Senior Associate, Data - 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
Ares is looking for an Senior Associate to join the Los Angeles Investment Operations team. The Investment Operations team works closely with business stakeholders in four lines of business (Credit, Private Equity, Real Estate, and Secondaries) as well as various corporate functions. The Sr Associate will be responsible for partnering with the Vice President on ownership of security master and related reference data. The team primarily works out of the Los Angeles office in partnership with the team in India and New York. The ideal candidate would have experience leveraging third party platforms as well as internal systems for managing reference and master data while being thoughtful about strategic planning around data management and data governance with an ability to anticipate and respond to future business needs. The role requires a dynamic, adaptive, and versatile experienced hands-on professional to ensure best practices in a fast-paced rapidly growing environment.
Responsibilities

Work with key partners in all business lines to assist with data management including but not limited to security master, credit ratings and related reference data (e.g. issuers).
Interact with all market data vendors including but not limited to Markit, Moody’s, S&P, Fitch and Bloomberg on emerging data needs or questions regarding existing data.
Develop strategic partnerships with external providers and market data vendors to enrich data and improve our internal data platforms
Serve as a key partner to the firm’s portfolio managers in delivering timely and accurate security master information
Interface with Traders, Portfolio Managers, New Accounts Group, Fund Accounting, Performance and Compliance on various ad hoc requests as well as emerging data needs
Work closely with the different business functions to capture Critical Data Elements (CDEs) used in end-user processes
Assist with maintenance of accurate and consistent information flows across Ares’ internal systems and Fund Admins
Track and monitor data quality issues, work with stakeholders to remediate these issues, and provide regular status updates to senior management
Have a deep understanding of business requirements that drive data quality, translating those requirements into rules for our Technology team
Work alongside with Ares’ internal reporting team to map out Security Master data fields for external or client reporting
Work with PowerBi/Tableau to build out better reporting across the organization for data transparency
Familiarity with Duco to help create recons between systems/vendors
Manage and oversee all credit rating exceptions as well as maintenance of Credit Estimates
Project management: engage with technology teams as well as external partners to lead data projects or enhancements to current processes and provide regular status updates to stakeholders
Work with downstream business users in order to provide tactical data quality remediation
Work with Technology in order to provide strategic data quality enhancements, work effort analysis, monitor progress and report status to senior management
Qualifications

Minimum of 7-10 years of experience in large, global capital markets or investment management firms with expertise in Operations
Experience working with/alongside Investment Operations, Fund Accounting, Information Technology teams
Prior experience with an alternative asset manager preferred, broader asset management experience required
Strong understanding of fixed income securities and structured products; Understanding of bank loans preferred;
Understanding of Bloomberg Terminal and Markit (Loan Reference Data) platforms
Experience with Tableau, SQL, or PowerBI
Experience with Indus Valley Partners and/or AllVue preferred
Hedge Fund, Credit or Private Equity experience is a plus
Sound understanding of financial data and diverse investment vehicles (such as Institutional Separate Accounts, SMA/Limited Partnerships, Open-End Mutual Funds, Closed-End Funds, UCITs, etc.)
Familiarity with institutional asset management research, trading workflows, and associated systems. Solid understanding of the data points associated with different asset classes including bonds, equities, structured products, and derivatives.
Ability to extract meaningful information from extensive research and analysis to effectively present facts and findings in a digestible format, a keen eye for attention to detail
Experience managing internal and external stakeholders and leading project prioritization discussions to drive product vision and roadmap.
A self-directed individual with a can-do attitude, willing to work in an energetic, collaborative and fast-paced environment, proactive in nature, and a proven ability to resolve issues with minimal supervision
Proven outstanding communication (written and verbal), presentation, documentation, and interpersonal skills
Expert with Excel for data analysis, including modeling and complex lookups
A hands-on approach and ability to synthesize/translate business operations processes into talent/skill needs
Ability to successfully manage multiple priorities and competing demands
High accuracy and detail oriented
Good judgment in terms of escalating issues vs. solving problems independently
A solutions-oriented, self-starter and ability to see the big picture
Comfort in dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty in a dynamic and fast-paced environment
Ability to be flexible in terms of hours in order to coordinate with team members across various time zones
An analytical mind and a passion/interest in bringing new ideas to improve efficiency to existing processes
Dependable, great attitude, highly motivated and a team player
Reporting Relationships
Vice President, Data & Pricing
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.
$130,000 - $150,000
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.