be a US Citizen
• Experience in financial analysis or cost management, ideally within government or public sector
• Experience working with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), with a focus on cost management and cloud migration projects
• Experience with modernization and migration of legacy systems to cloud infrastructure
• Expertise in cloud cost management tools (e.g., AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management, Google Cloud Billing, CloudCheckr)
• Proficiency with financial modeling tools such as Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or similar platforms for creating cost forecasts and optimizing financial strategies
• Familiarity with cloud architecture principles, migration strategies, and resource management, particularly in public and hybrid cloud environments
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a keen eye for identifying cost-saving opportunities in complex cloud environments
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to explain technical cloud cost management concepts to non-technical stakeholders
• Collaborative mindset with a focus on teamwork and cross-departmental communication, particularly between IT, contracts, program, finance, security and procurement
• Strong understanding of federal cybersecurity requirements and frameworks (FISMA, NIST RMF, FedRAMP, FIPS)
• Attention to detail and strong organizational skills, especially when creating cost artifacts
• Continuous learning mindset, keeping up to date with industry trends and best practices in security
• Ability to work with multiple clients, in parallel
• Ability to work Eastern Standard Time Zone schedule

Responsibilities

• Monitor and analyze cloud spending across various stakeholders and groups, ensuring alignment with budgets and usage patterns
• Use cloud cost management tools (e.g., AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management, Google Cloud Billing, CloudCheckr) to track cloud spending during migration phases and ongoing operations
• Develop detailed financial reports and dashboards to provide transparent insight into cloud expenditures, cost trends, and potential areas for cost savings during modernization efforts
• Identify cost-saving opportunities during the modernization and migration phases by right-sizing resources, utilizing reserved instances, and optimizing storage and data transfer configurations
• Provide recommendations for resource allocation strategies, including the use of auto-scaling, hybrid cloud setups, and serverless technologies, to minimize costs while maintaining performance
• Implement cost optimization best practices such as workload scheduling, spot instances, and eliminating underutilized resources
• Assist in developing cloud modernization and migration budgets, ensuring that forecasts align with government financial policies and multi-year planning
• Provide ongoing cost forecasting based on migration plans, future cloud workload growth, and anticipated resource usage post-migration
• Work with contracts, program, and finance teams to incorporate cloud modernization costs into broader agency financial planning, ensuring the alignment of budget allocations with project timelines and goals
• Analyze cloud vendor pricing and service contracts to ensure government agencies are receiving the best possible rates and terms for their cloud migration needs
• Negotiate cost-efficient service agreements with cloud vendors that support the government’s long-term cloud modernization strategy
• Track changes in cloud pricing models, evaluate cost implications of different pricing structures, and adjust migration strategies accordingly
• Ensure all cloud-related financial transactions and resource allocations comply with procurement regulations and financial management policies
• Develop and maintain cost allocation models for shared cloud resources to ensure departments are appropriately charged for their usage
• Provide regular cost management reports to leadership, highlighting how cloud modernization efforts are aligning with cost reduction goals and financial accountability
• Work closely with project management and cloud migration teams to provide cost analysis for the migration of legacy systems to cloud platforms
• Evaluate the financial impact of moving specific workloads to the cloud, considering factors such as storage, compute, and data transfer costs
• Provide detailed cost estimates and forecasts for each stage of the cloud migration process, comparing the financial impact of different cloud providers and service configurations
• Collaborate with cloud architects, engineers, and migration teams to understand cloud resource usage and provide guidance on cost-efficient cloud strategies
• Act as a key liaison between IT, contracts, program, and finance departments, translating technical cloud usage metrics into financial terms for non-technical stakeholders
• Provide presentations and reports on cloud costs, savings opportunities, and financial impacts of modernization efforts to leadership and decision makers
• Monitor cloud cost trends and analyze how usage patterns evolve during and after the migration process, identifying opportunities for ongoing cost optimization
• Develop processes to continuously monitor cloud billing, identify cost anomalies, and alert teams to unexpected expenditures or inefficient resource usage
• Establish cloud cost governance policies to ensure financial efficiency across all cloud modernization projects and post-migration operations

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision health insurances
• Short term disability, long term disability and life insurances
• 401k with Company match
• Paid time off (PTO) (120 hours PTO that accrue over one year)
• Paid time off for major holidays (14 days per year)