Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis in City of Westminster

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.

Ares Management is seeking a Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis (“FP&A”) to serve as the senior FP&A leader for our European office, with responsibility spanning both the Credit and Real Assets segments. This role represents a unique opportunity to help shape the next phase of FP&A within a rapidly growing global alternative asset manager. The individual will have significant visibility with European and global leadership and play a key role in improving decision support, profitability insights, and financial transparency across the business. The VP will be a strategic finance partner to European business unit leadership, driving the annual budgeting, monthly forecasting, and long-range planning processes, while delivering executive-ready reporting, analysis, and insights across both segments.

The candidate will be expected to understand complex fund structures, management fee and incentive fee mechanics, expense allocations, and segment-level profitability drivers specific to Credit and Real Assets. This role requires a dynamic, hands‑on finance professional capable of operating independently in a fast‑paced, growing environment, while building strong working relationships with senior investment professionals, business operations leaders, and global FP&A colleagues in Los Angeles and other regional offices.

Primary Functions and Essential Responsibilities

• Financial Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting: Lead the annual budgeting, monthly forecasting, and long-range financial planning process for the European Credit and Real Assets businesses.
• Develop and maintain sophisticated financial models for funds, products, and strategic initiatives across both segments, including management fees, incentive fees/carried interest, and expense allocations.
• Own the general and administrative expense forecast, ensuring accuracy and transparency, while identifying cost‑saving opportunities and partnering with business leaders to drive greater operational efficiency.
• Produce executive-level reporting packages and dashboards summarising European segment performance.
• Prepare variance analysis and commentary for actual vs. budget/forecast results, partnering with investment professionals, fund and corporate accounting and business operations teams.

Business Partnership & Leadership

• Serve as the primary FP&A point of contact for European leadership across the Credit and Real Assets segments.
• Partner closely with business unit heads and senior leadership to provide financial insights, scenario analysis, and recommendations that support business decisions.
• Act as a trusted advisor to regional leadership, translating complex business questions into actionable analyses tailored to Credit and Real Assets segments.
• Mentor and develop European FP&A team members, ensuring high performance, accountability, and career growth.
• Build strong working relationships across the European operation (deal teams, business operations, finance and accounting) and the wider Ares business.

Process, Systems & Data Integrity

• Champion data integrity and scalable processes by enhancing governance, documentation, and controls, while automating recurring reporting to shift time toward value-added analysis.
• Drive consistency between European reporting and global FP&A standards, ensuring alignment across segments and geographies.
• Work with the broader FP&A team to implement technology that helps automate processes for better efficiency, accuracy, and consistency.
• Opportunity to help modernize FP&A processes through data, automation, AI, and planning technology.

Education & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required.
• MBA and/or CFA a plus.
• ACCA or equivalent.

Experience Required

• At least 8–12 years of relevant professional experience in FP&A, corporate finance, or strategic finance, preferably within alternative investments (credit, real assets/real estate, or private equity).
• Prior experience operating in a senior/leadership capacity, ideally with cross-border or European exposure.
• Strong knowledge of fund structures, management fee bases, and incentive fee/carried interest mechanics.
• Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills; experience with planning systems such as Anaplan, OneStream, AI, Power BI, strongly preferred.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence and present to senior leadership across regions.

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, real estate, private equity and infrastructure asset classes. We seek to provide flexible capital to support businesses and create value for our stakeholders and within our communities. By collaborating across our investment groups, we aim to generate consistent and attractive investment returns throughout market cycles.