Senior Director, Architecture

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.

 

Position Summary

The Sr Director, IT (Architecture) leads the Architecture function across Technology & Security Services and sets technical direction for the infrastructure, network, application and data domains. The role helps ensure Xcel Energy's technology choices are deliberate, reusable and established ahead of delivery rather than reviewed after the fact. 

This leader moves the function from a review-oriented, application-by-application model to an applied, capability-based model in which architects are embedded with delivery teams, domain reference architectures guide investment, and governance accelerates sound decisions. The Sr Director owns enterprise architecture governance and technology standards, provides leadership for architecture-related technology risk, and is accountable for architecture standards and cross-domain architecture decisions across the four domains. 

The role partners as a peer with Infrastructure, Data Analytics & AI, Application Delivery and Security leadership, and with VP-level business leaders, to align technology investment with business strategy. The role positions the enterprise for AI and data adoption, multi-cloud and operational technology (OT) integration, major program delivery, and rising regulatory, reliability and security expectations. 

Essential Responsibilities

• Domain architecture and reference architectures: Own the end-to-end architecture capability for the infrastructure, network, application and data domains. Shift from application-centric to capability-based domain reference architectures that serve as durable, reusable blueprints across the technology portfolio. Maintain target-state architectures and multi-year technology roadmaps for each domain.

 

• Applied architecture and delivery partnership: Embed architects with portfolio and delivery teams so architecture leads technically ahead of project needs. Engage early in planning and intake to shape solution direction before work begins. Provide hands-on architectural leadership for major enterprise programs, such as SAP and Customer Core, and resolve cross-domain design issues quickly. 

• Governance, standards and decision leadership: Establish and continuously improve a lightweight enterprise architecture governance model focused on value and speed. Chair architecture review councils and design forums and provide decision leadership for cross-domain architecture. Define, publish and retire enterprise technology standards, patterns and policies covering cloud, integration, infrastructure, network, data, security and AI. 

• Technology strategy and emerging technology:  Shape enterprise technology strategy with TSS leadership. Lead architecture for multi-cloud platforms and data architecture across clouds, the enterprise AI platform and control plane, including runtime, guardrails and agentic orchestration, automation, observability and IT/OT integration. Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend adoption paths that balance agility with operational resilience. 

• Technology risk, resilience and compliance: Proactively identify and mitigate architecture-related technology risk, including technical debt and end-of-life platforms. Ensure solutions meet security, reliability, scalability and regulatory requirements, including NERC CIP and other utility obligations, and support critical systems' customer and regulatory commitments.

• Stakeholder and partner leadership: Act as a peer partner to TSS leadership and a trusted advisor to VP-level business leaders. Influence and navigate competing priorities to drive adoption of standards and reference architectures. Manage strategic relationships with technology vendors, system integrators and the contingent workforce. 

• Talent development and organizational leadership: Lead, coach and develop a high-performing architecture organization, including the Distinguished Architect role and architecture leaders. Build domain expertise and leadership bench strength, establish an architecture career path, and lead talent strategy including insourcing and outsourcing decisions. Foster a culture of safety, technical excellence, inclusion and continuous learning. 

• Financial and portfolio management: Establish and deliver capital and O&M budgets for Architecture. Use architecture to optimize total cost of ownership across the technology portfolio through platform consolidation and reuse. Develop and present architecture and investment business cases to the IRC/FC and executive leadership.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in business, information technology or related field or equivalent experience. Masters degree preferred.
• 15+ years of related IT systems experience - general IT operations with organizational design, strategy, and integration across multiple business functions.
• At least 5 years middle-management experience.
• At least 10 years of experience supporting multiple and/or complex projects.
• Sound understanding of core business processes, industry trends, technology developments and IT environments.
• Ability to understand changes in business process and technology and adapt technology to meet business needs.
• Ability to comfortably interact with VP-level business leadership.
• Ability to lead diverse cross-functional teams.
• Ability to negotiate and build consensus.
• Solid internal and external network of business/ technology professionals at the senior executive level preferred.

Preferred Requirements

• Experience in a utility, energy or other regulated, critical-infrastructure industry, including familiarity with OT environments and NERC CIP.
• Experience leading an architecture organization through a shift from process-centered governance to embedded, applied architecture.
• Hands-on architecture experience with major cloud platforms (for example, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud or AWS) and with enterprise AI and data platforms.
• Experience with large ERP or customer-system transformations.
• Industry certifications such as TOGAF or cloud architecture certifications.
• A strong internal and external network of business and technology professionals at the senior executive level.

 

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. 

Non-Bargaining

 

The anticipated starting base pay for this position is: $200,000.00 to $250,000.00 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: 11/25/26

 

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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. 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.