Associate, Legal Vendor Strategy & Management
Company: Ares Operations
Location: Los Angeles
Posted on: April 1, 2026
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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 ABOUT THE ROLE Ares is seeking a
data-driven Associate, Legal Vendor Strategy & Management to
support Ares Legal’s implementation of best-in-class legal vendor
and spend management practices. The role is focused on
standardizing how Ares evaluates, engages and manages legal service
providers to drive cost and performance value across the firm. The
Associate will function as both a data translator and a commercial
business partner—turning legal spend, matter and performance data
into insights that inform sourcing decisions, pricing strategies
and ongoing vendor management. Working at the intersection of
legal, finance and technology, this role enables leadership
visibility, cost discipline and accountability by embedding
analytics into day-to-day vendor governance and decision-making
processes. REPORTING Reports to: Associate Vice President, Legal
Vendor Strategy & Management KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Spend Analytics,
Budgeting & Forecasting: Develop, maintain and continuously enhance
spend reporting, analytics and performance dashboards that support
vendor management, budgeting and executive decision-making. Support
annual budgeting, rolling forecasting and variance analysis in
partnership with Legal leadership and Finance and Accounting at the
matter, vendor and portfolio levels. Identify cost drivers and
inefficiencies, including pricing gaps, scope creep and demand
drivers; recommend corrective actions aligned with sourcing and
pricing strategies. Analyze and maintain vendor scorecards
integrating spend, rate discipline, matter mix, AFA usage and
performance metrics to enable vendor differentiation and
governance. Produce monthly and quarterly reporting packages
highlighting trends, savings opportunities, demand drivers and
resource optimization insights for leadership review with clear
implications for action. Data Governance & Process Management:
Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to enforce data capture
standards for vendor, matter, budget and invoice intake at the
point of request and billing. Ensure the accuracy, completeness and
timeliness of legal spend and vendor data used for forecasting,
sourcing and performance reviews. Collaborate with cross-functional
teams to align data inputs and workflows with leadership reporting
and decision-making needs. Support reconciliation, testing and
system integration activities to enhance data flow and reliability
while improve scalability of reporting. Implement and administer
RFP and vendor sourcing tools, including configuration, data
standards and integration with other matter and spend systems.
Maintain centralized, up-to-date firm profiles capturing
capabilities, pricing models, performance history and areas of
expertise to support sourcing and allocation decisions. Vendor
Strategy & Performance Support: Analyze vendor utilization,
sourcing mix, AFA adoption and rate structures to inform strategy
and portfolio optimization. Support RFPs and competitive sourcing
initiatives through data analysis, pricing comparisons and proposal
evaluation including scoring and recommendations. Track vendor
performance against KPIs, including pricing commitments, AFAs and
compliance with Outside Counsel Guidelines (OCGs). Use performance
data to identify improvement opportunities and support vendor
review discussions with fact-based materials and insights. Plan,
organize and support Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) with key
vendors, including agenda development, performance materials and
follow-up actions. Develop and maintain vendor knowledge maps that
document firm capabilities, subject-matter strengths, historical
matter experience and strategic fit across practice areas.
QUALIFICATIONS Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance,
Economics, Accounting or Data Analytics or equivalent quantitative
discipline required. Required Skills & Experience: 3 years of
experience in financial analysis, legal operations or pricing,
management consulting or business intelligence, with exposure to
spend management, vendor analytics or cost governance, ideally
within a corporate or professional services environment. Experience
analyzing complex data sets related to spend, pricing or
performance and providing actionable insights and reporting.
Familiarity with legal technology systems, legal e-billing tools,
matter management platforms or law firm practice management
systems. Advanced with PowerPoint, Excel and BI tools (Power BI,
Tableau, Looker); experience building automated dashboards,
repeatable reporting and effective presentation decks; experience
with DAX, Python or SQL a plus. Strong analytical and quantitative
skills with the ability to translate data into clear
recommendations that support sourcing, budgeting and vendor
management decisions. Excellent attention to detail and commitment
to data integrity across financial, vendor and matter data. Strong
written and verbal communication skills; able to effectively
interact with senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
Collaborative, adaptable mindset suited to a transformative,
data-driven environment with evolving processes and systems. WHAT
SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE Leadership relies on spend dashboards and vendor
scorecards as the primary input for budgeting, sourcing decisions
and vendor performance reviews. Legal spend is predictable, with
materially improved forecast accuracy and reduced budget variance
across matters and vendors. Vendors are actively managed through
structured governance (RFPs, rate review, AFAs and QBRs), with
documented actions and follow-through. Measurable savings and value
realization are achieved through disciplined rate management, scope
control and strategic sourcing—not one-off reductions. Ares
maintains current firm profiles and vendor knowledge maps that
clearly differentiate providers by capability, cost, performance
and strategic fit. Vendor accountability is transparent,
data-driven and consistently applied across matters, teams and
geographies. Reporting Relationships 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. $105,000 - $120,000 / annum 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.
Keywords: Ares Operations, Redondo Beach , Associate, Legal Vendor Strategy & Management, Accounting, Auditing , Los Angeles, California
