Vice President, Financial Crimes Prevention | London, UK (London)

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 Summary: The Ares Compliance Department oversees and manages Ares' global regulatory compliance and ethics program. Under the leadership of the Global Chief Compliance Officer, the Compliance Department is comprised of functionally aligned teams that operate collaboratively based on the Firm's overall structure and include the following:

• Investment Advisory, which oversees implementation of the Advisers Act, regulatory reporting, and administers the Code;
• Control Room, Conflicts and Trading, which oversees the regulations and guidelines applicable to trade surveillance, the handling of Material Non-Public Information, and conflicts;
• Marketing and Distribution, focusing on global marketing regulations as well as compliance for Ares' registered broker-dealers;
• Regulated Funds, which oversees the compliance for advised and sub-advised registered funds and public companies;
• Financial Crime Prevention, which develops and administers Ares' global program for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, economic sanctions, and anti-corruption (together, the FCP Program);
• European and Asia Pacific compliance, which oversees region-specific compliance programs and regulatory matters.

Ares is seeking an experienced, highly organized and proactive Vice President to join the Financial Crime Prevention (FCP) team as the EMEA Advisory lead. This individual will be responsible for acting as a regional financial crime subject matter expert and providing support for diligence on high-risk counterparty diligence.

Primary Functions and Responsibilities:

• The Vice President and EMEA Advisory Lead within the FCP team serves as a regional subject matter expert on anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, anti-corruption, and broader financial crime compliance.
• The role is a key escalation point for high-risk advisory and investigative matters, collaborating closely with global compliance teams to ensure consistent implementation of AML, sanctions, and anti-corruption policies.
• This includes advising the Global Head of FCP on emerging risks and compliance issues, developing corrective action plans, and supporting governance activities in partnership with Money Laundering Reporting Officers.
• The role also involves supporting diligence on high-risk counterparties and hands-on oversight of escalated cases from Screening and KYC Analysts, assessing customer risk profiles, and recommending appropriate mitigation strategies.
• The EMEA Advisory Lead will coordinate with internal and external stakeholders-including investment professionals, legal counsel, and fund administrators-to ensure thorough due diligence and documentation for high-risk counterparties.
• Additional responsibilities include managing regulatory information-sharing requests, recommending the filing of Suspicious Activity Reports, leading efficiency-focused projects within the FCP Program, and staying abreast of evolving financial crime legislation.
• The EMEA Advisory Lead will also contribute to training and cross-functional knowledge sharing, reinforcing a culture of compliance and operational excellence across the region.

Specific responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Act as escalation point for high-risk advisory and investigation scenarios.
• Support the FCP program development to ensure AML, sanctions, and anti-corruption compliance.
• Advise FCP Global Head on emerging risks, compliance issues, and investigations in the region.
• Collaborate with global compliance teams to implement consistent AML, sanctions, and anti-corruption policies; ensure policy alignment with global strategies.
• Develop corrective action plans with FCP leadership to resolve deficiencies promptly.
• Collaborate with MLROs to investigate potential money laundering and regulatory violations, offering guidance on financial crime risks and supporting governance activities.
• Analyze and summarize escalated cases from Screening and KYC Analysts, recommending appropriate actions.
• Assess customer risk profiles to advise on risk mitigation strategies through evaluating customer details, transaction history, and business activities.
• Draft follow-up information requests for high-risk areas as needed; escalate high-risk findings to the Head of FCP Risk for decision-making.
• Recommend the filing of Suspicious Activity Reports and Continuing Activity Reports and assist with maintaining accurate watchlists.
• Handle information-sharing requests.
• Directly liaise with investment professionals, portfolio company representatives, internal deal counsel, external counsel, fund administrators and Ares internal constituents to ensure all relevant onboarding documentation and required information for high-risk counterparties is obtained in accordance with the FCP Program.
• Coordinate and lead projects to bring increased organization and efficiencies to the FCP Program.
• Identify and inform of any changes to legislation and other regulatory requirements relating to financial crime.
• Train new joiners in relevant processes, assist in cross-training as needed.
• Support and assist with special projects and ad hoc requests/tasks as required.

Education: Bachelor’s Degree is required, preferably from a top university with strong academic achievement.

Experience Required:

• 8-10 years of relevant financial services compliance experience, including previous financial crime prevention responsibilities.
• Strong understanding of the investment adviser industry, and U.S. and global securities laws, including the Investment Advisers Act.
• Strong understanding of Anti-Money Laundering documentation requirements in accordance with relevant legislation and regulations in the UK and Europe.
• Knowledge of complex corporate entity types, and the formation, constitutional, management/control and ownership documents of each and the information contained within them.
• Familiarity with FCA, CSSF and CIMA regulatory reviews and interpretation of regulations.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Visio, Project, PowerPoint).

General Requirements:

• Strong sense of ownership and accountability; diligent work ethic.
• Ability to manage team while also having own responsibilities for handling complex and other daily matters.
• High accuracy and extremely detail-oriented.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize deadlines; results-oriented.
• Effective communication skills and excellent client-service orientation; responsive and dependable.
• Ability to proactively identify and logically analyze problem situations to develop an effective course of action for resolution.
• Exceptional organizational skills.
• Adept at working independently within a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to be flexible in terms of hours in order to coordinate with team members across time zones.
• Comfort in dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty in a dynamic environment.
• A desire to drive outcomes and a passion for building efficient process and procedures to support the scaling of a growing business.
• An analytical mind and a strong interest in bringing new ideas to increase efficiency of existing processes.
• Dependable, highly motivated team player; fosters team collaboration.
• Ability to handle confidential information appropriately.

Reporting Relationships: Head of European Compliance.

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.