Finance Systems Engineering Lead

Ares Operations•Los Angeles, CA

12h•Onsite

About The Position

Ares is seeking a Vice President, Finance Systems Engineering Lead to join Corporate Technology in Los Angeles. This role is responsible for the strategy, delivery, and operational effectiveness of Ares’ expense management, cost allocation, and related finance workflow capabilities—anchored in Coupa and integrated with upstream/downstream enterprise finance platforms. The Finance Systems Engineering Lead serves as the functional and technical lead for expense workflows, allocation logic, policy configuration and enforcement, and cross-system impacts—ensuring the platform ecosystem is configured and governed to support scale, accuracy, controls, and strong user adoption across the Finance organization. This role partners closely with Finance Operations, Treasury, Accounts Payable, Accounting, Technology teams, and external vendors to deliver standardized, auditable, and scalable processes.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive experience across finance systems, expense management, or enterprise platform delivery with demonstrated end-to-end ownership.
Deep hands-on experience with Coupa, including configuration, policy enforcement, approvals, and workflow design.
Strong understanding of expense accounting, cost allocation principles, and downstream impacts to close, reporting, and reconciliation.
Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives in a fast-paced, matrixed environment, including coordination across multiple vendors and delivery partners.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
BS or MS required (Technology, Finance, or related field)
Demonstrated success delivering and operating business-critical finance platforms, including workflow configuration, controls, and auditability.
Experience coordinating integrations and data flows across ERP, middleware, and reporting/data platforms (e.g., Oracle, integration platforms, reporting engines).
Proficiency in Agile delivery practices and tools (e.g., Jira, ServiceNow); proven ability to lead initiatives from concept through production.
Strong execution discipline across SDLC, testing practices, release/change management, and production support.
Ability to define and monitor operational and adoption KPIs, and to drive continuous improvement through insight and stakeholder partnership.

Nice To Haves

MBA, CPA, CFA, or other Finance related training is a plus
Experience in financial services, asset management, or similarly complex regulated environments.
Prior involvement in ERP modernization and/or finance transformation programs.
Experience supporting multi-entity, multi-currency, and/or global expense environments.
Familiarity with middleware, APIs, and enterprise integration patterns, including monitoring and reconciliation approaches.
Exposure to automation, workflow tooling, and emerging capabilities (including responsible AI-enabled analytics or exception triage).
Strong executive presence and stakeholder management skills; ability to align leaders around priorities, risks, and tradeoffs.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment while managing multiple priorities and driving complex deliverables to completion.
Strong sense of ownership and accountability with disciplined, outcomes-focused execution.
Comfort with ambiguity; ability to create structure, governance, and momentum across diverse stakeholders.
Highly collaborative; able to build credibility with Finance partners and cross-functional Technology teams.
Willingness to flex hours as needed to support global stakeholders and critical releases/production issues.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary owner and subject matter expert for the Coupa expense management platform and associated allocation capabilities, including connected integrations and operational processes.
Define and maintain a multi-year, value-oriented roadmap aligned with Finance and Corporate Technology leadership priorities, balancing enhancements, platform stability, controls, and user experience.
Translate Accounts Payable and Corporate Finance requirements into scalable Coupa configurations, platform enhancements, and well-governed operating procedures.
Own policy-based configuration, enforcement, approvals, and exception handling within Coupa and the allocation engine, ensuring audit-ready workflows and consistent application of standards.
Design, configure, and maintain cost allocation logic across departments, funds, entities, and cost centers—ensuring alignment with close, reporting, and management requirements.
Drive consistent global expense management and allocation best practices while supporting regional and business-specific needs through controlled configuration and governance.
Partner closely with Finance and Technology leaders to conduct in-depth analysis of requirements, pain points, and priorities; provide clear options, tradeoffs, and recommended approaches.
Coordinate expense and allocation touchpoints with ERP (e.g., Oracle), middleware/integration platforms, and enterprise reporting/data engines, ensuring reliable data quality and reconciliation practices.
Collaborate with product managers, platform owners, and Enterprise Architecture on cross-platform dependencies and roadmap sequencing.
Lead end-to-end delivery for enhancements and releases: discovery, requirements, design, testing/UAT, deployment, change management, training, and adoption measurement.
Own product backlogs and delivery hygiene, including Jira management, prioritization, outcome definition, and clear acceptance criteria.
Coordinate delivery across internal teams and external vendors to ensure predictable timelines, high quality, and operational readiness.
Ensure solutions are delivered with strong governance, embedded controls, and measurable value realization (adoption, cycle time, exception rates, allocation accuracy, service performance).