Scrum Master

Role: SCRUM MASTER III

Location: Newport beach CA

Duration: 6+ Months

Note: Only W2 candidate / no c2c and H1B

Need local profiles

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coach multiple Agile teams supporting Finance and Actuarial initiatives, preferably within Life and Annuity product lines
• Serve as the primary Scrum Master and delivery lead for complex, cross-functional programs involving:
• Actuarial modeling and data platforms
• IT actuarial and finance data teams
• Actuarial operations (valuation, governance, projections)
• Finance operations (FP&A, Accounting, Reporting)
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives
• Partner with Product Owners and business stakeholders to ensure backlogs are well-defined, prioritized, and aligned to strategic outcomes
• Coordinate quarterly and monthly planning sessions; ensure capacity, dependencies, and risks are actively managed
• Develop and present executive-level dashboards and delivery metrics focused on value delivery, predictability, and adoption
• Identify, escalate, and remove complex impediments spanning teams, vendors, or functional boundaries
• Maintain program-level RAID logs, dependency tracking, and change control in alignment with PMO governance standards
• Organize and govern project and backlog artifacts in Azure DevOps (ADO), ensuring consistency across teams
• Apply PMO and Agile tooling (ADO, Smartsheet, Excel, PowerPoint) to deliver transparent, data-driven insights
• Coach teams and stakeholders on Agile, Scrum, and Lean principles; drive continuous improvement and delivery maturity
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, balancing Agile delivery with enterprise governance requirements

Required Skills & Experience

• 8+ years of experience in project, program, or Agile delivery roles, including 4+ years as a Scrum Master
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience
• Deep experience delivering Finance and/or Actuarial programs in financial services organizations
• Proven ability to manage multiple teams and complex delivery dependencies
• Strong experience working with senior and executive stakeholders
• Advanced knowledge of Agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) and hybrid delivery models
• Demonstrated success delivering end-to-end initiatives under tight timelines and complex constraints
• Exceptional facilitation, communication, negotiation, and leadership skills
• Expert-level proficiency with ADO, JIRA, Smartsheet, Excel, and PowerPoint

Preferred Skills

• Experience with actuarial and finance platforms such as Prophet, Oracle Cloud EPM, and Snowflake
• Strong understanding of SDLC, platform integration, and data delivery best practices
• PMP certification and/or advanced Agile certifications (CSM, SAFe, RTE)
• Experience operating within enterprise PMOs balancing Agile delivery and governance