Daniel Siebert
Daniel Siebert

Curriculum Vitae

Daniel Siebert

Cloud FinOps & Financial Operations Consultant

15+ years in finance, SAP & cloud engineering · Automotive, facility services & international engagements

daniel@siebert.cv·Stuttgart, Germany

Professional Experience

Present

FinOps Consultant

Present

It's Value · Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany · Remote

  • Help organizations turn technology spend into a managed capability across cloud, on-premises, SaaS and emerging AI services, working between finance, engineering, procurement and the business.
  • Make costs visible, assign ownership, forecast with enough accuracy to decide, and remove waste without slowing delivery — through a FinOps operating model covering allocation, tagging standards, budgeting, forecasting, anomaly detection, showback/chargeback and unit economics.
  • Optimize cloud spend with rightsizing, commitments and reservations, and unused-resource hygiene, and extend the same discipline to AI: cost-per-token, cost-per-inference, GPU utilization and allocation of shared platforms.
  • Map technical costs to business services through IT financial management and TBM, and leave dashboards, working routines and stakeholder training so the capability continues. The work draws on an IT controlling and SAP FI/CO background together with hands-on AWS and FinOps practice.
2026

Cloud FinOps & Financial Operations Consultant

January 2026 – Present

Freelance · Stuttgart, Germany · Remote

  • Developed cloud and IT operating model concepts for large-scale organizations across financial services, industrial manufacturing, healthcare and energy markets, translating technical operations into finance-steerable cost, governance and reporting models.
  • Designed FinOps frameworks covering cost allocation, tagging governance, budget awareness and the integration of cloud consumption data into controlling and management reporting.
  • Built AI-native document and process automation solutions using Obsidian, LangGraph workflow orchestration and multi-agent systems, including human-in-the-loop review gates, evidence management and full auditability.
2025

DevSecOps / Cloud FinOps Intern & Project Contributor

August 2025 – December 2025

Webeet.io · Amsterdam, Netherlands · Remote

  • Acted as technical team lead for a group of 10 engineers, driving the design and operation of a secure, cost-optimized AWS infrastructure with a focus on reliability, performance and cost efficiency.
  • Led network architecture initiatives including VPC design, public/private subnet segregation and hardened NAT gateway implementation to ensure robust and secure connectivity.
  • Implemented FinOps automation measures such as automated shutdown of idle resources, orphaned resource cleanup and cloud cost alerting, resulting in improved cost visibility and efficiency.
  • Established CI/CD governance, observability and operational standards using GitHub Actions, ADRs, CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana and Loki.
2022

Senior Controller / Business Controller

March 2022 – May 2024

ISS Automotive GmbH · Stuttgart, Germany

  • Advised the CFO directly on strategic finance initiatives and a turnaround program aimed at improving cost efficiency, financial transparency and operational stability.
  • Served as the primary commercial finance partner for the Mercedes-Benz division, supporting 9 sites across Germany in cleaning, catering and technical services.
  • Redesigned cost and revenue structures through contract reviews, SAP analyses and offer approval processes; reorganized monthly management reporting in preparation for the divestment of German business activities.
  • Led monthly closing, variance analyses, budgeting and forecasting; managed critical balance sheet topics including IT cost-saving potential, fixed assets, accruals and open items.
2021

Head of Controlling Department

May 2021 – November 2021

Matrium GmbH · Ulm, Germany

  • Led a Controlling team of 12 employees across multiple locations with full disciplinary and functional responsibility.
  • Standardized and optimized monthly closing, controlling, reporting and planning processes at cost center level, covering direct costs, overheads, accounts receivable and accounts payable.
  • Introduced weekly team routines, meeting documentation, a responsibility matrix and reporting structures by trade and cost center manager.
  • Acted as finance point of contact for banks, insurance providers and the outsourced financial accounting provider; supported SAP FI/CO process changes and prepared the implementation of contract management software.
2019

IT & Software Project Controller / Finance Governance

April 2019 – April 2021

io-Consultants GmbH & Co. KG · Leonberg and Heidelberg, Germany

  • Managed end-to-end controlling of IT and software projects, from proposal preparation and steering to invoice tracking and change request management; identified and reported time- and cost-related inefficiencies in project delivery.
  • Supported post-merger change management, including process alignment, responsibilities and reporting structures.
  • Created and implemented finance governance guidelines for transfer pricing and internally generated intangible assets; significantly expanded and structured the group's transfer pricing documentation (GAufzV, functional & risk analysis, intercompany transactions).
  • Coordinated R&D activities and supported the implementation of a SAP PS-connected time recording and activity reporting system, including project assignment logic, resource mapping and audit-proof data handling.
2018

Parental Leave

October 2018 – March 2019
  • Focus on family with shared small trips and big everyday adventures.
2016

IT & Service Business Controller

October 2016 – September 2018

Daimler Fleetboard GmbH · Stuttgart, Germany

  • Prepared monthly closings, operational planning and budget reporting for IT- and service-related business areas.
  • Managed cost center controlling, budget planning and variance analyses for IT projects and reseller implementation activities.
  • Developed financial calculations for new business cases and supported OP planning for an international reseller implementation across multiple European markets.
  • Worked on transfer pricing and resale-minus structures; acted as finance interface for sales, IT, accounting and management with commercial power of attorney.
2014

IT Controller – IT Budget, Cost Center & Internal Billing

October 2014 – September 2016

Daimler AG · Stuttgart-Möhringen, Germany

  • Managed IT cost center controlling, budget monitoring and financial steering for IT-related organizational units and projects.
  • Maintained and structured budget and cost center data in Excel-based planning and reporting tools; coordinated operational budget planning and quarterly/year-end closing processes.
  • Prepared variance analyses, defined corrective measures and created management presentations and decision papers for department and division-level stakeholders.
  • Supported the rollout of an IT Financial Management planning tool and improved transparency in internal IT billing and cost allocation processes.
2012

Controller – Cost, Project & Process Controlling

October 2012 – September 2014

Matrium GmbH (Airbus subsidiary) · Unterschleißheim, Friedrichshafen and Ulm, Germany

  • Managed strategic and operational planning for business units and support functions, including revenue, cost and resource planning.
  • Prepared cost center planning, variance analyses and management reporting; led finance-related project workstreams including price calculations, contract negotiations and commercial decision support.
  • Built Excel-based costing and recalculation models and modeled financial process flows for Airbus Helicopters-related inventory and invoicing workflows.

Publications & Research

2026

Epistemic Infrastructure of Democratic Accountability under Digital Conditions

Zenodo · Independent Research · 2026

Architecture and governance blueprint for a High-Assurance Political Analysis System — addressing epistemic uncertainty, provenance, and probabilistic evaluation of political claims via a Hybrid Layered Network (HLN). German original + English translation.

DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19255013

2012

Mergers & Acquisitions: The Daimler-Benz AG Case Study

FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg · 2012

Restricted thesis (Verschlussarbeit, Diplom-Kaufmann, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2012) on M&A theory and the Daimler-Benz / Chrysler merger — three-phase model from strategy analysis, valuation, and due diligence through post-merger integration. Referent Prof. Dr. Kai-Ingo Voigt, supervisor Dipl.-Hdl. Steffen Brix. Draws on the Daimler AG archive (Stuttgart-Untertürkheim), annual reports and board protocols, and interviews with Jürgen E. Schrempp as well as Herr Grube (PMI) and Herr Bruns (Chief Accounting Officer); M&A frameworks from Prof. Jansen, data from Prof. Kummer.

Restricted thesis (Verschlussarbeit) · 166 pages · FAU library

Restricted thesis (Verschlussarbeit) · FAU library

2011

Termination of Low Performers (Kündigung von Low Performern)

GRIN Verlag · 2011

Academic study on socially justified person- and conduct-related dismissal under German employment law — performance standards, burden of proof, and the interplay of subjective vs. objective benchmarks.

Civil & commercial law · 72 pages

2011

Framework Conditions in China and India

GRIN Verlag · 2011

Academic study (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg) on geographic-cultural, political, economic, and legal conditions for domestic and foreign companies in China and India — analyzing commonalities and differences between the two emerging economies.

Business history · 54 pages · Kindle & paperback

Education

Software Engineering & Cloud DevOps Program

June 2024 – September 2025

MasterSchool Institute of Technology · Remote

  • Full-time Software Engineering & Cloud DevOps program with focus on Python, AWS, Terraform, Docker, CI/CD and FinOps principles.

Business Administration (Diplom-Kaufmann)

October 2008 – March 2012

Friedrich-Alexander-University · Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

  • Graduated with final grade of 2.2.
  • Specializations: Auditing, Business Law, Economic History.
  • Restricted thesis (Verschlussarbeit): M&A at Daimler-Benz AG.

Abitur (German university entrance qualification)

July 1999 – June 2003

Friedrich-List-Gymnasium · Kassel, Germany

  • Final grade: 2.5.

Certificates