Senior Associate, Investment Operations

Over the last 20 years, Ares’ success has been driven by our people and our culture. Today, our team is guided by our core values – Collaborative, Responsible, Entrepreneurial, Self-Aware, Trustworthy – and our purpose to be a catalyst for shared prosperity and a better future. Through our recruitment, career development and employee-focused programming, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive work environment where high-performance talent of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can build careers within this exciting and growing industry.

Job Description

SUMMARY

Ares is looking for a Senior Associate to join the Los Angeles or New York based Investment Operations team. This role reports to the Investment Operations - Reconciliation Team. The candidate will serve as a senior escalation point for complex cash, par, and non-custody reconciliation matters, drive cross-functional resolution, analyze trends and operational impact, and lead selected process, control, and technology improvements. The role includes challenging administrator and custodian processing, supporting relationship management, guiding junior team members, and helping strengthen the reconciliation platform. The ideal candidate is an experienced self-starter with strong technical judgment, stakeholder influence, and a practical solutioning mindset.

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

·          Serve as a senior escalation point for complex, aged, or recurring cash, par, and non-custody breaks across assigned funds, portfolios, and products.

·          Drive resolution through detailed root-cause analysis, impact assessment, clear ownership, and cross-functional coordination.

·          Review and challenge fund administrator, custodian bank, paying agent, and service-provider processing where results are incomplete, inconsistent, or unsupported.

·          Assess transaction, accounting, reference-data, and system issues and communicate operational risk, required actions, and expected resolution paths.

·          Prioritize high-risk exceptions and ensure material concerns are escalated promptly with complete supporting evidence.

·          Analyze daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly KPIs to identify trends across break volumes, aging, root causes, products, portfolios, and service providers.

·          Evaluate reconciliation processes and controls, identify systemic weaknesses, and recommend improvements that strengthen governance, accuracy, and operational resilience.

·          Lead selected remediation, automation, workflow redesign, data-quality, platform enhancement, testing, migration, and onboarding workstreams.

·          Partner with Technology and business stakeholders to define requirements, validate results, and support implementation of scalable solutions.

·          Provide reconciliation expertise for new funds, portfolios, products, administrators, custodians, and business initiatives.

·          Build effective relationships with Portfolio Management, Fund Administration, Treasury, Finance, Technology, Operations, custodians, agent banks, and other service providers.

·          Provide day-to-day guidance, quality review, and knowledge-sharing to Analysts and Associates and help promote accountability and consistent execution.

·          Support internal and external audits, risk assessments, regulatory inquiries, and governance reporting.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

·          Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or a related field.

Experience Required:

·          6-10 years of relevant investment management operations experience, with emphasis on reconciliation, fund accounting, middle office, custody, or related functions.

General Requirements:

·          6-10 years of relevant experience in investment operations, fund accounting, reconciliation, middle office, custody, or a related control function.

·          Strong knowledge of reconciliation processes, the investment transaction lifecycle, operational controls, and escalation practices.

·          Experience resolving complex operational exceptions and influencing stakeholders across business, operations, technology, and external service providers.

·          Strong knowledge of credit and fixed income products, including bank debt; familiarity with derivatives, foreign exchange, private credit, private equity, or other alternative investments is beneficial.

·          Proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel; experience with Geneva, Wall Street Office, Power BI, Python, SQL, workflow tools, or reconciliation platforms is beneficial.

·          Experience identifying systemic issues and delivering process, control, data, automation, or technology improvements.

·          Experience working with custodian banks, paying agents, third-party administrators, and outsourced or offshore service providers.

·          Strong analytical judgment and ability to translate detailed findings into clear risks, decisions, and actions.

·          Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex issues to senior stakeholders.

·          Ability to guide junior team members and promote consistent execution without relying on formal authority.

Reporting Relationships

Principal, Investment Operations - Global Head of Reconciliations

Compensation

$130,000 - $150,000

There is no set deadline to apply for this job opportunity. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the search is no longer active.