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Director, Large Load Program Management

Xcel Energy

Minneapolis, MN · HybridJob$148–211K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$148–211K/yr
Location
Minneapolis, MNHybrid
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

The Director, Large Load Program Management provides strategic leadership for program and project management supporting large-load growth. The role owns the end-to-end deal lifecycle across workstreams, coordinates multidisciplinary teams, and guides governance, resourcing, scope, risk, and reporting. It advises senior leadership on program strategy and business alignment while supporting growth initiatives, including demand from large-load customers such as data centers.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Program ManagementProject ManagementCross-Functional LeadershipSenior Leadership AdvisingMatrixed Team ManagementChange LeadershipCommunicationExecutive PresentationLarge-Load GrowthData Center Growth

Qualifications

Bachelor's in Business, Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or Related FieldMaster's or MBA10+ Years Program/Project Management Experience7+ Years Large-Scale Capital or Growth Initiatives ExperiencePMP or Equivalent Certification

Benefits

Medical Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance

Full job description

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a leading energy provider and Fortune 500 company, dedicated to serving millions of electricity and natural gas customers across eight states: Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico and Texas. We make energy work better for our customers, helping them thrive every day. That means always raising the bar - delivering better service and providing more reliable, resilient, and sustainable energy.

Xcel Energy is a place where you’ll have opportunities to grow, expand your skills, and help lead the clean energy transition. We offer meaningful rewards, recognition, and support to help you build your career and make an impact - both on the job and beyond. Most importantly, it means you’ll be joining a company that knows employees are the driving force behind its success and is committed to helping you be your best.

Xcel Energy supports a hybrid work model to enable collaboration and flexibility. Many roles are expected to work onsite three days per week (Tuesday–Thursday); however, work location expectations vary based on role, team, and business needs.

Director, Large Load Program Management

Position Summary

Xcel Energy’s Enterprise Growth and Commercialization group aims to modernize and expand the energy grid while driving economic growth and sustainability to meet the evolving energy needs of the communities it serves, including large load customers such as data centers. This role will support Xcel’s growth initiatives as a cross-company focused program management initiative lead, driving deal execution and programmatic initiatives to ensure deal throughput and meet the market demand for large load growth and also benefit all customers.

Provides strategic leadership and executive-level direction for program and project management activities supporting large-load growth. Owns the end-to-end deal lifecycle across workstreams, coordinating multi-disciplinary teams and ensuring consistent use of governance, tracking, and reporting tools across the initiative. Accountable for navigating business and regulatory processes, advising senior leadership on program strategy, and ensuring quality and schedule requirements are met across all workstreams. Reviews and prioritizes resourcing requests across the initiative’s workstreams to inform phased staffing decisions. Defines program governance and charter, sets strategic direction and business alignment across workstreams, prioritizes resourcing requests, oversees scope and risk mitigation, builds relationships with internal stakeholders, and delivers executive reporting on program status.

Essential Responsibilities

  • Program Governance: Define and maintain program charter, organization structure, and governance model; own governance meeting cadence and reporting to senior leadership.

  • Strategic Oversight & Business Alignment: Provide executive-level direction across the program’s workstreams and establish business plans, goals, and objectives in line with enterprise growth strategy.

  • Resource Planning: Review and prioritize resourcing requests across the program; advise leadership on phased resourcing decisions.

  • Scope & Risk Management: Oversee processes related to scope, cost control, change management, and risk mitigation across workstreams.

  • Relationship Management: Establish effective, collaborative working relationships with internal organizations and senior leadership to maximize program efficiency.

  • Reporting & Communication: Prepare executive reporting and communicate program status, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership.

  • Perform special projects and other duties as required.

Minimum Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, construction management, project management, or related field preferred; Master’s or MBA a plus.

  • Minimum of 10 years’ experience in program/project management, including leadership of cross-functional teams.

  • Minimum of 7 years of experience in large-scale capital or growth initiatives; utility experience preferred.

  • Demonstrated ability to advise senior leadership and manage matrixed, multi-disciplinary teams.

  • Strong change leadership, communication, and executive presentation skills.

  • Demonstrated experience with large-load or data center growth initiatives preferred.

  • PMP or equivalent certification preferred.

Our culture is grounded in shared values and employee commitments that guide how we work, support one another, and grow together.

Our Values

Connected, Committed, Trustworthy, Safe

Our Employee Commitments

  • Work that makes a difference

  • A team you can count of

  • Opportunities to grow

  • Rewards that help you thrive

Xcel Energy provides job applicants reasonable accommodations for disabilities throughout the application process. If you are in need of an accommodation to complete the application process, now or at any time in the future, please complete the Applicant Accommodation Request Form (https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=g6WyJAVcaku06U4S3AAlrVld9SFTyvlNkqxgjYWAK9xUQ1JIS1JUSjg3TkNXU1hVU01PS1pVSEVDNSQlQCN0PWcu&route=shorturl) .

Non-Bargaining

The anticipated starting base pay for this position is: $148,400.00 to $210,733.00 per year

This position is eligible for the following benefits: Annual Incentive Program, Long Term Incentive, Medical/Pharmacy Plan, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, Health Care Flexible Spending Account, Health Savings Account (HSA) (if enrolled in eligible health plan), Limited-Purpose FSA (if enrolled in eligible health plan and HSA), Transportation Reimbursement Account, Short-term disability (STD), Long-term disability (LTD), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Fitness Center Reimbursement (if enrolled in eligible health plan), Tuition reimbursement, Transit programs, Employee recognition program, Pension, 401(k) plan, Paid time off (PTO), Holidays, Volunteer Paid Time Off (VPTO), Parental Leave

Benefit plans are subject to change and Xcel Energy has the right to end, suspend, or amend any of its plans, at any time, in whole or in part.

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information including but not limited to dates of school attendance and graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Deadline to Apply: 11/30/26

EEO is the Law (PDF) | Equal Opportunity Statement (PDF) | Employee Rights (PDF)

All Xcel Energy employees and contractors share responsibility for protecting the company's information and systems by adhering to cybersecurity policies, standards, and best practices, recognizing that cybersecurity is everyone's responsibility.

Accessibility Statement

Xcel Energy endeavors to make https://www.xcelenergy.com and https://jobs.xcelenergy.com accessible to any and all users. If you are in need of an accommodation to complete the application process, now or at any time in the future, please complete the Applicant Accommodation Request Form (https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/DyR78vcb7K) . For any other application related questions, including application follow-ups or technical issues, please use our Recruiting Assistance, Electra, for assistance. Electra can be found in the lower right-hand corner of our Xcel Energy Careers site.

How this job compares

Set against the 10,895 open Program Management jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 8, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$148–211K/yr
  • Minnesota median$126–202K/yr144 salary ranges
  • US median$126–203K/yr8,234 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $180K, is 8% above the Minnesota median midpoint ($166K) — in the middle half of Program Management salary ranges in Minnesota.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 166 open Program Management jobs in Minnesota and 10,895 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Minnesota
Experience
This posting asks for at least 10 years of experience; Program Management postings that state a minimum ask for 7 years at the median (9,308 postings).
Education
3,991 of the 10,895 open Program Management jobs (37%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 8, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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