Operations Planner Team Lead - Northern

Are you looking for an exciting job where you can put your skills and talents to work at a company you can feel proud to be a part of? Do you want a workplace that will challenge you and offer you opportunities to learn and grow?  A   position at Xcel Energy could be just what you’re looking for.

Summary The Operations Planner Team Lead serves as the subject matter expert and leader for planning, scheduling, and coordinating operational work across multiple functional areas and regions. This role provides strategic oversight of multi-week scheduling and daily coordination activities, ensuring operational readiness, resource optimization, and compliance with safety and regulatory standards.

Lead mentors and develops planners, drives process improvements, and acts as a key liaison between field operations leadership, design, and external stakeholders. This position sets high standards for operational excellence and customer satisfaction while fostering collaboration and accountability across teams.

Strategic Scheduling & Planning: Oversee development and maintenance of a rolling 0–12+ week schedule for designated regions or commodity areas, ensuring alignment with priorities, compliance, and resource availability. Identify gaps, resolve scheduling conflicts, and make recommendations for resource adjustments to optimize efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Facilitate quarterly planning meetings to forecast workload and resource needs. Operational Readiness & Coordination: Review all aspects of projects prior to assigning work, ensuring prerequisites (permits, locates, traffic control, vegetation management) are met. Coordinate equipment, materials, and third-party services to enable timely work execution. Maintain visibility into real-time work queues and manage exception work outside normal scheduling windows. Leadership & Mentorship: Mentor and train Operations Planners/Sr. Operations Planners and other team members, providing guidance on scheduling practices, system use, and operational standards. Set high performance standards and encourage continuous improvement across the team. Provide backup leadership to Operations Managers and act as a consultative resource for system improvements and process changes. Resource Management & Optimization: Monitor and forecast personnel, equipment, and material needs across multiple areas. Optimize allocation of contract and employee resources to minimize costs and maximize schedule adherence, safety, and compliance. Performance Analysis & Continuous Improvement: Analyze scheduling and work execution performance to identify opportunities for improvement. Facilitate monthly metric review meetings and lead process change initiatives to enhance operational efficiency. Drive adoption of standardized work practices and company initiatives for operational excellence. Stakeholder Engagement & Customer Focus: Build and maintain strong partnerships with supervisors, field leaders, and external stakeholders. Champion timely and professional communication with customers and stakeholders regarding scheduling and outages. Represent Distribution Operations in cross-functional meetings and negotiate adjustments to meet customer and compliance deadlines. Accountability for Results: Ensure timely job closeout, accurate documentation, and financial stewardship of O&M and capital work. Oversee emergency response and storm restoration efforts, prioritizing safety and service reliability. All other duties as assigned.

Associate’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. 8 years of experience in construction, design, maintenance, or operations (utility experience strongly preferred), with 5 years in a senior planning role (e.g. Sr Operations Work Coordinator). Demonstrated mastery in scheduling, planning, and operational coordination within utility or construction industries. Strong analytical, organizational, and