Security Engineer – Cloud Security (AWS)

Xcel Energy; Denver (CO); Hybrid; USD 98,000 - 139,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual Incentive Program

Medical/Pharmacy Plan

Dental

Vision

Life Insurance

401(k) Plan

Job summary

Xcel Energy is seeking a Security Engineer – Cloud Security (AWS) to build and run a robust AWS cloud security program, focusing on risk visibility, guardrails, and automation. The role requires collaboration with stakeholders and a shift toward Azure as the program matures.

It reports to the Manager, Vulnerability Management and involves in-person interview in Minneapolis or Denver. The ideal candidate will own AWS security across accounts, implement preventative controls, and drive remediation

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of information security experience.
• Strong hands-on experience with AWS and security concepts.
• Experience with AWS IAM, networking, logging, monitoring, and workload security.
• Familiarity with SAP cloud security in AWS environments is a plus.
• Ability to communicate risk clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience with APIs, scripting or automation for data integration.

Responsibilities

• Be the primary cloud security engineer for AWS environments (commercial, GovCloud).
• Use AWS security tools to identify and analyze risk.
• Maintain visibility across IAM, networking, and workload security.
• Develop and implement guardrails and controls to reduce risk.
• Collaborate with teams to drive remediation and automation.

Skills

AWS cloud security

AWS IAM

DevSecOps

risk assessment

scripting/APIs

communication to stakeholders

independent program building

Tools

Inspector

Security Hub

GovCloud

Azure (planned)

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.

Role Summary

The Security Engineer – Cloud Security (AWS) is responsible for building and running the AWS cloud security program with a focus on reducing risk through visibility, guardrails, and automation. This role identifies and analyzes cloud security risk, drives remediation through stakeholders, and implements preventative controls to reduce exposure over time. The role operates in an advisory capacity and does not perform direct operational changes. Initial focus is AWS across commercial and GovCloud environments, with planned expansion to Azure once the AWS program is mature. This position reports to the Manager, Vulnerability Management. It will be required to interview in person in Minneapolis, MN or Denver, CO.

Primary Objectives

• Build and mature the AWS cloud security program with clear ownership, processes, and workflows.
• Identify, prioritize, and communicate cloud security risk across environments and stakeholders.
• Implement preventative controls and guardrails to reduce risk before deployment.
• Leverage automation and integration to reduce manual effort and improve consistency.
• Support remediation by driving findings to the appropriate owners and tracking outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary cloud security engineer for AWS environments, including commercial, GovCloud, dev, and test accounts.
• Use AWS native security capabilities such as Inspector, Security Hub, and related services to identify and analyze risk.
• Maintain visibility across IAM, network configuration, logging, monitoring, and workload security posture.
• Identify issues such as overly permissive access, unused accounts, misconfigurations, and exposure risks.
• Develop and implement guardrails, policies, and controls to prevent insecure configurations and reduce attack surface.
• Promote the use of hardened images, containers, and standardized builds to reduce risk at deployment.
• Integrate cloud security findings into existing workflows and coordinate remediation with responsible teams.
• Work closely with Cloud Platform, SAP, Enterprise Architecture, and other teams to implement meaningful security improvements.
• Partner with Application Security teams to support DevSecOps practices, including CI/CD pipeline integration, gates, and automation.
• Support SAP cloud security needs and maintain awareness of SAP-specific risks within AWS environments.
• Use APIs, scripting, and integration to automate data collection, analysis, and workflow execution.
• Analyze cloud risk in context and communicate clear, actionable recommendations to stakeholders.
• Support logging and monitoring capabilities setup and integration while deferring operational ownership to SOC/IR teams.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience in information security.
• Strong hands‑on experience with AWS cloud environments and security concepts.
• Strong understanding of AWS IAM, networking, logging, monitoring, and workload security.
• Experience using AWS native security tools such as Inspector, Security Hub, or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of DevSecOps principles, CI/CD pipelines, and application security fundamentals.
• Basic understanding of SAP environments in cloud‑hosted architectures.
• Experience identifying and communicating risk related to cloud configurations and architecture.
• Strong analytical and complex technical problem‑solving skills.
• Ability to communicate technical risk clearly to non‑technical stakeholders.
• Experience with APIs, scripting, or automation for data integration and workflow execution.
• Ability to operate independently and build a program with limited oversight.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience across multiple cloud environments, including AWS multi-account and GovCloud architectures.
• Experience supporting Azure cloud environments.
• Experience implementing preventative security controls such as guardrails, policy enforcement, or pipeline gating.
• Experience improving data quality and visibility across multiple cloud and security data sources.
• Experience working with enterprise cloud platform, networking, or architecture teams.

Certifications

• AWS Certified Security – Specialty required.
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional or AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional preferred.

Work Location

Hybrid role requiring three days per week in the office. Must be located within Xcel Energy territory and reasonably close to an Xcel Energy facility. Denver, Colorado and Minnesota areas preferred.

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 Reimbursement Account
• Health Care Reimbursement 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: 09/29/26

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.