Principal, Enterprise Business Management

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

The Principal, Enterprise Business Management will serve as a central coordinator across Ares' investment and business operations teams, driving enterprise-wide visibility, alignment, and resource planning. This role will facilitate communication across business groups, provide transparency into priorities and resource constraints, and support leadership decision-making through structured reporting and coordination.

The successful candidate will operate independently to connect strategic priorities, resource allocation needs, and execution activities across the firm. This individual will work closely with Investment Group COOs, business operations leaders, and Operational Strategy leadership to help ensure the firm's most critical initiatives receive the appropriate focus, support, and coordination required for successful execution.

The role is highly collaborative and influential enabling effective prioritization and execution through transparency, connectivity, and disciplined coordination across teams.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities

Enterprise Coordination & Stakeholder Alignment

• Serve as the point of coordination across Investment Groups, Investment Technology, Business Operations teams, and Operational Strategy leadership.
• Build and maintain relationships with Investment Group COOs, Investment Technology leadership, and designated functional representatives across Human Resources, Operations, Finance, Legal, and Compliance.
• Facilitate regular communication regarding priorities, resource needs, dependencies, and emerging challenges.
• Establish and maintain a consistent cadence of stakeholder engagement, cross-functional discussions, and leadership updates.
• Promote alignment across teams by ensuring stakeholders have visibility into firmwide priorities and areas of interdependency.

Resource Planning & Priority Visibility

• Aggregate and synthesize information related to resource demand, capacity constraints, dependencies, and competing priorities across the organization.
• Lead and coordinate the annual planning process across investment and business operations teams, partnering with cross-functional stakeholders to align strategic priorities, resource requirements, and financial considerations into an enterprise-wide budget for leadership review and approval.
• Provide transparency into enterprise priorities and support leadership discussions regarding resource allocation and trade-offs.
• Maintain visibility into strategic initiatives, resource commitments, and cross-functional dependencies through ongoing tracking, reporting, and stakeholder engagement.
• Support the development of materials and inputs that help leadership evaluate priorities, capacity, and execution considerations.
• Provide insight to Operational Strategy leadership to support connecting firmwide priorities with business and functional team activities.

Executive Reporting & Leadership Support

• Support preparation of materials, updates, and reporting for senior leadership forums, including COO Forums, Operating Committee discussions, and other executive meetings.
• Draft recurring communications, status updates, meeting agendas, and presentation materials related to strategic initiatives and enterprise priorities.
• Consolidate information from stakeholders to provide leadership with a clear view of progress, dependencies, and emerging risks.
• Identify and elevate key themes, resource challenges, and cross-functional considerations requiring leadership attention.

Cross-Functional Connectivity & Continuous Improvement

• Facilitate collaboration and information sharing across investment and business operations teams.
• Coordinate workshops, working sessions, and forums that strengthen enterprise alignment and cross-functional engagement.
• Help establish scalable processes, communication channels, and operating rhythms that improve organizational transparency and coordination.
• Support the ongoing development and refinement of the Strategic Resource Management function as it evolves across the firm.

Education

• A Bachelor's degree is required, preferably with a major in Business Administration, Finance, Economics, Management, Organizational Leadership or a related discipline, with a strong record of academic achievement.
• Advanced degree and/or relevant professional certifications are a plus.
• 10+ years of experience in business management, operational strategy, enterprise planning, resource management, consulting, COO Office, project/program management, or related strategic business functions within financial services, asset management, banking, or consulting.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating cross-functional initiatives and building alignment across diverse stakeholder groups while balancing competing priorities, resource demands, and business objectives.
• Proven ability to synthesize complex information into actionable insights, recommendations, executive communications, presentations, and decision-support materials for senior leadership.
• Experience supporting executive forums and leadership teams through management reporting, strategic updates, briefing materials, and stakeholder communications.
• Experience identifying resource constraints, dependencies, risks, and trade-offs to support prioritization, planning, and strategic decision-making.
• Proven ability to establish effective operating cadences, reporting processes, communication frameworks, and governance support structures within evolving organizations or functions.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and drive collaboration across business and functional teams.
• Prior experience within alternative asset management, private markets, investment management, financial services, or a similarly complex, matrixed organization is strongly preferred; experience with resource planning, project management, and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, Confluence, Asana, Monday.com, or similar platforms is preferred.

General Requirements:

• Exceptional interpersonal, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships and influence outcomes across investment, business operations, and executive leadership teams
• Strong executive presence, sound judgment, and professionalism, with experience operating independently in leadership-facing environments and handling sensitive business information with discretion.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and proactive, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, navigate ambiguity, establish effective processes, and drive execution against strategic objectives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to develop executive communications, presentations, meeting materials, and leadership updates.
• Demonstrated ability to connect strategic priorities, resource considerations, and execution activities to support enterprise-wide goals and business outcomes.

• Solutions-oriented team player with a strong sense of ownership, accountability, and follow-through, capable of maintaining an enterprise-wide perspective while collaborating effectively across diverse stakeholder groups.

Reporting Relationships

Compensation

The anticipated base salary range for this position is listed below. Total compensation may also include a discretionary performance-based bonus. Note, the range takes into account a broad spectrum of qualifications, including, but not limited to, years of relevant work experience, education, and other relevant qualifications specific to the role.

$250,000 - $275,000 / 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.

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.