Principal Business Functional Consultant, Transformation (Process Governance)

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.

Principal Business Functional Consultant, Transformation (Process Governance)

Position Summary:

The Principal Business Functional Consultant serves as a strategic business partner within the Business Area to drive enterprise level transformation outcomes. Specifically, it is responsible for defining and enforcing how business processes are owned, changed, and governed across transformation programs and major projects. The role provides deep subject matter expertise, operational insights, and high impact process recommendations to support business readiness and the successful delivery of transformational or major project initiatives.

This role brings deep process and operational expertise to ensure end‑to‑end business processes are designed, governed, and implemented consistently and in alignment with customer journeys, regulatory obligations, and enterprise standards. The Process Governance Lead partners closely with business leaders, program delivery teams, technology teams, and change enablement to drive decision clarity, cross‑functional alignment, and sustainable process outcomes.

The position is program‑facing but grounded in operational reality, ensuring transformation solutions are executable, governable, and support long‑term operational ownership.

This role does not include direct people leadership; influence and authority are driven through governance ownership, decision rights, and subject‑matter expertise.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Serve as a strategic advisor for business functional teams by providing deep subject matter expertise, operational insights and high impact process recommendations across business functions. 
• Define and operationalize how business processes are owned, changed, and governed across transformation initiatives.
• Establish clear ownership and decision rights for end‑to‑end business processes, including escalation paths and approval authority.
• Define and maintain standard process definitions aligned to customer journeys, ensuring consistency across functions and solutions.
• Design, facilitate, and participate in process governance forums to review, prioritize, and approve process changes.
• Ensure process decisions, standards, and changes are documented and clearly communicated to impacted stakeholders.
• Lead cross‑functional coordination to manage process impacts, dependencies, and downstream operational implications.
• Implement ongoing monitoring and feedback mechanisms to assess process performance and support continuous improvement.
• Serve as a senior process and functional expert supporting transformation programs and major projects.
• Ensure business requirements and process needs are accurately captured, validated, and translated into design and delivery artifacts.
• Provide expert review and quality assurance for functional and process documentation, including process flows, user stories, use cases, and operational readiness materials.
• Identify operational, compliance, and adoption risks early and partner with delivery teams to ensure mitigation strategies are incorporated into program plans.
• Act as a liaison between business operations, transformation leadership, technology teams, and change enablement to ensure user experience, process integrity, and compliance are prioritized.
• Ensure processes are designed for long‑term operational ownership, including controls, handoffs, metrics, and post‑go‑live governance.
• Support the definition of process KPIs and performance measures to enable sustained adoption and continuous improvement.
• Partner with operational leaders to ensure effective transition from program delivery to business‑as‑usual ownership.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in business or related field; or equivalent combination of training and relevant experience.
• 7+ years of experience in business operations, process management, transformation delivery, or cross‑functional programs.
• Demonstrated expertise in end‑to‑end business process design, governance, and operational integration across multiple functions.
• Proven ability to influence decision‑making across business, technology, and change teams without direct authority.

Preferred Qualifications

• Tues/Wed/Thurs in the office hybrid model
• Regular travel to CO/MN is required