Manager – Cloud Efficiency & Insights

About the Role:

The Cloud Cost & Capacity Engineering (CCCE) team sits at the center of how we invest in and use the cloud at The New York Times. We help leaders understand where cloud spend is going, where to invest, and where to optimize without slowing teams down.

As Manager, CCCE, you will lead our FinOps function: how we forecast, govern, and communicate cloud costs and capacity across the company. You will work closely with engineering, product, finance, and data partners to turn complex usage and cost signals into clear guidance and decisions for senior leaders.

You will do this in a collaborative environment that values trade‑off discussions, clear storytelling, and recommendations over dashboards.

Responsibilities:

You will oversee the FinOps Function & Strategy

• Define and evolve the FinOps/CCCE vision and how the team works, including scope, success metrics, and ways of working with engineering and finance.
• Set and maintain the roadmap for how we forecast, track, and optimize cloud cost and capacity (e.g., forecasting maturity, Showback+, optimization programs, Cost to Serve) so we align it with company and platform strategy.
• Act as the accountable owner for FinOps outcomes: forecast accuracy, predictability of spend, optimization impact, and the quality of leadership conversations.
• Define how FinOps shows up in senior forums (e.g., quarterly business reviews, steering committees, CFO reviews) so cloud spend conversations focus on clear decisions and trade‑offs.

Tell the Story Behind the Numbers

• Develop a clear point of view on cloud spend drivers, risks, and opportunities.
• Translate complex usage, cost, and capacity signals (compute, data platforms, AI tooling, observability, CDN) into concise “so what?” narratives for executives, mission leads, and finance partners.
• Lead the creation of clear executive materials (short slide narratives, single‑slide summaries, monthly/quarterly readouts) that explain where spend landed, what's driving it, and what leadership should do next.

Lead Forecasting & Investment Governance

• Own the cloud forecasting approach: methodologies, assumptions, tolerance bands, and how we govern forecasts across missions and platforms.
• Partner with Finance and mission leadership on annual and multi‑year cloud planning, tying forecasted spend directly to growth drivers, capacity assumptions, and planned investments (including AI and data platform initiatives).
• Drive scenario modeling for new initiatives and evolving projects, offering a clear stance on likely cost impacts, trade‑offs, and budget needs.
• Shape and participate in investment review processes (e.g., ROI gates, budget intake, contract renewals) with a clear, data‑backed point of view on what should be funded, re‑scoped, or delayed.
• Design ways to track forecast variance and explain it in a way executives can trust and act on.

Drive Cross‑Functional Alignment & Accountability

• Serve as the strategic liaison between Engineering, Product, Finance, and Procurement on cloud spend, savings, and growth.
• Establish predictable cadences (e.g., monthly cost reviews, quarterly deep dives) that hold teams accountable.
• Work closely with platform and capacity engineering partners so that FinOps insights translate into architectural decisions, guardrails, and optimization work.
• Build shared mental models of “what's driving spend and why” so leadership conversations focus on trade‑offs and priorities.

Enablement, Tooling & Team Leadership

• Directly manage and develop a cross‑functional CCCE team (analysts, capacity engineers, program partners), setting clear priorities, standards, and expectations.
• Own and evolve the FinOps tool stack (e.g., FinOut and related data pipelines) to ensure you're delivering trusted, decision‑ready views.
• Champion a culture of cost awareness and financial accountability across engineering through training, documentation, office hours, and embedded engagements.
• Partner with data and platform teams on advanced modeling, while retaining end‑to‑end accountability for FinOps frameworks, insights, and communication.
• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.
• This role reports to the Director of Engineering, Developer Platforms.

Basic Qualifications:

• 7–10+ years in cloud financial management, FinOps, engineering strategy, or a similar role combining technical and financial decision‑making; including direct leadership of a small technical or analytical team
• Proven ownership of a function or program end‑to‑end (vision, roadmap, stakeholders, outcomes) and a track record influencing senior leaders (VP/C‑level, CFO/Finance) on investment decisions using data and narrative
• Familiarity with public cloud platforms (AWS, GCP) and their major cost drivers, with enough depth to partner effectively with capacity, platform, and architecture leads on trade‑offs
• Experience building or maturing a FinOps or cloud cost practice (e.g., Showback, Cost to Serve, optimization programs) and familiarity with cost management tools (e.g., FinOut, Cloudability, native cloud billing) and modern data stacks used for financial and operational reporting

Preferred Qualifications:

This role may require limited on-call hours. An on-call schedule will be determined when you join, taking into account team size and other variables.

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Compensation and Benefits For This Role:

In addition to base salary, this role is also eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, employee stock purchase plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.

The annual base pay range for this role is between: 152000 - 190000 USD