DER/ BESS Engineer (Staff, Senior, or Principal)

Xcel Energy; Denver (CO); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 157,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual Incentive Program

Medical/Pharmacy Plan

Dental, Vision, Life Insurance

Job summary

Xcel Energy is seeking a staff engineer to lead DER integration and grid modernization efforts across its distribution system. You will support interconnection studies, energy storage projects, and cross-functional coordination from concept through operation.

This hybrid role offers collaboration with multiple teams and involves working onsite part of the week to align with business needs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering from ABET accredited; electrical degree preferred.
• 2+ years of relevant engineering experience.
• EIT/FE strongly preferred; PE may be required depending on business need.

Responsibilities

• Uses and applies standards to perform activities of limited scope.
• Supports development of technical documentation and procedures.
• Provides ongoing technical support for project activities across Operations and Regulation.
• Coordinates or leads projects or portions of projects under supervision.
• Supports bid/evaluation processes with basic analysis and calculations.
• Communicates effectively with internal teams and external stakeholders.

Skills

DER interconnection

Power systems

Grid modernization

SCADA integration

Project coordination

Education

ABET-accredited engineering degree

Electrical engineering degree preferred

EIT/FE strongly preferred

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.

The below job summary and responsibilities reflect the staff engineer level role. The successfully chosen candidate will be placed at a level that is commensurate with their skills and experience as different skills and/or experience will be required at the senior and principal engineer levels.

Position Summary

The Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Engineer provides technical support and leadership for the planning, design, integration, and deployment of distributed energy resources across Xcel Energy's distribution system. This role focuses on DER interconnection, power systems engineering, distribution planning, battery energy storage systems (BESS), grid modernization, SCADA and controls integration, and engineering coordination.

The engineer will support DER, energy storage, microgrid, and grid modernization projects from concept through commissioning and operation. Working closely with Project Managers and cross-functional teams, this position coordinates technical execution across Engineering, Operations, Planning, Regulatory, Cybersecurity, Telecommunications, Customer Solutions, and external stakeholders to ensure the safe, reliable, and cost-effective integration of emerging grid technologies.

Focus Areas

• Perform DER interconnection studies and power system analyses supporting safe, reliable grid integration.

Distribution Planning & Grid Modernization

• Support distribution planning and grid modernization to improve system reliability and performance.

BESS, Microgrids & DER Deployment

• Lead technical implementation of BESS, microgrid, and DER projects from development through operation.

SCADA, Controls & Operational Technology

• Support DER integration with SCADA, DERMS, ADMS, and related controls and communications.

Engineering Coordination & Project Execution

• Coordinate with Project Managers, internal teams, and external stakeholders to deliver projects.

Regulatory & Stakeholder Support

• Provide technical expertise supporting regulatory, stakeholder, and grid modernization initiatives.

Essential Responsibilities

• Uses and applies technical standards, principles, theories, concepts, and techniques to perform activities/assignments of limited scope.
• Supports the development of technical documentation (including but not limited to designs, testing, calculations, reports, standards, etc.) Utilizes and may assist with the development of procedures.
• Provides ongoing technical support for project activities within areas such as Operations, Maintenance, Testing/diagnostics, Regulatory, etc. May provide field engineering oversight for activities such as commissioning, testing, inspections etc. under direct supervision.
• Coordinates/leads projects or portions of projects (including phases such as research, design, equipment selection, procurement support, installation and commissioning), under the direction of a higher level engineer or supervisor.
• Under the direction of a higher level engineer/supervisor, supports bid/evaluation processes by performing basic analysis and calculations on existing documentation and materials that support the preparation of bid documents. In completing segments of technical evaluations for proposals may need to effectively communicate with other business areas of the company following appropriate processes.
• Effectively exchanges information in all formats, on matters having a wide range of importance and complexity both inter-organizationally and with outside customer/vendors.
• May coordinate the work of interns, drafters, technicians, and/or others and provides guidance and mentoring to less experienced engineers. Responsible for continuous self development of technical skills and competencies.
• May perform activities such as budgeting, estimating, forecasting, accounting, work order management, in support of engineering projects.

Staff Engineer Level (Salary Range: $81,800-$106,267)

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering from ABET accredited, electrical engineering degree preferred
• 2+year's relevant engineering experience. Demonstrated broad knowledge & proficiency in specialty area, knowledge of related specialties, & general knowledge of other related disciplines.
• Ability to demonstrate the unique technical skills & core competencies for this engineering level established & documented by the organization.
• EIT/FE (Engineer in Training/Fundamentals of Engineering) strongly preferred.

Senior Engineer Level (Salary Range: $97,000-$129,267)

Minimum Requirements

• Required bachelor’s degree in engineering from ABET accredited curriculum, electrical engineering degree preferred
• 5+ years relevant engineering experience with EIT/FE (Engineer in Training/Fundamentals of Engineering) required; 7+ years relevant engineering experience without EIT/FE.
• Ability to demonstrate the unique technical skills and core competencies for this engineering level established & documented by the organization.
• Preferred PE (Professional Engineer) registration may be required depending on business need.

Principal Engineer (Salary Range: $112,000-$156,600)

Minimum Requirements

• Required bachelor’s degree in engineering from ABET accredited curriculum, electrical engineering degree preferred
• 9+ years relevant engineering experience with PE (Professional Engineer) registration required; 15+ years relevant engineering experience without PE.
• Ability to demonstrate the unique technical skills and core competencies for this engineering level established & documented by the organization.

Preferred

• PE license preferred (EIT/FE a plus).
• Experience with DER interconnection, power systems, distribution planning, BESS, grid modernization, and SCADA/controls.
• Experience supporting utility, renewable energy, energy storage, or microgrid projects.
• Knowledge of DERMS, ADMS, EMS, SCADA, IEEE 1547, and utility interconnection practices.
• Strong project leadership, cross-functional coordination, and stakeholder engagement skills.

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: $70,000.00 to $156,600.00 per year

This position is eligible for the following benefits: Annual Incentive Program, 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.

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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 (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.