Senior Associate, Operational Strategy

Senior Associate, Corporate Strategy Operational Strategy Group

Ares is seeking a versatile Senior Associate to work within our Corporate Strategy Operational Strategy Group ("OSG"). Our OSG leads cross-functional projects to define and implement process and technology solutions across the entire Ares organization. Our team works closely with business stakeholders in our five lines of business (Credit, Private Equity, Real Estate, Secondary Markets and Strategic Initiatives) and across our business operations functions (Compliance, Finance and Accounting, Investment Operations, Investor Relations, Legal, Portfolio Management, Relationship Management, Tax, and Technology). We seek a candidate who can analyze business processes and technology, lead discussions with senior stakeholders, provide process improvement suggestions, and execute using their specific industry knowledge and problem-solving capabilities. This role requires a dynamic, adaptive, and experienced professional who can build and maintain strong business partner relationships. This position will require flexibility and rapid learning to become an expert in multiple functional areas and asset classes. The ideal candidate should have demonstrated an ability to manage large scale change programs. Successful collaboration across all business functions, strategies, and external vendors will be crucial. Given the broad nature of projects in our queue, knowledge of investor, fund, and deal lifecycles in alternative investment classes, will allow the candidate to make an immediate impact upon joining the firm. Strong knowledge of alternative investment asset classes is highly preferred.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities

• Serve as an advisor to business stakeholders, corporate functions and third-party service providers during project lifecycle and be go-to point for details and status updates on the project or program
• Deliver presentations to business partners at multiple levels, including process owners, senior managers, and executives, focusing on takeaways, answering questions clearly and at the appropriate level of detail
• Drive change adoption and stakeholder alignment across the organization
• Manage vendors and align on priorities
• Drive project lifecycle with ability to "connect the dots" between upstream / downstream dependencies and planning needs, while multitasking across multiple deliverables
• Identify best practices for operational processes and system optimizations
• Define project scope, gather requirements and assist with implementation and integration activities associated with process improvement efforts or new products
• Technically proficient communicator who can translate business language and requirements to technical teams and vice versa
• Ability and willingness to be hands-on in all aspects of project management, including :
• Requirements gathering, documentation, use case development
• Process workflow documentation and diagrams
• Training / Acceptance plan development and execution
• Communications with business stakeholders relative to the status
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to create business cases, project plans, steering committee presentations, business requirements, and other project or program documentation

Qualifications

Education :

Bachelor's degree in a business, finance, or related discipline

Experience Required :

Compensation

$150,000 - $170,000 / annum

The firm also offers robust Benefits offerings. Ares U.S. Core Benefits include Comprehensive Medical / Rx, Dental and Vision plans; 401(k) program with company match; Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA); Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSA) with company contribution; Basic and Voluntary Life Insurance; Long-Term Disability (LTD) and Short-Term Disability (STD) insurance; Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and Commuter Benefits plan for parking and transit.

Ares offers a number of additional benefits including access to a world-class medical advisory team, a mental health app that includes coaching, therapy and psychiatry, a mindfulness and wellbeing app, financial wellness benefit that includes access to a financial advisor, new parent leave, reproductive and adoption assistance, emergency backup care, matching gift program, education sponsorship program, and much more.