Senior Staff Data Engineer - Cloud Analytics & FinOps Engineering Platform

It all started in sunny San Diego, California in 2004 when a visionary engineer, Fred Luddy, saw the potential to transform how we work. Fast forward to today — ServiceNow stands as a global market leader, bringing innovative AI-enhanced technology to over 8,100 customers, including 85% of the Fortune 500®. Our intelligent cloud-based platform seamlessly connects people, systems, and processes to empower organizations to find smarter, faster, and better ways to work. But this is just the beginning of our journey. Join us as we pursue our purpose to make the world work better for everyone.

Team:

Join the Global Cloud Services organization as a founding member of our Cloud Analytics & FinOps Engineering Platform team. You will work closely with our Principal Software Developer and Principal DevOps Engineer to establish the data engineering foundation for ServiceNow's next-generation FinOps governance platform.

Role:

We are building a modern, secure, and highly scalable multi-cloud data platform infrastructure powering next-generation analytics to support ServiceNow's Cloud and AI growth. As our Principal Data Engineer for Cloud Analytics & FinOps Engineering Platform, you will architect, implement, and optimize the core data warehousing, transformation, and ETL infrastructure that powers our FinOps governance capabilities. You will serve as the primary FinOps engineering point of contact across ServiceNow engineering teams, translating functional requirements into scalable technical solutions while establishing data engineering best practices for enterprise-scale cost analytics.

This is a unique opportunity to build enterprise-grade data infrastructure from the ground up, drive technical leadership across teams, and establish ServiceNow as a thought leader in the FinOps space.

What you get to do in this role: 

Data Architecture & Engineering Leadership

• Design and implement scalable data warehousing solutions supporting petabyte-scale cost and usage analytics across AWS, GCP, Azure, and private data centers.
• Architect robust ETL/ELT pipelines using Apache Airflow, dbt, and modern orchestration frameworks for complex multi-cloud data ingestion and transformation.
• Establish data modeling best practices for cost allocation, showback/chargeback, and unit economics analysis while ensuring data quality, lineage, and governance across the platform.

Technical Translation & Cross-Team Collaboration

• Serve as the primary FinOps engineering point of contact across ServiceNow engineering teams, translating functional requirements from finance, product, and business stakeholders into comprehensive technical specifications.
• Collaborate with Software Developers and DevOps Engineers to coordinate implementation and delegate technical work across development and infrastructure teams.
• Drive technical decision-making on data architecture, tool selection, and implementation approaches while ensuring alignment with enterprise standards.

Hands-On Implementation & Optimization

• Build and optimize distributed query engines using Trino/Presto for complex analytics workloads across multi-cloud environments.
• Implement advanced data transformation logic using dbt for cost attribution, resource optimization, and financial analytics.
• Develop high-performance data ingestion connectors for hyperscaler billing APIs, ServiceNow internal systems, and enterprise financial systems.
• Optimize query performance and resource utilization for large-scale analytics workloads while maintaining strict SLAs.

FinOps Engineering Excellence

• Design and implement enterprise-grade showback/chargeback systems enabling detailed cost attribution across departments, projects, and services.
• Build automated cost optimization workflows and anomaly detection systems for proactive resource management.
• Establish data-driven insights for cloud cost forecasting, budget management, and resource rightsizing recommendations.
• Create self-service analytics capabilities enabling engineering teams to understand and optimize their cloud spend.

Platform Integration & Data Governance

• Implement comprehensive metadata management using Hive Metastore and Iceberg-compatible catalogs for data discovery and lineage tracking.
• Establish data quality frameworks with automated validation, monitoring, and alerting for critical financial metrics.
• Design secure data access patterns and implement role-based access controls for sensitive cost and usage data.
• Build integration layers connecting cost data with ServiceNow's broader analytics and business intelligence ecosystem.

Thought Leadership & External Presence

• Represent ServiceNow at industry conferences and FinOps community events, sharing best practices for enterprise-scale cost analytics and data engineering.
• Contribute to open-source projects and establish ServiceNow's presence in the modern data stack and FinOps communities.
• Drive technical content creation including whitepapers, blog posts, and conference presentations on data engineering for FinOps.
• Build strategic relationships with technology vendors and the broader data engineering community.

To be successful in this role you have: 

• Experience in leveraging or critically thinking about how to integrate AI into work processes, decision-making, or problem-solving. This may include using AI-powered tools, automating workflows, analyzing AI-driven insights, or exploring AI's potential impact on the function or industry.
• 10+ years of experience in data engineering with deep expertise in distributed data systems and cloud-native architecture
• Proven experience building and scaling data warehousing solutions on AWS, GCP, and Azure with hybrid cloud integration
• Expert-level proficiency with modern data stack technologies: dbt, Trino/Presto, Apache Airflow, and Apache Iceberg
• Advanced SQL skills and experience with query optimization for large-scale analytics workloads
• Hands-on experience with cloud cost management, FinOps data analysis, and showback/chargeback system implementation
• Strong programming skills in Python, Scala, and SQL with experience in data pipeline development
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field required
• Full professional proficiency in English

Technical Expertise

• Data Platform Technologies: Expert knowledge of Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, Parquet optimization, and modern table formats for petabyte-scale analytics
• Multi-Cloud & Data Integration: Experience with AWS (S3, Glue, EMR, Redshift), GCP (BigQuery, Dataflow, Composer), Azure (Synapse, Data Factory, Event Hubs), and private data center integration
• ETL/ELT Engineering: Advanced experience with Apache Airflow, dbt transformations, data quality frameworks, and real-time streaming architectures
• Query Engineering: Deep expertise with Trino/Presto optimization, Spark performance tuning, and distributed query engine management
• Cloud Cost Analytics: Proven track record building enterprise-scale cost attribution systems, multi-cloud billing integration, and automated optimization workflows

FinOps & Cost Management Expertise

• Demonstrated experience building showback/chargeback systems supporting thousands of users and multiple business units
• Multi-cloud cost optimization with automated resource rightsizing and waste detection algorithms
• Container and Kubernetes cost allocation with detailed namespace and workload-level attribution
• Experience with cloud billing APIs (AWS Cost Explorer, GCP Cloud Billing, Azure Cost Management) and rate optimization
• Understanding of enterprise procurement processes and vendor cost negotiation

Leadership & Communication

• Conference speaking experience and thought leadership in data engineering or FinOps communities
• Strong technical writing and documentation skills with ability to translate complex technical concepts for diverse audiences
• Proven ability to work autonomously while coordinating across multiple engineering teams
• Experience mentoring engineers and establishing technical best practices across organizations
• Excellent collaboration skills across engineering, finance, product, and business stakeholder groups

Nice to Have

• FinOps Certified Practitioner or AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty
• Open-source contributions to data engineering, Apache projects, or FinOps tools
• Experience with additional analytics tools (Lightdash, Tableau, Grafana) and data visualization
• Patent applications or publications in data systems, cost optimization, or cloud technologies
• Experience with machine learning platforms and AI-driven cost optimization

What We Offer

• Opportunity to build and architect enterprise data infrastructure from the ground up
• Work with cutting-edge data technologies and establish industry best practices
• Platform to drive thought leadership and represent ServiceNow in the data engineering community
• Collaborative environment with access to world-class engineering and analytics talent
• Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits package
• Professional development opportunities and conference speaking support
• Flexible work arrangements and comprehensive learning resources

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here. To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

Equal Opportunity Employer

ServiceNow is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or nationality, ancestry, age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other category protected by law. In addition, all qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with legal requirements. 

Accommodations

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are unable to use this online application and need an alternative method to apply, please contact [email protected] for assistance. 

Export Control Regulations

For positions requiring access to controlled technology subject to export control regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), ServiceNow may be required to obtain export control approval from government authorities for certain individuals. All employment is contingent upon ServiceNow obtaining any export license or other approval that may be required by relevant export control authorities. 

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