Product Manager, FinOps

Open source is our beating heart and it’s something that fuels our work and our culture. It’s where we began. It’s where we’ll always be. Our vision is to become the trusted open source data platform for everyone. We are a Cast of over 400 individuals (‘Crabs’) located across the globe. Why Crabs? Because we believe in thinking sideways. And right now, we’re looking for sideways-thinking Product Manager.

The Product team at Aiven lies at the core of our organization. This is a great opportunity to become an integral team member as a Product Manager.

We look for Product Manager who can work around problems by finding new angles. That means both creative and lateral approaches. Thinking sideways.

You will have the opportunity to collaborate with world-class tech people solving the toughest problems, where almost every project you work on is more complex and technically challenging than the previous one.

If you relish pushing your technical boundaries, come join us. Because if you can truly think sideways, you’ll never look back.

So, how do we become the trusted open source data platform for everyone? By listening closely to our customers and taking action to ensure they achieve their business goals. You see, the software we create is merely a means of delivering value. Our thinking is customer-first. That’s why our customers are at the front and center of all we do. And in the spirit of sideways thinking, we’re by their side as well. Actively helping them solve their challenges. Collaborating. Sharing. And innovating. In other words, it really isn’t just about who we are. It’s about who our customers are – and where they want to be.

We want individuals who can embody our values of ownership, courage, and openness.

What does that mean in practice?

We take ownership of the problems we solve. What we do is about improving life for our customers, enabling them to meet their goals. So we own our decisions and mistakes. Sometimes that takes courage. But we don’t falter – we take on challenges with confidence. And right at our heart is openness. We’re always open to new ideas – from wherever and whoever they come.

We are looking for a customer-focused product manager who will help us establish a FinOps foundation and discipline within Aiven to help fuel future growth.

The platform is the connective tissue that enables Aiven customers to configure, provision, use, and monitor one of 11 open-source applications (Kafka, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, Flink, ClickHouse, Prometheus, OpenSearch, Grafana, and more) in one of a dozen cloud providers, in any region throughout the world, to build the next great innovative application. Aiven runs across all major clouds and has highly advanced platform capabilities which are leveraged globally with more than 150 regions supported.

In this role, you will be a key contributor in a newly formed group within Aiven’s platform product management team. Your charter will be to create awareness and adoption of FinOps and cloud financial management best practices with key stakeholders throughout Aiven. As the Product Manager, you will be responsible for identifying, prioritizing, and implementing cost optimization opportunities.

• Track Aiven’s cloud spend, and drive the creation of unit costs for each Aiven service and plan.
• Work with Aiven engineering and SRE teams to identify and prioritize cost optimization opportunities. You will define and prioritize the roadmap, and work with Aiven service teams to implement changes across the portfolio where required.
• Work with Aiven engineering and SRE teams on tooling and data warehousing
• Help define, execute, and track cost optimization actual results vs goals.
• Recommend and implement commercial and internal tools that enable greater cost transparency and reporting within Aiven service teams. Your goal is to create broad awareness and ownership of cost optimization by service teams, amplifying your impact.
• You will prepare weekly business metrics reports that summarize the most significant achievements, risks, opportunities, and key metrics. Where required, you will also define an action plan to remediate risks or take advantage of opportunities.
• You will partner with Aiven Finance to support the creation of cloud cost and gross margin forecasts, forecast purchase commitments, etc.
• Work with the cloud providers to influence roadmaps for key services used by Aiven.
• Work with the Aiven pricing Product Manager to influence pricing, and to balance revenue and margin.
• You will establish, and periodically evaluate Aiven’s FinOps performance with industry best practices. Make recommendations for change as necessary.

Don’t worry if your experience doesn’t line up perfectly – we still encourage you to apply We believe in investing in our crabs’ professional growth.

• 3 to 5 years of experience as a Product Manager in a SaaS or cloud services, driving cross-functional initiatives throughout their lifecycle from conception to planning to execution to delivery.
• 3 years of experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP infrastructure.
• Familiar with FinOps or Cloud Financial Management concepts, service pricing, optimization
• Familiar with cloud instance types
• Familiar with cloud cost reporting tools, e.g., AWS Cost Explorer, Cost and Usage Report (CUR)

• Technically oriented. Perhaps a Solutions Architect or consultant in a previous role
• One or more public cloud certifications, e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate.
• FinOps Certified Practitioner
• Experience with cloud infrastructure and service pricing

If you ask us what’s the best thing about working for Aiven, many will probably say it’s the high concentration of talent from around the world that we have here. Enjoy the agile environment of a hyperscale scale-up where you can truly make an impact and have fun while at it.

• Participate in Aiven’s equity plan.
• With Aiven locations spanning the globe, we want all of our crabs to find the right balance with our hybrid work policy.
• Get the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
• Step up your career game with real employer support (use one of our learning platforms, annual learning budget, and more).
• Get holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.

• Contribute to open source projects that you find meaningful outside of work - and get paid for it Our Plankton program recognizes extra work to the open source ecosystem for developers and non-developers alike.
• Use up to 5 days per year to volunteer for a good cause of your choice.
• Join one of our team member resource groups - empower yourself and others in missions that resonate with you.

• Your wellbeing matters: we’ve got your wellbeing covered with private medical & dental health insurance, as well as a childbirth cash benefit.
• Need insurance? We’ve got you covered - benefit from our: Employer's liability insurance, Personal Accident, Illness & Travel Insurance, Group Life Assurance, Office Insurance, Group Income Protection and Business & Leisure Travel Accident Insurance.
• Looking after your future: benefit from our provided Pension Plan.

If you think Aiven is the place for you, send us your CV and we’ll get in touch.

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Here at Aiven, all of our emails relating to recruitment come from an @aiven.io, @greenhouse.io or @eu.greenhouse.io domain and all of our interviews are conducted over video call or in person, our interviews will never occur over text or chat. If you’re unsure of the legitimacy of a job opportunity/offer pertaining to Aiven, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at recruitment@aiven.io.

Aiven provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, marital and family status or without regard to any other similar personal attributes. Aiven complies with applicable local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, training and any other terms and conditions related to employment.

At Aiven we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs in our working environment and job application procedures. We make all reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or who otherwise need support to thrive in the workplace. We are committed to continuously improving workplace accessibility. There is an option to request a discussion in the application process but if you have any questions before applying please write to us at recruitment@aiven.io.

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