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

Ares Management is seeking a dynamic and results-oriented individual for a full-time role in its Finance and Accounting department located in our Los Angeles offices. The Senior Associate will work closely with the FP&A team in partnering across our enterprise with Fund Accounting, senior investment professionals, senior Finance leadership and information technology resources. This role provides great opportunity for the candidate to gain exposure and build expertise in both Finance and Data Analytics fields.

Primary functions and essential responsibilities

• Maintenance and continued improvement of the Real Estate fund models and data analytics tools
• Use the fund models to perform sensitivity analysis and identify key historical and projection information to answer questions from investment, investor relation and fund accounting teams
• Compare and evaluate previous budgets and forecasts, and perform variance analysis to explain differences in performance and make improvements going forward
• Responsibility for the collection of business data on a timely basis from internal and external parties
• Responsibility for the upload of the collected data into the relevant system/database, making initial checks of the data for omissions and accuracy and liaise with data provider to resolve issues
• Promote the benefits and importance of data governance and ensure it is at the forefront of all processes
• Support the implementation of new systems and processes, including data collection, testing, analysis, presentation and supporting the roll out
• Prepare and assist with ad-hoc business reporting, analysis and business partner requests, working in conjunction with colleagues in Los Angeles to ensure timely response to the business
• Support group wide efforts to improve consistency, accuracy and efficiency of information

Qualifications

• Approximately  5-6 years of relevant work experience
• MBA, Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Accountant or CPA license preferred but not required
• Bachelors’ degree in related field (Finance, Accounting, Engineering or Economics) from accredited institution

General Requirements

• Ability to work in a fast-paced, high growth environment; excited about working in a start-up environment with the backing and infrastructure of a well-established industry leader
• Strategic and critical thinking
• Excellent Excel background with knowledge of financial modeling
• Candidates with background in accounting and finance would be preferred
• Candidates should be comfortable around data analytics. Have the skillset to understand the underlying architecture of how data is stored and staged, so they can run it through financial models and come up with advice to help senior management make business decisions.
• Knowledge of data architecture, database structures, and database design preferred
• Experienced in database query, schema design, and maintenance of master and transaction data preferred
• Proficient in Excel VBA programming language preferred
• Knowledge of Power BI or other data analytical tools preferred; Proficient in Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) preferred
• Knowledge of investment performance standards, real estate fund structures, investment property structures, alternative investments, securitization, or other investment products preferred
• Strong communication skills will be important; ability to analyze and summarize complex information both verbally and in writing with colleagues in the United States
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills; ability to multi-task and manage various deadlines
• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills; attention to detail and timelines required

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.