Junior Cloud Strategy & Cost Consultant (m/w/d)

Technology spend is growing in complexity - across cloud, AI, SaaS, and on-prem. Organizations need clarity on where their money goes, and how to optimise it. As a Junior Cloud Strategy & Cost Consultant at Cortex Reply, you'll work with C-suite stakeholders, engineering teams, and finance leaders to bring financial accountability and transparency to technology investments.

We operate at the forefront of FinOps: shaping industry standards with the FinOps Foundation and expanding the discipline into areas like AI cost management and sustainability.

Optimisation & Value Delivery

- Drive usage and rate optimisation campaigns: prioritise recommendations, enable account owners, track realised savings

- Evaluate and select FinOps tools through PoCs and vendor assessments

Stakeholder Enablement

- Coach product owners, engineering leads, and finance teams on cost-aware decision-making

- Deliver workshops that embed FinOps practices into daily operations

- Establish communities of practice and share benchmarks across the organisation

Thought Leadership

- Develop FinOps blueprints and playbooks for internal and external use

- Contribute trainings, talks, and publications that position the team as industry experts

- Expand offerings into FinOps for AI, FinOps for SaaS, and sustainability tracking

Nice to Have

Here you can find more information about Cortex Reply and how we process your data .

Responsibilities

Lead FinOps engagements optimising cloud, AI, SaaS, and on-prem spending; Analyse complex environments (IaaS, PaaS, AI workloads) to identify optimisation potential; Design FinOps operating models tailored to each client's structure and maturity; Architect cost allocation strategies, tagging standards, and showback/chargeback models; Develop management reporting — from requirements and mockups to executive dashboards

Requirements

Degree in Data Analytics, Finance, Business Administration, Informatics, IT Management, or related field; Proficiency in English and German (min. B2 each); Residence in Germany with work eligibility; Willingness to travel occasionally; Strong analytical skills with focus on financial data interpretation; Excellent communication and presentation skills for technical and non-technical audiences; Understanding of agile frameworks (Scrum, SAFe, Kanban) and consulting/project management experience; Initial experience with data analysis/visualisation tools (e.g. BigQuery, Power BI, Tableau); Initial experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP); Proactive, self-organised mindset with intrinsic motivation for sustainable technology solutions

Nice to have

Cloud certifications (AWS, GCP, Azure) or FinOps Practitioner certification; Familiarity with cloud cost management tools (e.g. Cloudability, Flexera, Kubecost, Infracost); Exposure to SaaS management, on-prem licence optimisation, or AI cost management; Interest in community building, public speaking, or content creation

Benefits

Competitive compensation; Professional development through challenging projects and training opportunities; A diverse, international team with a strong knowledge-sharing culture; Opportunities for thought leadership: conferences, publications, certifications; A collaborative, supportive team environment