H-1B Visa Planning Consultant Jobs
Planning Consultant jobs with H-1B visa sponsorship are available at urban planning firms, government contractors, and infrastructure consultancies that file Labor Condition Applications for degree-level roles. This position typically qualifies as a specialty occupation under H-1B rules, requiring at least a bachelor's degree in urban planning, public policy, or a related field.
Find H-1B Visa Planning Consultant JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 149+ Planning Consultant jobs
See all 149+ Planning Consultant Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Planning Consultant roles.
Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
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
The Senior Consultant, HR Planning & Enablement turns Human Resources + Employee Services (HR+ES) priorities into well-managed programs, integrated plans, clear milestones, and measurable results. The role provides the planning, portfolio, financial and execution discipline that helps HR leaders and teams deliver consistently across functions.
The role manages operating reviews, selected cross-functional programs, portfolio and resource visibility, performance measures, and repeatable enablement approaches. It coordinates stakeholders, identifies competing priorities and dependencies, supports financial and resource planning, and strengthens processes and ways of working so leaders have the information and structure needed to make decisions and sustain progress.
Success comes from making complex work easier to execute, creating visibility and accountability without unnecessary bureaucracy, and building practical tools, routines, and continuous improvement practices that strengthen outcomes across HR+ES.
Essential Responsibilities
Program & Project Management:
- Manage selected HR+ES programs from definition through implementation to support timely, coordinated delivery.
- Build and maintain integrated program plans, milestones, roles, decision points, risks, dependencies, and follow-up actions.
- Coordinate stakeholders and workstreams across HRBPs, COEs, Shared Services/Operations, and other HR+ES and enterprise partners.
- Identify barriers, risks, and decisions requiring leadership attention and facilitate timely resolution.
- Reinforce clear ownership and accountability for commitments and delivery.
Performance Management & Operating Reviews:
- Manage the Monthly Operating Review (MOR) and related performance forums to provide leaders with consistent visibility to progress, performance, risks, and results.
- Coordinate inputs across HR+ES and strengthen the quality, clarity, and business relevance of insights presented.
- Connect measures and performance information across functions to highlight emerging themes, implications, and areas requiring leadership attention.
- Track decisions, commitments, risks, and follow-up actions to reinforce accountability.
- Support a consistent operating rhythm that enables leaders to move from performance insight to action.
Strategy Execution & Portfolio Coordination:
- Maintain an integrated view of HR+ES priorities, including sponsors, owners, milestones, dependencies, risks, resource needs, financial considerations, and expected outcomes.
- Identify competing commitments, capacity constraints, and cross-functional dependencies.
- Provide visibility needed to support leadership sequencing, resource, and investment decisions.
- Partner to support budget planning, forecasting, resource management, and financial reviews.
- Connect financial and resource information to portfolio priorities and execution.
Design Enablement Programs:
- Provide program and project management for selected HR+ES priorities requiring coordination across multiple functions.
- Connect approved organization design and effectiveness priorities to the integrated HR+ES portfolio.
- Build integrated plans and milestone views and coordinate participating HR functions and partners.
- Track dependencies, decisions, risks, resources, and commitments and coordinate implementation readiness across HR workstreams.
Ensure the appropriate capability owner is engaged while HRBPs and business leaders retain organization design decisions.
Measurement, Analytics & Business Insight:
- Partner with Workforce Planning & Analytics and initiative/functional owners to use agreed measures and insights in HR+ES performance reviews.
- Connect results and insights across functions to provide a more integrated view of performance.
- Identify implications, trends, and areas requiring increased visibility or follow-through.
- Translate data and performance information into clear insights that support leadership discussions and decisions.
- Leverage existing functional analytics products while maintaining ownership of those products within the accountable function.
Process, Tools & Continuous Improvement:
- Identify opportunities to simplify work, improve consistency, and strengthen operational effectiveness across HR+ES.
- Create repeatable processes, tools, and ways of working that improve execution and enable more consistent outcomes.
- Support adoption of continuous improvement practices and operational enhancements across HR+ES.
- Improve processes and ways of working to strengthen outcomes for leaders, employees, and HR teams.
- Partner with functional owners where specialized methodologies or capabilities are required.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Organizational Effectiveness, Project Management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- At least 5 years of related experience in HR, program or project management, strategy execution, operations, organizational effectiveness, consulting, analytics, finance, or continuous improvement.
- Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional projects or programs from planning through implementation and follow-through.
- Experience organizing and communicating data, risks, decisions, and progress for leadership audiences.
- Strong facilitation, stakeholder management, written communication, and organizational skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities independently and bring structure to ambiguous work.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience supporting strategic planning, operating reviews, organization design, workforce transformation, or HR implementation programs.
- Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), Lean Six Sigma, Prosci, or comparable experience.
- Experience in a large, complex, or regulated organization.
- Experience creating executive presentations, dashboards, playbooks, or implementation tools.
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: $84,900.00 to $125,000.00 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: 11/21/26
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.
INTRODUCTION
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
The Senior Consultant, HR Planning & Enablement turns Human Resources + Employee Services (HR+ES) priorities into well-managed programs, integrated plans, clear milestones, and measurable results. The role provides the planning, portfolio, financial and execution discipline that helps HR leaders and teams deliver consistently across functions.
The role manages operating reviews, selected cross-functional programs, portfolio and resource visibility, performance measures, and repeatable enablement approaches. It coordinates stakeholders, identifies competing priorities and dependencies, supports financial and resource planning, and strengthens processes and ways of working so leaders have the information and structure needed to make decisions and sustain progress.
Success comes from making complex work easier to execute, creating visibility and accountability without unnecessary bureaucracy, and building practical tools, routines, and continuous improvement practices that strengthen outcomes across HR+ES.
Essential Responsibilities
Program & Project Management:
- Manage selected HR+ES programs from definition through implementation to support timely, coordinated delivery.
- Build and maintain integrated program plans, milestones, roles, decision points, risks, dependencies, and follow-up actions.
- Coordinate stakeholders and workstreams across HRBPs, COEs, Shared Services/Operations, and other HR+ES and enterprise partners.
- Identify barriers, risks, and decisions requiring leadership attention and facilitate timely resolution.
- Reinforce clear ownership and accountability for commitments and delivery.
Performance Management & Operating Reviews:
- Manage the Monthly Operating Review (MOR) and related performance forums to provide leaders with consistent visibility to progress, performance, risks, and results.
- Coordinate inputs across HR+ES and strengthen the quality, clarity, and business relevance of insights presented.
- Connect measures and performance information across functions to highlight emerging themes, implications, and areas requiring leadership attention.
- Track decisions, commitments, risks, and follow-up actions to reinforce accountability.
- Support a consistent operating rhythm that enables leaders to move from performance insight to action.
Strategy Execution & Portfolio Coordination:
- Maintain an integrated view of HR+ES priorities, including sponsors, owners, milestones, dependencies, risks, resource needs, financial considerations, and expected outcomes.
- Identify competing commitments, capacity constraints, and cross-functional dependencies.
- Provide visibility needed to support leadership sequencing, resource, and investment decisions.
- Partner to support budget planning, forecasting, resource management, and financial reviews.
- Connect financial and resource information to portfolio priorities and execution.
Design Enablement Programs:
- Provide program and project management for selected HR+ES priorities requiring coordination across multiple functions.
- Connect approved organization design and effectiveness priorities to the integrated HR+ES portfolio.
- Build integrated plans and milestone views and coordinate participating HR functions and partners.
- Track dependencies, decisions, risks, resources, and commitments and coordinate implementation readiness across HR workstreams.
Ensure the appropriate capability owner is engaged while HRBPs and business leaders retain organization design decisions.
Measurement, Analytics & Business Insight:
- Partner with Workforce Planning & Analytics and initiative/functional owners to use agreed measures and insights in HR+ES performance reviews.
- Connect results and insights across functions to provide a more integrated view of performance.
- Identify implications, trends, and areas requiring increased visibility or follow-through.
- Translate data and performance information into clear insights that support leadership discussions and decisions.
- Leverage existing functional analytics products while maintaining ownership of those products within the accountable function.
Process, Tools & Continuous Improvement:
- Identify opportunities to simplify work, improve consistency, and strengthen operational effectiveness across HR+ES.
- Create repeatable processes, tools, and ways of working that improve execution and enable more consistent outcomes.
- Support adoption of continuous improvement practices and operational enhancements across HR+ES.
- Improve processes and ways of working to strengthen outcomes for leaders, employees, and HR teams.
- Partner with functional owners where specialized methodologies or capabilities are required.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Organizational Effectiveness, Project Management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- At least 5 years of related experience in HR, program or project management, strategy execution, operations, organizational effectiveness, consulting, analytics, finance, or continuous improvement.
- Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional projects or programs from planning through implementation and follow-through.
- Experience organizing and communicating data, risks, decisions, and progress for leadership audiences.
- Strong facilitation, stakeholder management, written communication, and organizational skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities independently and bring structure to ambiguous work.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience supporting strategic planning, operating reviews, organization design, workforce transformation, or HR implementation programs.
- Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), Lean Six Sigma, Prosci, or comparable experience.
- Experience in a large, complex, or regulated organization.
- Experience creating executive presentations, dashboards, playbooks, or implementation tools.
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: $84,900.00 to $125,000.00 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: 11/21/26
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.
See all 149+ H-1B Visa Planning Consultant Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new H-1B Visa Planning Consultant Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding H-1B Visa Sponsorship as a Planning Consultant
Align your degree to specialty occupation standards
USCIS evaluates whether your planning degree directly relates to the role's duties. A degree in urban planning, public policy, environmental studies, or civil engineering strengthens your petition. If your degree is in an adjacent field, document how your coursework maps to core planning functions.
Verify prevailing wage before accepting an offer
Your employer's LCA must certify a wage at or above the DOL prevailing wage for your specific location and planning occupation code. Use the OFLC Wage Search to look up the wage level before negotiations so you aren't accepting below the certified threshold.
Find sponsors through Migrate Mate by role and city
Planning Consultant roles are sponsored unevenly across markets. Search Migrate Mate by job title and metro area to identify employers with verified H-1B visa LCA filing history for planning positions, so you're targeting firms already set up to sponsor rather than educating hiring managers from scratch.
Confirm each worksite has a certified LCA
Planning consultants often rotate across client sites or government project locations. Each new worksite requires its own certified LCA from DOL before you begin work there. Raise this with your employer before assignment changes, since non-compliance creates status risk for both parties.
Prepare a portfolio that documents specialty-occupation duties
USCIS may issue a Request for Evidence questioning whether planning work meets specialty occupation standards. Build a portfolio showing degree-level analysis, regulatory interpretation, or technical planning outputs. Position descriptions that emphasize field-based or administrative tasks without academic complexity invite RFEs.
Time your petition around cap-subject status carefully
If you're transitioning from OPT or another visa category, the H-1B cap selection rules have changed recently, so confirm current mechanics directly with USCIS before assuming a filing timeline. Your employer needs to initiate the I-129 process with enough lead time for premium processing if your start date is firm.
H-1B Visa Planning Consultant: Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Planning Consultant role qualify as an H-1B specialty occupation?
Yes, Planning Consultant roles typically qualify as a specialty occupation when the position requires at least a bachelor's degree in urban planning, public policy, environmental science, civil engineering, or a closely related field. Employers document this requirement in the job description and in the I-129 petition. Roles that substitute general experience for a specific degree in a directly related field are more likely to receive a Request for Evidence from USCIS.
Which employers sponsor H-1B visas for planning consultants?
Infrastructure and environmental consulting firms, transportation planning agencies, urban development contractors, and large engineering firms regularly file H-1B LCAs for planning roles. Government prime contractors working on federal or state planning projects are also consistent sponsors. Browse Migrate Mate to find employers with verified H-1B filing history specifically for planning and policy positions in your target city.
What happens if my planning project moves to a new worksite during my H-1B period?
Each worksite where you perform H-1B work must have its own certified Labor Condition Application. If your employer assigns you to a client site not covered by your existing LCA, they must file a new one with DOL before your first day at that location. Short-term placements under ten consecutive days at a non-listed site may qualify for a limited exception, but your employer's immigration counsel should confirm eligibility before you rely on it.
How does the O*NET classification affect my H-1B petition as a planning consultant?
USCIS uses the O*NET occupation profile and the corresponding Standard Occupational Classification code to evaluate whether the role meets specialty occupation standards and to benchmark prevailing wage levels. The O*NET profile for urban and regional planners requires knowledge of government regulations and planning methods at a degree level. If your employer's job description aligns with this profile, it strengthens the specialty occupation argument in the I-129 petition.
Can I extend my H-1B beyond six years as a planning consultant?
H-1B status is initially granted for up to three years and can be extended to a maximum of six years. Extensions beyond six years are possible only if your employer has filed a PERM labor certification or an I-140 immigrant petition on your behalf and specific conditions under AC21 are met. Without an active green card sponsorship process meeting those thresholds, six years is the standard ceiling for H-1B status.