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

Program Manager, Legal Risk & Compliance Technology

Department: Technology – Corporate Technology (Legal, Risk & Compliance Technology)
Reports to: Head of Corporate Technology
Location: New York, NY

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 seeking a Program Manager, Legal Risk & Compliance (LRC) Technology to join Corporate Technology, reporting to the Head of Corporate Technology. This role will drive execution, governance, and stakeholder alignment across a portfolio of initiatives supporting Legal, Risk, and Compliance technology.

The ideal candidate is a high-performing, client-oriented program manager—exceptionally organized, detail-driven, and fast-moving—who communicates crisply and maintains tight follow-through. They are comfortable engaging with senior business stakeholders as well as collaborating day-to-day with hands-on technology teams. This person takes direction well, executes thoughtfully, and maintains a high cadence of communication to keep leaders informed and teams aligned. Experience from a large alternative asset manager and/or a consulting background is strongly preferred.

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS AND ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Drive end-to-end program management across the LRC Technology portfolio: scope, plans, milestones, dependencies, and outcomes.
• Act as a trusted execution partner to Corporate Technology leadership—translate direction into structured workplans and ensure follow-through.
• Run portfolio governance: workstream cadence, RAID tracking, decision logs, dependency management, and change control.
• Own stakeholder management with a client-service mindset: prepare meetings, capture decisions, close actions, and anticipate needs.
• Partner with delivery leads to coordinate sequencing, resourcing, and release readiness across teams and vendors.
• Produce high-quality artifacts and executive-ready materials: status, plans, timelines, risks, and concise summaries of complex topics.
• Maintain delivery discipline across tools and standards (Jira/Confluence hygiene, Smartsheet plans, documentation consistency).
• Proactively surface risks and issues early; drive mitigation and resolution to closure.
• Improve delivery efficiency by introducing pragmatic best practices and tech-forward approaches, including use of AI for reporting, documentation, and operational workflow.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated experience managing complex technology programs in financial services or similarly high-expectation environments.
• Exceptional communication skills, strong attention to detail, and the ability to tailor messaging by audience.
• Proven ability to operate at pace across multiple parallel workstreams, with strong judgment and accountability.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree a plus.

Experience Required

• Strong proficiency with:
  • Jira / Confluence (required)
  • Smartsheet (required)
  • PowerPoint and Excel (required)
  • Lucidchart (preferred)
• Track record delivering programs from initiation through production/stabilization with strong governance and predictable execution.
• Strong facilitation and documentation discipline: agendas, notes, actions, decisions, and follow-up.
• Ability to work effectively across senior stakeholders, engineers, architects, and external partners.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at a large alternative asset manager and/or in consulting (strongly preferred).
• Familiarity with Legal, Risk, and/or Compliance domains and the delivery expectations common to regulated functions.
• Practical experience experimenting with AI-enabled tools to improve productivity (e.g., documentation synthesis, reporting automation, backlog hygiene).

General Requirements

• Fast-moving, highly responsive, and service-oriented; builds credibility through clarity and follow-through.
• Comfortable with ambiguity; able to create structure and momentum with minimal overhead.
• Strong ownership mindset with disciplined execution and attention to detail.
• Willingness to flex hours as needed to support global stakeholders and key milestones.

Reporting Relationships

Compensation

$200k - $250k

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.