Senior​/Principal Security Architect; OT

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 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.

The security architect ensures that Xcel’s technology services are designed and delivered securely across both Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) environments. This role emphasizes security for industrial and critical infrastructure facilities such as electric substations, gas compressor stations, and generation sites. This is an opportunity to partner with operations and engineering teams to define practical security approaches that protect reliability and safety while enabling business outcomes.

A successful candidate will bring hands‑on experience in roles such as controls engineering, field technician/field operations, or industrial control system (ICS) design or operations, along with strong security architecture skills. They will advise stakeholders on security methods and practices, champion best practices and standards that reduce risk across Xcel’s footprint, and collaborate with peers across security, technology, and business teams.

• OT/ICS Security Architecture:
  Work with the business to define security patterns and reference architectures for industrial control environments (e.g., SCADA, DCS, PLC/HMI).
• Network Segmentation & Remote Access:
  Define and govern segmentation (zones/conduits), secure remote access, and monitoring strategies for OT networks and vendor/contractor connectivity.
• Governance & Standards:
  Develop security control baselines, hardening standards, and exception processes for OT assets and supporting infrastructure; ensure compliance drift is managed.
• Operational
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Partner with controls engineering, field technicians, plant operations, and maintenance teams to implement security improvements that work in real-world operating environments.
• Incident Readiness:
  Improve detection and response for OT environments, including logging/telemetry requirements, playbooks, and tabletop exercises with operations.
• Documentation and Reusability:
  Create products such as use cases and implementation patterns.
• Regulation and Compliance:
  Ensure adherence to regulatory frameworks such as NERC CIP and TSA Security Directive 2, including applicability to OT facilities and supporting IT/cloud services where used.

• Minimum of 8 years’ experience in IT, including 5 years’ direct experience in IT engineering and cyber security.
• Demonstrated verbal/written communication and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating with internal stakeholders, 3rd parties, and management.
• Ability to influence without direct authority.
• Experience with technology implementation projects for enterprise-scale organizations.

• 5 years of experience in systems architecture or systems engineering.
• 10 years of experience in Information Security.
• 3 years of experience designing complex systems.
• 3 years of experience with systems integration and engineering.
• Strong oral and written…