DER Integration Project Manager I, II, or III

Xcel Energy•Denver, MN

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Xcel Energy is hiring a DER Integration Project Manager at the Project Manager I, II, or III level, with the level determined by the selected candidate’s skills and experience. This role strengthens delivery of distributed energy resource (DER) interconnection work by managing consultant contracts, costs, capacity, throughput, and performance; coordinating internal and external study activities; maintaining visibility into active projects and risks; supporting regulatory and legal activities; and ensuring stakeholders have clear decisions, owners, deadlines, and follow-up actions. It provides technical project leadership without replacing detailed engineering authority, helping work progress, identifying barriers early, and escalating issues to engineering or management as appropriate. The role supports an expanding DER interconnection portfolio and aims to improve regulatory compliance, consultant oversight, schedule and cost discipline, stakeholder communication, and engineering capacity for core technical work. As a standard operations position, it provides end-to-end project management, leadership, and coordination for multiple large, complex projects or a transformational project work stream. The Project Manager is responsible for project initiation, approval, scope, schedule, cost, resource planning, and risk management, while aligning financial, compliance, safety, customer, and operational goals. The position leads teams toward project metrics and ensures effective sourcing, management, and engagement of resources. Xcel Energy supports a hybrid work model. Many roles are expected to work onsite three days per week, Tuesday through Thursday, although expectations vary by role, team, and business needs.

Requirements

Project Manager I: At least 5 years of work experience in operations, technology, finance, or a comparable function; utility experience preferred.
Project Manager I: Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Construction, Business, Information Technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Project Manager I: 3–5 years of project management and process improvement experience; some formal project management training preferred.
Project Manager II: At least 8 years of work experience in operations, technology, finance, or a comparable function; utility experience preferred.
Project Manager II: Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Construction, Business, Information Technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Project Manager II: 5–7 years of project management and process improvement experience; some formal project management training preferred.
Project Manager III: At least 10 years of work experience in operations, technology, finance, or a comparable function; utility experience preferred.
Project Manager III: Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Construction, Business, Information Technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Project Manager III: 10 years of project management and process improvement experience; project management certification preferred.
Demonstrated ability to lead and influence others; for Project Manager III, ability to facilitate and train others is also required.
Strong presentation and facilitation skills and excellent written and verbal communication skills for Project Manager I and II.
Understanding of core business processes and industry trends, with the ability to understand or interpret and apply ongoing changes.
Knowledge of project planning and business need justification processes and methodology.
Ability to adapt quickly to change and work in a diverse, cross-functional team environment; for Project Manager III, experience providing work direction to diverse or distributed teams is required.

Nice To Haves

Utility experience.
Vendor or contract management experience.
Formal project management training (Project Manager I and II).
Informal leadership experience and training skills (Project Manager II).
Project management certification (Project Manager III).
Distributed energy resource (DER) experience.
Renewables experience.

Responsibilities

Identify project options, develop business cases, and secure required approvals.
Lead requirements gathering and project planning with key stakeholders.
Develop solution designs and define appropriate project scope, alignment with corporate strategies, coordination with key initiatives, and project dependencies.
Define deliverables, success metrics, and milestone schedules; develop work plans, budgets, and cost-benefit analyses.
Manage delivery of project benefits and operational metrics, maintaining detailed project plans against approved scope and schedule.
Establish status reporting to monitor progress and resolve risks to project goals; identify opportunities for innovation and improvement.
Manage project budgeting, forecasting, actuals tracking, and financial variance analysis; recommend corrective action as needed.
Facilitate RFP and contract management processes, and manage assigned contracts, payments, and performance requirements.
Forecast, schedule, and manage internal and external resources; develop resource plans for matrixed teams to maximize skills and minimize costs.
Provide training and coaching to less experienced project team members, as appropriate to the role level.
Manage scope changes, identify project risks and issues, and develop mitigation strategies and contingency plans.
Communicate project status across all levels of the organization and establish collaborative relationships, including with senior leaders.
Coordinate consultant contracts, costs, capacity, throughput, and performance for DER interconnection work.
Coordinate internal and external study activities, track active projects and risks, and support regulatory and legal activities.
Clarify stakeholder decisions, owners, deadlines, and follow-up actions; identify barriers and escalate to engineering or management when appropriate.
Align financial, compliance, safety, customer, and operational goals across projects and the business unit or corporation.
Ensure effective sourcing, management, and engagement of project resources.