Product Owner - Agentic Voice Response (AVR)

Xcel Energy Services Inc; Concord (CA); Hybrid; USD 98,000 - 139,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual Incentive Program

Medical/Pharmacy Plan

Dental

Vision

Life Insurance

Dependent Care FSA

Health Care FSA

HSA

Short-term disability

Long-term disability

Employee Assistance Program

Pension

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Holidays

Parental Leave

Job summary

Xcel Energy is seeking a Product Owner to drive the AVR and related AI customer experiences. You will lead the product vision, roadmap, and delivery across a cross-functional team of Xcel Energy and vendor partners while aligning with broader digital transformation objectives.

You will set KPIs, refine requirements, and ensure solutions meet customer needs, accessibility and responsible AI standards, partnering with stakeholders for successful change management and delivery.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, project management, design or related fields or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in business, marketing, project management, product management, or 4 years of direct Agile product management experience.
• Strong ability to collaborate with senior-level stakeholders and communicate to varied audiences.
• Deep knowledge of Agile processes (Scrum, SAFe, Kanban) and cross-functional teamwork.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy and development for AVR and related AI customer experiences.
• Manage product delivery team and align to roadmap and KPIs.
• Coordinate with stakeholders on change management and contact center readiness.
• Define product vision and roadmap within digital transformation strategy.
• Lead agile scrum team (≈15 members) and coach on performance.

Skills

Agile methods

Cross-functional collaboration

Stakeholder management

Effective communication

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in business/marketing/design

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.

Position Summary

Accountable for the development and execution of the vision, strategy and stakeholder alignment necessary to deliver on the Xcel Energy priority to enhance the customer experience through AI-enabled voice self-service (AVR). The Product Owner will be responsible for building new and strengthening existing relationships to ensure alignment to the broader organizational objectives, while creating new growth opportunities. Serves as the subject matter expert and holds Xcel product decision rights, responsible for developing and delivering the product vision and roadmap to meet organizational milestones. They will apply agile principles and processes to lead a development team of Xcel and vendor partners to ensure work is prioritized to focus on those with maximum value and aligned with the product vision. Responsible for identifying and capturing customer feedback, understanding trends, applying market and user research, and relevant data points.

Essential Responsibilities

Lead the strategy and development for AVR and related Xcel Energy customer AI experiences, providing scalable and best in class capabilities. Responsible for all product delivery team work and success criteria. Manage business stakeholders and proactively develop solutions that address problems and meet objectives. Work with stakeholders to provide effective change management, including contact center readiness, to create a successful product delivery. Create product vision and oversee the development of the product roadmap to align to the overall organizational digital transformation strategy. Set goals and KPIs, such as containment, customer effort and cost to serve, which reflect customer needs and the company strategy with the ultimate goal of quality. Clearly define user stories, refine requirements and backlog according to product roadmap. Effectively communicate needs of users to design and engineering teams. Test development to confirm that it meets requirements and accessibility and responsible AI standards. Test product with end users to make sure it meets customer needs. Monitor and document results to ensure that product development activities achieve strategies, adhere to process, maintain schedule, manage risk and budget. Accept or reject vendor deliverables against defined acceptance criteria. Lead agile scrum team (~15 members) to successfully implement initiatives and achieve goals while providing coaching, managing performance expectations and escalation of issues appropriately and effectively. Lead sprint meetings as dictated by program or team charter, which may include but are not limited to, sprint planning, daily stand ups, sprint reviews, and demonstrations to stakeholders.

Minimum Requirements

Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, project management, design or related fields or a combination of education and experience providing equivalent knowledge. Minimum of 8 years of experience in business, marketing, project management, product management, or 4 years of direct Agile product management experience. A strong collaborator with a proven ability to build and maintain senior level relationships. Ability to effectively communicate to a variety of audiences and break down complex scenarios. Demonstrated leadership abilities, including decision making through ambiguity and influence on immediate and longer-term strategies. In-depth knowledge with Agile process and principles (Scrum, SAFe, Kanban). Proven success working with cross functional teams and stakeholders on large strategic and product management initiatives. Experience implementing customer and/or employee digital solutions and processes.

Preferred Requirements

Experience developing, deploying or managing AI agents (for example, conversational, voice or generative AI agents) in a customer-facing environment. Experience monitoring and improving AI agent performance in production, including evaluation, accuracy, drift, safe human handoff and responsible AI controls.

Our culture

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: $97,600.00 to $138,600.00 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.

Deadline to Apply: 11/16/26

EEO is the Law (PDF) | Equal Opportunity Statement (PDF) | Employee Rights (PDF)

All Xcel Energy employees and contractors share responsibility for protecting the company's information and systems by adhering to cybersecurity policies, standards, and best practices, recognizing that cybersecurity is everyone's responsibility.

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.

You. Us. Together. At Xcel Energy, we’re more than an energy company. We’re reinventing how we power communities. Redefining how we care for customers. Reaffirming our commitment to the planet. We’re committed to leading with equity and inclusion. You’re not waiting for change – you’re creating it. You’re driven to protect the environment, support your community, and seek innovation. You want a career that grows with you and an employer who values you. You are reliable, trustworthy and bring integrity to everything you do. We are leading the way in clean energy. We’re using technology and innovation in every facet of our company. We’re providing safe, stable jobs with robust benefits. We keep our customers at the center of all we do. We’re committed to hiring a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Together, we can provide carbon-free electricity by 2050. Together, we can take care of the environment and our communities. Together, we can create a place where everyone belongs. Together we’re building a better tomorrow.