FinOps Program Manager

UCLA Health is seeking a hands-on FinOps Program Manager to lead our enterprise cloud financial management (FinOps) program across public cloud (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), AI, and data platforms. You will set the strategy and roadmap, lead the projects that deliver it, and lead a cross-functional governance workgroup that recommends policy and standards. Where commercial tooling (currently Apptio Cloudability) falls short, you will direct analytics, automation, and integrations with engineering partners.

The role works across a complex funding landscape of research grants, state allotments, and internal chargebacks. You will provide the budgeting process, data, and recommendations; budget approval and spending decisions remain with designated budget owners. This is an individual-contributor role with no direct reports.

Responsibilities include:

• Direct FinOps projects with defined scope, plans, schedules, and risk management, leading cross-functional teams from engineering, finance, and research through delivery and handoff to operations
• Develop FinOps strategy, proposed policies, and standards, and obtain approval through established governance processes
• Lead cloud cost allocation, showback, and chargeback, mapping consumption to applications, departments, and funding sources such as grants
• Run the cloud budgeting and forecasting process with budget owners: track spend against each owner's budget, report budget vs. actual, and flag variances early
• Manage implementation and enhancement of FinOps tooling (Apptio Cloudability), including reporting, integrations, tagging compliance, and anomaly detection
• Identify and track optimization opportunities, cost savings, and cost avoidance, and provide analysis for cloud commitments in partnership with finance and procurement
• Lead cost visibility and allocation for AI consumption (token-based services), Databricks, GPU, and research computing
• Report program KPIs, progress, and risks to executive leadership, and lead a cross-functional FinOps community of practice

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in a related area and/or equivalent experience/training
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional technology programs and projects, including scope, schedule, budget, risk, stakeholder management, system integration, and vendor management
• Advanced knowledge of cloud financial management (FinOps): cost allocation, showback/chargeback, budgeting, forecasting, and optimization
• Experience with Apptio Cloudability or a comparable cloud cost management platform
• Expert knowledge of AWS, Azure, and/or Google Cloud billing and cost data, with the ability to turn large datasets into clear reporting
• Experience designing cost attribution models and directing cross-platform reporting or data integration initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to communicate with executive-level management on a regular basis
• Proven ability to build consensus and lead cross-functional work without direct authority

Preferred:

• Master's degree in a related discipline
• FinOps Certified Practitioner, PMP, or related certification
• Working knowledge of scripting (such as Python), SQL, APIs, or automation
• Data visualization (Power BI, Tableau)
• Databricks and AI platform billing; familiarity with Technology Business Management (TBM)
• Experience in healthcare, higher education, research, or grant-funded environments