AI Summary
Drive cost efficiency and financial accountability across UKHSA's cloud platforms. Embed FinOps principles within the design, delivery, and operation of cloud services. Collaborate with finance, engineering, and cloud governance colleagues.
Key Highlights
Lead financial governance across Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure environments
Provide technical and financial oversight of platform costs, forecasting, and optimisation activities
Guide stakeholders on cloud financial performance, usage trends, and operational spend planning
Technical Skills Required
Benefits & Perks
Salary: £60,494
Market Pay Supplement: £5000 to £10,000
Hybrid working opportunities
Flexible working options
Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Learning and development opportunities
Job Description
This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQ’s.
We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's core HQ’s (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London).
Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Job Summary
We are seeking a skilled and strategic Lead Infrastructure Engineer – FinOps to drive cost efficiency and financial accountability across UKHSA’s cloud platforms.
This role sits within the Platform Engineering team and focuses on embedding FinOps principles within the design, delivery, and operation of cloud services.
You will work closely with finance, engineering, and cloud governance colleagues to optimise cloud consumption, implement chargeback mechanisms, and support cost-aware service planning.
This is a senior hands-on role requiring a strong blend of infrastructure experience, financial insight, and cross-team collaboration.
The successful candidate will report to the Head of Cloud Platform and contribute to UKHSA’s cloud leadership group as part of its Extended Leadership Team.
This role attracts a Market Pay Supplement of £5000 to £10,000.
Working for your organisation
We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.
UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.
Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers
Job Description
As Lead Infrastructure Engineer – FinOps, you will be responsible for the technical implementation and operation of financial controls across UKHSA’s cloud infrastructure. Your leadership will help shape and embed FinOps principles within the Platform Engineering team, influencing cloud usage behaviours and governance structures across the agency.
You Will:
- Own the cloud cost governance approach for AWS and Azure environments, ensuring accurate distribution of service costs across the organisation.
- Collaborate with business and technical stakeholders to support consumption forecasts, budget planning, and financial reporting.
- Lead on implementation of tooling and practices that allow for near real-time cloud cost monitoring, anomaly detection, and forecasting.
- Drive the use of automation and tagging policies to support cost attribution and operational transparency.
- Ensure FinOps capabilities are embedded across Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, cloud service design, and operational workflows.
- Work with service owners to deliver meaningful insights on consumption efficiency and architectural improvement opportunities.
- Support procurement, licence, and subscription decisions with cost-benefit analysis and capacity planning data.
- Represent Platform Engineering in transformation and governance forums, feeding into operational readiness and service improvement initiatives.
- Lead development of training, guidance, and communities of practice related to FinOps.
- Liaise with the Finance Business Partner to ensure cohesive financial strategy and compliance with reporting cycles.
This role works closely with Cloud Platform engineers, Finance Business Partners, procurement colleagues, architects, and operational service leads. The role aligns with the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (GDaD) Infrastructure Engineering profession and contributes to digital delivery maturity across UKHSA.
Main duties of the job
- Lead financial governance across Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure environments in collaboration with the Cloud Centre of Excellence.
- Provide technical and financial oversight of platform costs, forecasting, and optimisation activities.
- Guide stakeholders on cloud financial performance, usage trends, and operational spend planning.
- Drive and facilitate implementation of chargeback/showback strategies across services.
- Partner with Corporate Finance and procurement teams to improve spend tracking and cost modelling.
- Ensure platform management tooling supports visibility of cost drivers and consumption.
- Develop dashboards, reports, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for senior leadership on cloud financial performance.
- Identify optimisation opportunities and steer engineering initiatives to drive efficiencies.
- Support agile planning and scoping of infrastructure financial controls and enhancements.Lead communication of FinOps practices across teams, building technical capability and confidence.
As Lead Infrastructure Engineer – FinOps, you will be responsible for the technical implementation and operation of financial controls across UKHSA’s cloud infrastructure. Your leadership will help shape and embed FinOps principles within the Platform Engineering team, influencing cloud usage behaviours and governance structures across the agency.
You Will:
- Own the cloud cost governance approach for AWS and Azure environments, ensuring accurate distribution of service costs across the organisation.
- Collaborate with business and technical stakeholders to support consumption forecasts, budget planning, and financial reporting.
- Lead on implementation of tooling and practices that allow for near real-time cloud cost monitoring, anomaly detection, and forecasting.
- Drive the use of automation and tagging policies to support cost attribution and operational transparency.
- Ensure FinOps capabilities are embedded across Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, cloud service design, and operational workflows.
- Work with service owners to deliver meaningful insights on consumption efficiency and architectural improvement opportunities.
- Support procurement, licence, and subscription decisions with cost-benefit analysis and capacity planning data.
- Represent Platform Engineering in transformation and governance forums, feeding into operational readiness and service improvement initiatives.
- Lead development of training, guidance, and communities of practice related to FinOps.
- Liaise with the Finance Business Partner to ensure cohesive financial strategy and compliance with reporting cycles.
This role works closely with Cloud Platform engineers, Finance Business Partners, procurement colleagues, architects, and operational service leads. The role aligns with the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (GDaD) Infrastructure Engineering profession and contributes to digital delivery maturity across UKHSA.
Main duties of the job
- Lead financial governance across Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure environments in collaboration with the Cloud Centre of Excellence.
- Provide technical and financial oversight of platform costs, forecasting, and optimisation activities.
- Guide stakeholders on cloud financial performance, usage trends, and operational spend planning.
- Drive and facilitate implementation of chargeback/showback strategies across services.
- Partner with Corporate Finance and procurement teams to improve spend tracking and cost modelling.
- Ensure platform management tooling supports visibility of cost drivers and consumption.
- Develop dashboards, reports, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for senior leadership on cloud financial performance.
- Identify optimisation opportunities and steer engineering initiatives to drive efficiencies.
- Support agile planning and scoping of infrastructure financial controls and enhancements.Lead communication of FinOps practices across teams, building technical capability and confidence.
Person specification
Essential Criteria:
- A degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Cloud Engineering, or IT Financial Management.
- Proven experience in financial management of cloud services (AWS/Azure).
- Strong understanding of platform engineering principles and cloud infrastructure.
- Expertise in cost modelling, budget forecasting, and consumption reporting.
- Hands-on experience with financial dashboarding tools (e.g., Power BI, Quicksight).
- Strong grasp of chargeback/showback mechanisms and tagging strategies.
- Ability to translate cloud usage data into meaningful business insight.
- Experience working with finance and procurement in cloud contexts.
- Proven track record of supporting technical teams to optimise cloud spend.
- Skilled in presenting technical-financial data to diverse audiences.
- Experience leading cost governance within agile or DevOps-oriented teams.
- Certification in AWS, Azure, or FinOps Foundation disciplines.
- Knowledge Budgeting and Funding processes and digital financial governance.
- Experience with FinOps tooling integration (e.g., CloudHealth, Apptio, native platform tools).
- Understanding of the Government’s Cloud First policy and UK Government Digital Standards (GDS) standards.
- Technical understanding of infrastructure provisioning and CI/CD pipelines.
- Familiarity with cost efficiency techniques such as rightsizing, reserved instances, and scaling automation.
- Experience with operational maturity and service improvement initiatives.
- Ability to contribute to technical documentation and financial policy guidance.
- Experience delivering change in cross-functional engineering environments.
- Background in supporting infrastructure transformation or commercial strategy.
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
This vacancy will be assessed using a competency-based framework which will assess your qualifications, knowledge and experience and skills and abilities outlined in the essential criteria.
Stage 1: Application & Sift
Competency-based assessment
You Will Be Required To Complete An Application Form. You Will Be Assessed On The Listed 11 Essential Criteria, And This Will Be In The Form Of:
- An Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
- 1000 word Supporting statement
Please note you will not be able to upload your CV. You must complete the application form in as much detail as possible. Please do not email us your CV.
The Application form and supporting statement will be marked together.
Longlisting:
In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist into 3 piles of:
- Meets all essential criteria
- Meets some essential criteria
- Meets no essential criteria
Shortlisting:
In the event of a large number of applications we will shortlist on the following essential criteria:
- Proven experience in financial management of cloud services (AWS/Azure).
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment.
Please do not exceed 1000 words in your supporting statement. We will not consider any words over and above this number.
Feedback will not be provided at this stage.
Stage 2: Interview
Competency based
You will be invited to a remote interview.
Knowledge, experience, skills & abilities will be tested at interview.
You Will Also Be Asked To Prepare And Present a 5 To 10 Minute Presentation During The Interview. The Subject Of This Will Be:
- FinOps methods and process on Cloud.
Interviews dates are yet to be confirmed.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Eligibility Criteria
Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).
Location
This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQ’s.
We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's core HQ’s (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London).
Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Salary Bands
Grade 7 National: £56,185 to £66,581
Grade 7 Outer London: £58,340 to £68,574
Grade 7 Inner London: £60,494 to £70,566
This role attracts a Market Pay Supplement of £5000 to £10,000.
Please note: If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.
Future location
UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down. For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK.
The new facilities will start becoming operational in the mid-2030s, with full completion by 2038. Staff will move in phases as facilities become available. If you're appointed to a role currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale or Porton Down, please note that we'll continue investing in these sites for the next decade. As we get closer to the transition, we'll provide full information about relocation support available to staff.
Security Clearance Level Requirement
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
Successful candidates will require Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) as a minimum with willingness and capability to work towards Security Check (SC) clearance.
You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years to obtain Security Check (SC) clearance. UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting at this higher level and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.
Reasonable Adjustments
The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone. To help you during the recruitment process, we will consider any reasonable adjustments that could help you. An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work. This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme. If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.
You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/
International Police check
If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and it could be time accrued over that period.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Link Below:
Artificial intelligence and recruitment , Civil Service Careers
Internal Fraud check If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for External candidates to the Civil Service.
Careers website
Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job Contact :
- Name : Carmelita Goodwin
- Email : carmelita.goodwin@ukhsa.gov.uk
- Email : recruitment@uhsa.gov.uk
The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: Complaints@ukhsa.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk