Christopher J. Mahan
Cloud Architect · FinOps · Data & AI · Cloud Governance · AWS
Sioux Falls, South Dakota · [email protected] · chrisjmahan.com
Summary
Cloud architect, FinOps leader, and data scientist with 9+ years of AWS experience supporting large-scale government and mission-critical systems, across cloud architecture, software engineering, DevOps, data science, data management, FinOps, cloud governance, and enterprise analytics.
Currently supporting the Landsat mission and USGS programs at KBR: architecting cloud solutions, managing AWS infrastructure, optimizing cloud financial performance, governing enterprise data, and translating complex technical and financial information into recommendations for engineering leadership, program management, and government stakeholders.
Experience
KBR, Sioux Falls, SD
Progressive technical leadership roles supporting the Landsat / USGS mission · 2018 – Present
Lead FinOps Engineer
2025 – Present- Lead FinOps and cloud financial management across AWS environments supporting mission-critical government programs.
- Own cloud cost visibility, financial analysis, forecasting, budgeting, reporting, and accountability across technical and program stakeholders.
- Analyze AWS consumption, utilization, and spending trends to find cost optimization, rightsizing, waste reduction, and governance opportunities.
- Develop and automate financial reporting workflows with Alteryx and enterprise analytics platforms, improving consistency, efficiency, and data quality.
- Build executive-level dashboards and financial visualizations with Tableau, Grafana, Athena, and Redshift.
- Partner with engineering, cloud operations, and program teams to strengthen FinOps adoption, cost accountability, and optimization practices.
Senior Landsat Data Manager
2022 – Present- Lead enterprise-scale Landsat data management: ingestion, validation, storage, distribution, accessibility, and lifecycle governance of critical Earth observation datasets.
- Manage high-volume geospatial and remote-sensing data workflows across cloud and on-premises environments, maintaining integrity, availability, and continuity.
- Support AWS-based data processing architectures designed for scalability, reliability, and automation.
- Develop data governance processes for data quality, metadata validation, auditing, stewardship, and long-term lifecycle management.
- Perform large-scale operational and data analysis with Elasticsearch, Kibana, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, Athena, Redshift, Tableau, and Grafana.
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship across cloud operations, data management, analytics, and process improvement.
Data Scientist II
Earlier role- Applied data-driven methods to operational, financial, and technical datasets to find trends, anomalies, and optimization opportunities.
- Built analytical workflows, dashboards, and reporting with SQL, Python, Tableau, Grafana, Elasticsearch, Athena, Redshift, PostgreSQL, and Alteryx.
- Translated business and mission questions into measurable data solutions with engineers and program stakeholders.
Cloud DevOps Engineer II
Earlier role- Designed, implemented, and automated AWS infrastructure for cloud-native applications and mission-critical processing environments.
- Developed infrastructure as code with Terraform, CloudFormation, AWS CDK, AWS SAM, and Ansible.
- Built and maintained CI/CD with Git, GitLab CI/CD, and Jenkins across EC2, Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, RDS, S3, Athena, Redshift, CloudWatch, and EKS.
Systems Engineer II
Earlier role- Designed and supported enterprise systems integrating application, infrastructure, data, and operational requirements for Landsat and USGS mission workflows.
- Performed systems analysis, troubleshooting, and performance analysis; produced architecture diagrams and technical procedures.
Software Engineer II
Earlier role- Designed and developed AWS cloud-native and serverless applications for operational workflows, cloud inventory, data processing, and image processing.
- Built APIs, data-processing workflows, and integrations with Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, RDS, S3, Athena, Redshift, and CloudWatch.
- Mentored junior engineers and supported onboarding through technical guidance and documentation.
Founder & builder, independent products
Ongoing- Design, build, and operate eight live products end to end, including PolicyChecked (insurance tech with AI document analysis) and Everkinly (private memorials, Stripe, Postgres RLS).
- Run everything on AWS with infrastructure as code, least-privilege IAM, and FinOps discipline: most products cost a few dollars a month to operate.
- Consulting through Ufanzo in AI automation, data, cloud and FinOps.
Certifications
FinOps Certified Practitioner (FOCP)
FinOps FoundationCloud financial management: cost visibility, forecasting, optimization, governance, and collaboration among finance, engineering, and business.
Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP)
DAMA InternationalData governance, data quality, metadata, data architecture, data lifecycle, and enterprise data management.
Education
B.S., Computer Science & Software Engineering, Augustana University
2018 · GPA 3.7B.S., Computer Information Systems, Augustana University
2018 · GPA 3.8Dean's List · Computer Science Club · University Newspaper
Skills
- Cloud & AWS
- Lambda · API Gateway · DynamoDB · RDS · S3 · Athena · Redshift · CloudWatch · EC2 · EKS · IAM · VPC · CloudFront · SES
- Infrastructure as code & DevOps
- CloudFormation · AWS CDK · AWS SAM · Terraform · Serverless Framework · Ansible · GitLab CI/CD · Jenkins · CodeBuild
- FinOps
- Cost visibility · Forecasting · Budgeting · Rightsizing · Utilization analysis · Financial modeling · Executive reporting
- Data & analytics
- SQL · PostgreSQL · Python · Tableau · Grafana · Alteryx · Elasticsearch · Kibana · Data governance · Metadata management
- Software & AI
- TypeScript · Next.js · React · Node.js · Supabase · Postgres RLS · Stripe · Claude / LLM APIs · Vitest · Playwright
Community
DAMA South Dakota, Founding Member
Growing South Dakota's data-management community through education and professional development.
Children's Rescue International, Volunteer Contributor
Website development, online presence, social media, and donation services.
LSS Mentoring, Community Mentor
Mentoring youth on values, ethics, and personal growth.