Cloud Service Provider Costing Specialist

Job Family:

Systems Engineering

Travel Required:

None

Clearance Required:

Ability to Obtain Public Trust

Cloud Service Provider Costing Specialist

The Cloud Service Provider Costing Specialist provides technical and financial expertise in commercial cloud pricing, cost modeling, and cloud service provider purchasing options, with a primary emphasis on Microsoft Azure. This role supports enterprise cloud migration, modernization, and hosting decisions by developing defensible cost estimates, evaluating financial alternatives, and identifying opportunities to optimize cloud expenditures.

What You Will Do

• Develop comprehensive Microsoft Azure cost estimates, financial models, and total cost of ownership (TCO) analyses to support enterprise workload migration, modernization, and hosting decisions.
• Evaluate and compare the financial implications of hosting alternatives, including on-premises infrastructure, Azure VMware Solution (AVS), Azure-native Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS), and other commercial cloud platforms.
• Analyze Azure pricing structures, Microsoft licensing models, consumption-based charges, reservations, savings plans, data transfer costs, and commercial purchasing agreements to determine projected cloud costs.
• Assess existing infrastructure configurations, resource utilization, application requirements, and workload characteristics to establish current-state cost baselines and forecast future cloud expenditures.
• Evaluate cloud service provider pricing, purchasing options, discounts, licensing considerations, and contractual factors, with a primary emphasis on Microsoft Azure.
• Collaborate with cloud engineers, solution architects, and other technical stakeholders to assess the financial implications of architecture, infrastructure sizing, migration strategies, and modernization decisions.
• Develop cloud cost optimization recommendations addressing resource sizing, consumption patterns, licensing, reservations, savings plans, and cloud service selection.
• Use Azure Pricing Calculator, Azure Cost Management, Azure Migrate, Microsoft Excel, and related tools to develop estimates, analyze expenditures, validate assumptions, and maintain detailed cloud cost models.
• Develop financial comparisons, forecasts, and business cases that clearly document assumptions, cost drivers, financial tradeoffs, risks, and projected outcomes.
• Present cloud cost analyses and recommendations to technical, business, and executive stakeholders in a clear and defensible manner.

What You Will Need

• SIX (6+) years of experience in cloud financial management, IT infrastructure costing, cloud pricing analysis, or related technical financial disciplines. University degree or FOUR (4) years experience in leu of formal education
• Demonstrated hands-on experience independently developing detailed Microsoft Azure pricing estimates, cloud financial models, and TCO analyses for enterprise infrastructure and application workloads.
• Strong practical knowledge of Azure consumption pricing, Microsoft licensing, reservations, savings plans, data transfer charges, and commercial cloud purchasing models.
• Demonstrated ability to translate infrastructure configurations, resource utilization, workload requirements, and architectural designs into detailed cloud consumption forecasts and cost estimates.
• Experience evaluating and comparing the financial implications of cloud migration, modernization, and hosting alternatives, including Azure IaaS, PaaS, and VMware-based environments.
• Experience working with Microsoft Enterprise Agreements, Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) purchasing arrangements, negotiated pricing, and cloud licensing considerations.
• Working knowledge of Azure infrastructure architecture, including compute, storage, networking, databases, and managed services, sufficient to identify and evaluate technical cloud cost drivers.
• Experience using Azure Pricing Calculator, Azure Cost Management, Azure Migrate, or comparable cloud financial management and estimation tools.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and the ability to independently develop, validate, document, and maintain complex cloud cost models.
• Demonstrated ability to develop financial analyses, clearly document assumptions, and communicate cost comparisons, financial tradeoffs, and recommendations to both technical and business stakeholders.

What Would Be Nice to Have

• Experience developing financial business cases and cost comparisons for migrations from Azure VMware Solution (AVS) to Azure-native infrastructure and platform services.
• Experience supporting highly regulated or federal cloud environments, including Azure Government pricing, federal cloud procurement arrangements, and agency-specific financial requirements.
• Experience evaluating pricing, licensing, and purchasing options across multiple commercial cloud service providers, particularly Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
• Experience implementing FinOps practices across large enterprise environments, including cloud cost allocation, showback/chargeback, forecasting, optimization, and financial governance.
• FinOps Certified Practitioner certification.
• Microsoft Azure certifications or comparable cloud financial management credentials.
• Experience developing and presenting cloud financial recommendations and business cases to senior leadership and executive stakeholders.

The annual salary range for this position is $106,000.00-$176,000.00. Compensation decisions depend on a wide range of factors, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, security clearances, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs.

What We Offer:

Guidehouse offers a comprehensive, total rewards package that includes competitive compensation and a flexible benefits package that reflects our commitment to creating a diverse and supportive workplace.

Benefits include:

• Medical, Rx, Dental & Vision Insurance

• Personal and Family Sick Time & Company Paid Holidays

• Parental Leave

• 401(k) Retirement Plan

• Group Term Life and Travel Assistance

• Voluntary Life and AD&D Insurance

• Health Savings Account, Health Care & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts

• Transit and Parking Commuter Benefits

• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability

• Tuition Reimbursement, Personal Development, Certifications & Learning Opportunities

• Employee Referral Program

• Corporate Sponsored Events & Community Outreach

• Care.com annual membership

• Employee Assistance Program

• Supplemental Benefits via Corestream (Critical Care, Hospital Indemnity, Accident Insurance, Legal Assistance and ID theft protection, etc.)

• Position may be eligible for a discretionary variable incentive bonus

About Guidehouse

Guidehouse is an Equal Opportunity Employer–Protected Veterans, Individuals with Disabilities or any other basis protected by law, ordinance, or regulation.

Guidehouse will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law or ordinance including the Fair Chance Ordinance of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

If you have visited our website for information about employment opportunities, or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Guidehouse Recruiting at 1-571-633-1711 or via email at [email protected]. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodation.

All communication regarding recruitment for a Guidehouse position will be sent from Guidehouse email domains including @guidehouse.com or [email protected].  Correspondence received by an applicant from any other domain should be considered unauthorized and will not be honored by Guidehouse.  Note that Guidehouse will never charge a fee or require a money transfer at any stage of the recruitment process and does not collect fees from educational institutions for participation in a recruitment event. Never provide your banking information to a third party purporting to need that information to proceed in the hiring process.

If any person or organization demands money related to a job opportunity with Guidehouse, please report the matter to Guidehouse’s Ethics Hotline. If you want to check the validity of correspondence you have received, please contact [email protected]. Guidehouse is not responsible for losses incurred (monetary or otherwise) from an applicant’s dealings with unauthorized third parties.

Guidehouse does not accept unsolicited resumes through or from search firms or staffing agencies. All unsolicited resumes will be considered the property of Guidehouse and Guidehouse will not be obligated to pay a placement fee.