Principal IT Architect (Operational Technology)

Xcel Energy is a leading combination electricity and natural gas energy company serving millions of customers across eight Western and Midwestern states. With a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services, Xcel Energy is committed to being the preferred and trusted provider of the energy its customers need. The company prides itself on innovation, reliability, and a dedication to corporate responsibility while offering a supportive and inclusive workplace. Xcel Energy promotes diversity and equal opportunity employment, ensuring all qualified applicants receive consideration without discrimination. Employees and contractors are also expected to uphold cybersecurity standards as a shared responsibility. Located in multiple regions including Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Denver, Colorado, Xcel Energy provides a robust benefits package along with competitive compensation.

The OT Subject Matter Expert (SME) role at Xcel Energy serves as a deep technical and functional authority focusing on the company’s mission-critical Operational Technology (OT) platforms, specifically Electric Distribution, Electric Transmission, and Gas Distribution and Transmission systems. This position centers on architectural continuity, operational insight, and cross-team coordination encompassing design, integration, access, cybersecurity, and operational readiness activities. The SME acts as a critical link between architecture, operations, cybersecurity, identity and access management, network and firewall teams, as well as external vendors to guarantee that OT systems are designed and operated in compliance with reliability standards, regulatory mandates, and security requirements.

This full-time role offers an anticipated starting salary range of $156,100 to $195,000 per year and is classified as a non-bargaining position. The OT SME will develop platform roadmaps that foster coherent evolution of OT data platforms while retiring technical debt and emphasizing long-term stability and operational efficiency. The incumbent will influence architecture and design discussions, author OT standards for project implementations, validate SCADA and other real-time data integration designs, and champion OT identity and access management solutions. This includes managing user provisioning, certificate-based authentication, and firewall constraints, while collaborating closely with IT domains intersecting OT operations.

A key aspect of this role is strengthening observability standards to ensure effective alerting and reporting mechanisms within OT environments. The SME will engage regularly in cross-functional coordination, translating complex technical concepts into accessible insights for leadership and stakeholders, and promoting unified communication among often siloed teams. The candidate is expected to have a strong architectural acumen across multiple technological domains such as network, infrastructure, software, hosting models, and security.

Xcel Energy emphasizes ongoing learning and growth opportunities, encouraging innovation and collaboration to meet the rapidly evolving demands of the energy sector. With a supportive culture and a comprehensive benefits program, this role is ideal for professionals looking to contribute to a sustainable and secure energy infrastructure while advancing their careers in a forward-thinking organization.