IT Portfolio Lead, Procurement

Xcel Energy•Minneapolis, MN

About The Position

Are you looking for an exciting job where you can put your skills and talents to work at a company you can feel proud to be a part of? Do you want a workplace that will challenge you and offer you opportunities to learn and grow? A position at Xcel Energy could be just what you’re looking for. Position Summary The IT Portfolio Lead is responsible for key processes of the management of the IT Portfolio. They establish and operate systematic management to the investments, projects, financials, and ongoing IT Services. They provide consultation to ensure alignment and achievement of plans and IT Strategic objectives. They will provide portfolio analysis and risk assessment in the evaluation of business operations, and corresponding recommendations for improvement. They partner will leaders within respective areas to deliver impactful and actionable metrics. They will establish and maintain policies, tools, and processes to drive standard and lean practices across the Portfolio and leverage industry best practices. Working cross-organizationally, they drive acumen and help the IT Portfolio adhere to external standards and policies. They will lead a variety of key initiatives and special programs on behalf of their assigned portfolio. Focus areas in this role are: Accountable for assisting procurement in executing new application and renewal decisions (e.g., supporting vendor renegotiations, identifying pricing optimization opportunities, coordinating with application owners/other stakeholders) and guiding renewal evaluations (e.g., providing pricing benchmarks). Manages sourcing and procurement strategy for software spend. Facilitates contract negotiations and RFPs across vendors in partnership with sourcing and business unit. Engages application owners and sourcing for decisions in planning cycle.

Requirements

Seven years of related functional experience.
Bachelor's degree in Technology, Science, Business or related field, or 4 years of experience equivalent to the position.
Excellent communication skills, effective with varying organizational levels and skill set, and able to translate between technical and non-technical concepts.
Excellent Relationship Management and collaboration skills, with a track record of working as one team cross-organizationally to drive innovation and business results.
Experience in IT, Supply Chain or Finance.
Demonstrated experience in project management activities, including management of project financials and schedule.
At least 2 years of experience using project management tools, techniques and communication processes, or equivalent demonstrated knowledge and skills.
Expertise in policy and regulation compliance.
Demonstrated ability to work in a diverse, regulated and rapidly changing business environment.
Previous management of core business processes with proven ability to learn processes and cut waste and continuously improve solutions.
Demonstrated proficiency in using applicable process tools.

Responsibilities

Operations Management: Provide strategic business planning and consultation to ensure alignment and achievement of department plans and objectives. Use results from conducted analytics to make recommendations on improvement opportunities. Ensure performance of owned processes, and integrity of data and metrics being reported.
Process Management: Operate, and continuously improve internal business processes to drive strong audit and compliance outcomes, simplify and reduce manual effort, meet achievement of organizational KPIs, and improve customer experience. Ensure processes are sound in regard to design and data. Lead activities around tool, report, and process ease of use. Leverage industry best practices to mature tools, processes and practices.
Training/Communications: Provide training and communications as needed to ensure user understanding of processes, policies and procedures. Participate in the development and tracking of process and results metrics.
Relationship Management: Serve as the primary contact for users on respective owned processes. Utilize user/customer input to continuously improve ease and effectiveness of processes and tools.