Lead, Integrated Transmission & Distribution Planning

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 manager is responsible for coordinating the transmission and distribution work contributing to an integrated system plan covering all Xcel Energy’s commodities: resource, transmission, distribution, and gas. The manager supervises subject matter experts from transmission and distribution planning to create an integrated system planning process and toolset that addresses multiple scenarios and is backed by strong technical analysis. The role coordinates with the Model Innovation and Strategy team to develop tooling and automation to execute the transmission and distribution portions of the integrated plan.

The Manager reviews transmission and distribution work for accuracy and provides robust documentation of assumptions, programs, and decisions supporting plan development. The role works with partners inside Xcel Energy to support assumptions development, share progress, and disseminate the plan outcomes. The manager helps other teams within Integrated System Planning to adopt and use developed tools and processes. The manager fosters a collaborative, high-performance team environment grounded in analytical rigor and cross-functional partnership.

Essential Responsibilities

• Implement the vision and strategy for integrated plan development within the transmission and distribution work streams, working with the Model Innovation and Strategy team to leverage data mining, visualization techniques, technology, and model process improvement to support integrated strategic plans for all Operating Companies. Create and maintain the framework to turn technical analysis of transmission and distribution into new insights, recommendations, and reports that will support business decisions and major initiatives.
  
  Work with the Director to conduct outreach with internal stakeholders at key milestones during plan development and promote the plan.
• Support developing and maintaining new statistical, algorithmic, data mining and visualization techniques to integrate transmission and distribution with resource planning, economic planning, and gas planning models along with other relevant modeling tools and resources. Ensure these new tools and methods are used in integrated planning studies to effectively plan the transmission and distribution systems within the Xcel Energy footprints.
• Oversee and validate updates to the input files and assumptions for transmission and distribution. Ensure consistency of data and tools across all operating companies. Oversee technical analysis and confirm adequate documentation of methods and assumptions.
• Collaborate with peers and consumers of the integrated plan to identify and implement process enhancements and innovations to the transmission and distribution work streams. Identify gaps in process or analyses and support continuous improvement efforts.
• Perform the management functions of the department including the development of personnel. Lead, mentor and develop a team of engineers engaged in developing the integrated planning process and toolset to support long-term transmission and distribution analyses that enable Xcel’s goals related to reliability, sustainability and affordability.

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Math/Finance, or related field is required
• At least 7 years of experience in one or more of the following areas: transmission planning or distribution planning
• Demonstrated success in a supervisory or lead role overseeing complex technical projects and relationships
• Strong relationship building abilities and partnership skills, including the ability to work effectively across multiple levels of the organization to achieve results with a largely virtual and distributed team
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to quickly synthesize data and develop recommendations for senior leaders
• Strong…