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. 

Your Tasks

Client Engagements & Operating Models 

• 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 

Transparency & Accountability 

• Architect cost allocation strategies, tagging standards, and showback/chargeback models 

• Develop management reporting — from requirements and mockups to executive dashboards 

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 

What We Offer

• 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 

• 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 

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