Principal, Operations Team Leader (Commercial Finance)

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 is currently seeking a candidate for the position of Operations Team Leader to join our Ares Commercial Finance (“ACF”) Group in our Tarrytown, Atlanta, or Los Angeles office.

The Ares Management Corporation (“Ares”) Commercial Finance platform (“ACF”) provides asset-based and cash flow loans to small and middle-market companies, as well as asset-backed facilities to specialty finance companies. Leveraging the breadth and expertise of the Ares Platform, we work with borrowers to deliver creative, flexible and comprehensive financing solutions.

Our asset-based lines of credit may be structured as working capital financing, special accommodation financing, turnaround financing, debtor-in-possession financing, acquisition financing and specialty lender financing.

ACF is headquartered in New York, with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Manhattan, and Tarrytown. ACF has investment professionals and support staff dedicated to these products. The senior investment professionals of ACF have on average more than 30 years of experience in commercial finance and asset-based lending.

The following highlights ACF’s Direct Lending strategy:

• Leverage the power of the Ares and Direct Lending platforms
• Multi-asset class “one-stop” solutions to meet clients’ needs
• Ability to rotate between asset classes with superior relative value
• Drive proprietary investment opportunities by pursuing multiple origination channels across various regions within the United States
• Active management of risk through structuring and asset coverage
• Agent transactions with careful monitoring of liquidity and performance
• Small deal teams with single point of contact
• Transparent and streamlined approval process with certainty of closing

The Operations Team Leader will be responsible for the overall shared management, direction and development of employees and daily operations production of the Collateral Analyst team (currently 7 individuals).

Primary functions and essential responsibilities:

• Review and track borrower’s collateral reporting package for accuracy, trends, and adherence to lender guidelines on ABL portfolio and process ongoing funding requests
• Prepare month-end collateral trend analyses (the monthly Trend Card), reconciliations of loan and collateral balances and verifying monthly interest and fees are correctly processed
• Perform accounts receivable verifications and update monthly Client Checklist to monitor portfolio reporting and note any exceptions
• Follow up and review field exams and appraisals, including the preparation of the standard review form
• Follow up using 3rd party services to monitor for insurance compliance or potential tax liens
• Set up new liens and recurring searches on UCC filings and monitor ongoing alerts
• Involvement with the new business deal team in setting up the borrower’s initial borrowing base certificate and preparing the operational Handling Guides using field exams, appraisals and legal documents
• Work closely and assist Credit Officers with daily portfolio management, risk assessment and due diligence
• On-going communication with fellow team members, customers, their customers, and Ares senior management
• Implement operating objectives, goals and strategies for providing more economic and efficient services while ensuring compliance to ACF related policies and procedures (Best Practices)
• Maintains liaison with all appropriate credit, treasury and accounting areas to ensure that service functions are meeting operational needs
• Operate in a collaborative environment with ability to build an effective team and demonstrate managerial courage while managing and measuring work effectively
• Ensure all daily, monthly and periodic reporting requirements are processed in an accurate and timely manner
• Plan, assign and review workload with staff
• Perform mid-year and annual performance reviews for respective staff and promote career growth accordingly
• Participate in strategic planning for yearly budget requirement
• Attend weekly management Investment Committee meetings providing status updates regarding operational act