Vice President, Client Platforms Web Architect in 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.

Ares is seeking a Vice President to serve as Web Architect for Client Platforms Technology, the engineering team responsible for all Client facing systems within Ares, including Sales, Marketing, Client Reporting, and Digital/Web platforms. Reporting to a Principal leading Digital Experience, the successful candidate will serve as the technical and strategic leader for the firm’s web experience ecosystem, with primary responsibility for the architecture, development, and evolution of Ares’ websites built on Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS).

This individual will design end‑to‑end solutions that ensure the firm’s digital presence is scalable, secure, intuitive, and tightly integrated with Adobe’s broader marketing technology stack—including Marketo, Adobe Analytics, and Adobe Engage. The role oversees a blended team of internal web developers and external consultants, ensuring high standards for engineering excellence, web performance, accessibility, and content management.

In addition, the Web Architect will act as Ares’ relationship owner with Adobe, staying up‑to‑date on the evolving Adobe Experience Cloud roadmap and advising on how emerging capabilities—especially in personalization, automation, headless content delivery, and AI—can advance the firm's digital strategy. This is a senior, hands‑on position requiring excellent architectural leadership, strong technical depth in modern web platforms, and the ability to translate business and brand needs into sophisticated digital experiences.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

• Architecture & Platform Strategy: Define and maintain the architectural vision for the firm’s public and private websites on Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS). Design scalable, secure, high‑performance web solutions aligned with enterprise architecture, security requirements, and digital brand standards. Evaluate new Adobe offerings—including enhancements in AEM, Adobe Engage, Adobe Analytics, personalization engines, and AI tools—and recommend adoption strategies. Establish best practices for content modeling, component design, code reuse, headless delivery, and front‑end frameworks. Ensure the platform supports global content needs; Multi Site Manager experience with translation integration.
• Team Leadership & Delivery: Lead and mentor a hybrid team of in‑house developers, UX specialists, site managers, and external implementation partners. Oversee solution design, code reviews, development standards, DevOps pipelines, CI/CD processes, and release management. Translate business requirements into detailed technical designs and oversee high‑quality implementation. Drive continuous improvement of site performance, accessibility (WCAG standards), SEO, tagging/analytics, and overall user experience.
• Stakeholder & Vendor Management: Serve as the primary liaison with Adobe product teams, account managers, and technical architects. Maintain awareness of Adobe’s platform roadmap and ensure proactive planning for upgrades, cloud shifts, licensing changes, and emerging features. Collaborate with Marketing, Communications, Brand, CRM, Data, and Compliance partners to ensure web capabilities align with firm‑wide digital objectives. Build and maintain relationships with external agencies and delivery partners to ensure high‑quality execution.
• Operational Excellence: Ensure the AEM platform is stable, secure, and operating efficiently across environments. Oversee site governance, content workflows, user roles/permissions, and editorial tooling. Manage incident response for complex web issues, including troubleshooting, debugging, and root‑cause analysis. Maintain comprehensive documentation for architecture, integrations, components, and deployment processes.

Required Experience & Background:

• 8+ years of experience building and architecting enterprise‑grade websites, including at least 3 years in a senior architect or lead developer role.
• Deep expertise with Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), including component development, content architecture, templates, OSGi, Sling Models, and dispatcher configurations.
• Experience with AEM as a Cloud Service or AEM Managed Services.
• Strong knowledge of Adobe’s marketing ecosystem (e.g., Marketo, Adobe Analytics, Adobe Target or Engage) and how they integrate with AEM.
• Hands‑on proficiency with modern front‑end technologies: JavaScript, TypeScript, React or similar frameworks, CSS/SCSS, and responsive design.
• Solid understanding of web security, SEO best practices, web accessibility (WCAG 2.x), and performance optimization.
• Experience managing developers and working with external implementation partners or agencies.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to collaborate with business stakeholders and translate needs into technical solutions.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience in asset management, financial services, or other regulated industries.
• Familiarity with headless CMS architectures, content APIs, and composable digital experience platforms.
• Knowledge of Adobe Workspace, Customer Journey Analytics, and personalization engines.
• Experience with cloud environments (AWS, Azure), DevOps tooling, and CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitHub, Jenkins).
• Understanding of digital brand governance, UX principles, and user‑focused design best practices.

Education: Bachelor’s degree required, advanced degree preferred. Engineering or Computer Science background preferred.

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.