diff --git a/crates/stackable-operator/CHANGELOG.md b/crates/stackable-operator/CHANGELOG.md
index ff1f5790..c1f59d25 100644
--- a/crates/stackable-operator/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/crates/stackable-operator/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- Added `ListenerClass.spec.loadBalancerClass` field ([#986]).
+
+[#986]: https://github.com/stackabletech/operator-rs/pull/986
+
 ## [0.87.4] - 2025-03-17
 
 ## [0.87.3] - 2025-03-14
diff --git a/crates/stackable-operator/src/commons/listener.rs b/crates/stackable-operator/src/commons/listener.rs
index b088e395..4b666fbf 100644
--- a/crates/stackable-operator/src/commons/listener.rs
+++ b/crates/stackable-operator/src/commons/listener.rs
@@ -51,6 +51,21 @@ use crate::builder::pod::volume::ListenerOperatorVolumeSourceBuilder;
 pub struct ListenerClassSpec {
     pub service_type: ServiceType,
 
+    /// Configures whether a LoadBalancer service should also allocate node ports (like NodePort).
+    ///
+    /// Ignored unless serviceType is LoadBalancer.
+    // TODO: v1alpha2: Move into ServiceType::LoadBalancer
+    #[serde(default = "ListenerClassSpec::default_load_balancer_allocate_node_ports")]
+    pub load_balancer_allocate_node_ports: bool,
+
+    /// Configures a custom Service loadBalancerClass, which can be used to access secondary
+    /// load balancer controllers that are installed in the cluster, or to provision
+    /// custom addresses manually.
+    ///
+    /// Ignored unless serviceType is LoadBalancer.
+    // TODO: v1alpha2: Move into ServiceType::LoadBalancer
+    pub load_balancer_class: Option<String>,
+
     /// Annotations that should be added to the Service object.
     #[serde(default)]
     pub service_annotations: BTreeMap<String, String>,
@@ -82,6 +97,10 @@ impl ListenerClassSpec {
         PreferredAddressType::HostnameConservative
     }
 
+    const fn default_load_balancer_allocate_node_ports() -> bool {
+        true
+    }
+
     /// Resolves [`Self::preferred_address_type`]'s "smart" modes depending on the rest of `self`.
     pub fn resolve_preferred_address_type(&self) -> AddressType {
         self.preferred_address_type.resolve(self)