Agile Scrum Master Consultant (Hybrid - Chicago, IL)

Our customer is a large United States insurance company that is backed by more than 100 years of experience and provides insurance products and services for businesses and professionals in the United States., Canada and Europe. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, they have more than 20 US locations.

We are seeking a contract Agile Scrum Master Consultant to support our Customer's business needs. This role is hybrid (2 days onsite and 3 days remote/week) in Chicago, IL.

Responsibilities:

• Serve, lead, coach, and support multiple Agile Scrum teams delivering complex IT and business initiatives
• Support teams composed of internal and external resources, including onshore, offshore, business, and technical contributors
• Drive accountability for end-to-end product delivery
• Facilitate Agile and Scrum ceremonies, including daily standups, sprint planning, sprint reviews, retrospectives, and cross-team coordination
• Ensure teams adhere to Scrum values and Agile best practices
• Identify, resolve, and remove delivery impediments to optimize workflow
• Lead resolution of complex impediments and escalate unresolved issues to senior leadership
• Manage delivery risks and issues and implement actions to prevent recurrence
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and learning through retrospectives and feedback loops
• Guide teams toward increased maturity in Agile principles and Scrum practices
• Drive consistent velocity and sustained velocity improvements on mature teams
• Proactively monitor and assess team health, delivery performance, and project needs
• Act as an Agile subject matter expert, mentor, and thought leader
• Provide guidance and feedback to junior Scrum Masters on Agile practices and reviews
• Champion adoption of new Agile tools, processes, and best practices once approved
• Contribute to the maturity of Agile practices through participation in centers of excellence and communities of practice
• Support Product Owners with backlog management, prioritization, and maintenance of delivery metrics
• Maintain strong working relationships with Product Owners and key stakeholders
• Coordinate interactions within and outside Scrum teams to ensure alignment
• Build a trusting, transparent, and psychologically safe team environment
• Facilitate conflict resolution and escalate significant conflicts as needed
• Promote delivery of high-quality products with transparency around progress, quality, and schedules
• Perform additional duties as assigned

Skills and Qualifications:

• Scrum Master certification preferred
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field, or equivalent work experience
• Minimum of 4 years of relevant experience in enterprise IT delivery environments
• Prior project management experience preferred
• Additional Agile or delivery certifications preferred
• Proficiency with Jira for backlog, sprint, and delivery management
• Proficiency with Jira Align for program-level planning, dependency management, and metrics visualization
• Experience connecting strategy to execution across Agile Release Trains
• Ability to configure and interpret dashboards, OKRs, and lean metrics
• Understanding of how AI and machine learning concepts intersect with Agile delivery
• Ability to leverage AI-enabled tools to support sprint planning, backlog refinement, reporting, and retrospectives
• Experience interpreting AI-generated insights to inform delivery decisions
• Ability to coach teams through the adoption of AI-supported practices with attention to ethical considerations and continuous learning
• Prior experience serving as a Scrum Master in an Agile delivery environment
• Demonstrated servant-leadership approach with strong coaching and mentoring skills
• Experience supporting enterprise software delivery using Agile methodologies
• Strong communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills
• Proven ability to influence without direct authority
• Strong organizational skills and attention to delivery metrics
• Hands-on experience using Agile management tools
• Proven application of modern application development best practices
• Experience supporting automation, CI/CD pipelines, or similar delivery improvements
• Ability to operate effectively in complex, fast-paced enterprise environments

We offer a competitive salary range for this position. Most candidates who join our team are hired at the median of this range, ensuring fair and equitable compensation based on experience and qualifications.

Contractor benefits are available through our 3rd Party Employer of Record (Available upon completion of waiting period for eligible engagements)

Benefits include: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k.

An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.