Project Manager

A leading automotive finance company, located in Irvine, is seeking a Sr. Project Manager for a 3-12+ month contract role. This role will be onsite 3-4 days a week.The contractor will be accountable for driving execution across business, technology, and vendor teams in a regulated financial services environment. This role focuses heavily on insurance-related products including vehicle protection plans, GAP, VSC, P&C auto insurance, and aftermarket products as well as supporting end to end workflows across origination, servicing, dealer systems, underwriting, and compliance.The Project Manager will collaborate across product, operations, underwriting, compliance, IT, dealer services, and third-party vendors to optimize processes, define system requirements, and support successful delivery of enhancements and new capabilities.Scope of Services* Lead end-to-end delivery of the project across discovery and implementation phases* Develop and manage integrated project plans, milestones, budgets, and dependencies* Drive discovery and execution across parallel workstreams * Manage day-to-day delivery performance of system integrators and delivery partners* Identify, track, and mitigate risks (regulatory, data migration, cutover, legacy dependencies)* Prepare and deliver working-level status updates, decision materials, and governance artifacts* Support funding reviews, gate approvals, and enterprise governance processesRequired Contractor Qualifications* 3-5+ years as a Project Manager, preferably in automotive finance, captive finance, F&I, or insurance technology.* Strong knowledge of insurance products (VSC, GAP, prepaid maintenance, tire & wheel, appearance packages, P&C auto insurance).* Experience with digital lending platforms, dealer portals, underwriting systems, or CRM platforms* Ability to document requirements, process flows, user stories, and acceptance criteria.* Understanding of system integration concepts, APIs, data exchange with TPAs/insurance partners.* Familiarity with regulatory and compliance considerations in auto finance and insurance.Preferred Skills* Knowledge of loan/lease lifecycle: credit, funding, servicing, claims, refunds.* SQL or data analysis experience.* Background working with third party administrators (AUL, SafeGuard, Assurant, JM&A, etc.).* Strong communication skills and ability to interface with technical and non-technical audiences.