Posted 1 week ago
Vice President, AI Credit Product Lead
Job description
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 Ares is seeking a Vice President, AI Credit Product to define and lead the AI product strategy supporting the firm's global Credit investment platform. This leader will partner closely with Credit investment professionals, Engineering, Data & AI, Operations, and Infrastructure teams to identify, prioritize, and deliver AI-powered products and capabilities that enhance investment decision-making, streamline investment workflows, and transform how investment teams source, evaluate, execute, and monitor investments. The role spans the end-to-end Credit investment lifecycle—including deal sourcing, deal screening, underwriting, diligence, investment committee, trade execution, portfolio management, portfolio monitoring, and investment analytics—and is responsible for embedding AI across the firm's investment operating model. Reporting to the Managing Director, Head of Credit Product, this leader will serve as the primary Product partner to the Enterprise Data & AI organization, translating emerging AI capabilities into scalable products that create measurable business value across Direct Lending, Alternative Credit, Opportunistic Credit and Liquid Credit strategies. The successful candidate will combine strong product leadership, investment technology expertise, and a deep understanding of modern AI capabilities. This individual will shape Ares' AI product vision for Credit while driving AI adoption across investment workflows and fostering AI-native ways of working throughout the Credit Product organization. This role requires a hands-on product leader who is equally comfortable defining long-term product strategy and rapidly prototyping new ideas using modern AI-enabled product development tools. The ideal candidate enjoys experimenting with emerging technologies, validating concepts with users, and partnering closely with Engineering to bring innovative products to market. PRIMARY FUNCTIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES: AI Product Strategy & Vision Define and execute the AI product strategy supporting Ares' global Credit investment platform. Develop and maintain a multi-year AI product roadmap aligned with Credit business priorities and investment strategy. Partner closely with investment professionals to identify opportunities where AI can improve investment decision-making, streamline investment workflows, and enhance operational scale. Translate investment workflows, market trends, business priorities, and user feedback into scalable AI product opportunities. Evaluate build, buy, and partner opportunities across the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem. Establish and manage a portfolio of AI products aligned with measurable business outcomes. AI-Enabled Investment Workflows Lead AI product strategy supporting the end-to-end Credit investment lifecycle, including: Market intelligence and deal sourcing Deal screening and underwriting Financial analysis and document intelligence Diligence workflows Investment Committee preparation Enterprise AI Platform & Investment Intelligence Partner closely with the Enterprise Data & AI organization to define the product strategy for Ares' proprietary AI platform and gateway supporting Credit investing. Drive the development of reusable AI capabilities that power investment workflows across origination, diligence, portfolio management, and investment monitoring. Define the product vision for enterprise investment knowledge management, intelligent search, document intelligence, and investment copilots. Partner with Engineering to integrate internal data, investment platforms, research, and proprietary content into a unified AI experience for investment professionals. Help establish a differentiated investment intelligence platform leveraging proprietary data, workflows, and institutional knowledge. Product Execution & Delivery Partner closely with Engineering and Enterprise Data & AI teams to define, prioritize, and deliver AI-enabled products across the Credit platform. Define product vision, business capabilities, product requirements, success metrics, and release priorities. Lead AI products from concept and rapid prototyping through production deployment and ongoing product evolution. Measure adoption, business value, and user outcomes to continuously improve product capabilities. Drive AI adoption through iterative development, user feedback, and continuous product enhancement. Cross-functional Leadership Partner closely with Investment teams, Engineering, AI & Data, Operations & Infrastructure teams. Serve as the AI Product leader for Credit within enterprise technology governance and AI strategy discussions. Partner with Product Managers across the Credit Product organization to embed AI capabilities throughout the investment lifecycle. Promote responsible AI adoption, governance, security, and change management practices. Serve as a strategic advisor to senior business and technology leaders on the adoption of AI across the Credit platform. Product Innovation & Rapid Prototyping Foster a product-led culture of experimentation by rapidly validating ideas through prototypes, proofs of concept, and user feedback before committing to full-scale product development. Stay current with emerging AI technologies, foundation models, agentic AI frameworks, enterprise search capabilities, and modern product development tools, continuously evaluating their applicability to Credit investing. Leverage AI-assisted product development and rapid prototyping tools to create mockups, workflows, proof-of-concepts, and interactive demonstrations that accelerate product discovery, stakeholder alignment, and engineering execution. Demonstrate a hands-on approach to product management by utilizing AI-enabled development tools, low-code/no-code platforms, and rapid prototyping technologies to validate concepts and accelerate product delivery. Evaluate and adopt emerging AI-native product development tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Replit, Lovable, v0, Figma AI, or similar technologies to improve product discovery and innovation. Innovation & Market Leadership Monitor developments in Generative AI, AI agents, enterprise search, workflow automation, and investment technology. Evaluate emerging vendors and technologies. Build a pipeline of AI innovation opportunities aligned with Credit business priorities. Help establish Ares as a leader in AI-enabled investing. QUALIFICATIONS:
Education
Bachelor's degree required in Computer Science or adjacent fields. Advanced degree preferred.
Experience
Required: Strong understanding of private credit investment workflows spanning deal sourcing, deal screening, underwriting, diligence, investment committee, trade execution, portfolio management, portfolio monitoring, and investment analytics. Strong understanding of modern AI capabilities, including Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), AI assistants and copilots, agentic AI, intelligent workflow automation, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), enterprise search, and enterprise AI platforms.
Experience
identifying, defining, and delivering AI-powered products that leverage enterprise knowledge, document intelligence, workflow automation, or intelligent decision support to improve business outcomes.
Experience
partnering closely with Engineering, Data Science, and Enterprise Data & AI organizations to define product strategy and deliver enterprise AI capabilities. Familiarity with prompt engineering, tool/function calling, semantic search, vector databases, AI evaluation, human-in-the-loop workflows, context management, and responsible AI governance. Demonstrated hands-on experience using modern AI-assisted product development, rapid prototyping, design, or low-code/no-code tools to rapidly validate ideas and communicate product concepts. Strong product strategy, roadmap development, product discovery, stakeholder management, and product lifecycle management skills with the ability to translate complex business workflows into scalable technology solutions. Excellent communication, executive presentation, and cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to influence senior business and technology stakeholders. General
Requirements
9-12 years of experience in Product Management, Investment Technology, Digital Transformation, or Financial Technology.
Experience
supporting alternative investments, private credit, capital markets, or institutional investment platforms. Demonstrated experience defining product vision, developing multi-year product roadmaps, and delivering enterprise technology products from concept through production.
Experience
delivering AI-enabled products, digital assistants, enterprise search, knowledge management, document intelligence, workflow automation, or intelligent decision-support capabilities.
Experience
evaluating emerging technologies, conducting proof-of-concepts, and assessing build vs. buy decisions for enterprise AI solutions. Demonstrated ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives across Product, Engineering, Investment, Operations, and Data organizations in a highly matrixed environment. Reporting Relationships Global Head of Investment Technology 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. $225,000 - $250,000 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. 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. As of March 31, 2026, Ares Management's global platform had approximately $644 billion of assets under management(1) with more than 4,400 employees operating across North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.aresmgmt.com. Ares Management LLC (together with its related operating and administrative subsidiaries, “Ares Management”) is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, ethnicity, creed, sex, age, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation, status regarding public assistance, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, gender identity and expression, transgender status, genetic information, status as unemployed, political affiliation or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. Ares Management will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. (1) As of March 31, 2026. AUM amounts include funds managed by Ivy Hill Asset Management, LP., a wholly owned portfolio company of Ares Capital Corporation and registered investment adviser.
Skills and functions
- Data Science
- Product Management