Vice President, Senior Commercial Counsel

Ares Operations•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

Ares Management Corporation is seeking an experienced, strategic commercial attorney to join its Legal team as the primary legal advisor and functional lead for the firm's vendor contracting program. The role combines hands-on review, drafting, and negotiation of vendor and other commercial agreements with oversight of a high-volume contract review function and leadership of a team of contract professionals. The Senior Commercial Counsel will partner with business stakeholders and Legal colleagues, provide practical advice on contractual and commercial risk, and develop the future-state operating model for vendor contract review. This includes evaluating processes, workflows, external service providers, contract lifecycle management systems, and emerging artificial intelligence and other legal technologies to improve the quality, efficiency, and scalability of legal services. The position reports to the Associate General Counsel, Enterprise Legal.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
Bachelor's degree.
Admission and good standing in at least one U.S. state bar.
8–10+ years of legal experience, including significant experience reviewing, drafting, and negotiating vendor and other commercial agreements.
Demonstrated experience leading or materially overseeing a large-scale, high-volume commercial or vendor contract review program, preferably with annual volume exceeding approximately 5,000 contracts.
Significant hands-on experience negotiating complex technology, software, SaaS, professional services, and other vendor agreements.
Experience supervising and developing attorneys, paralegals, contract administrators, or other contract professionals.
Demonstrated experience designing, scaling, or materially improving commercial contracting processes and operating models.
Strong understanding of contract lifecycle management systems and technology-enabled contracting workflows, with fluency in AI and other emerging technologies applicable to contract review and legal service delivery.
Strong stakeholder management experience, including interaction with senior leadership and cross-functional business partners.
Ability to provide practical, solutions-based legal advice and collaborate strategically with business partners on legal and commercial considerations.
Ability to work autonomously and as part of a larger team.
Ability to plan, execute, and manage complex projects and organizational change while gaining stakeholder support.
Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
Excellent time management and organizational skills.
Excellent contract review, drafting, and negotiation skills.
Critical thinking, strong issue-spotting skills, and high attention to detail.
Ability to manage and prioritize multiple priorities and competing or shifting demands.
Strong people-management skills and ability to develop high-performing teams.
Appreciation for process design, implementation, and continuous improvement.
Technology-forward mindset and interest in innovative approaches to legal service delivery.
Growth mindset and desire to learn, improve, and take on new challenges.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing external counsel, alternative legal service providers, or other outsourced contracting resources.

Responsibilities

Review, draft, and negotiate vendor and commercial agreements, including master services agreements, statements of work, software and SaaS agreements, technology agreements, professional services agreements, and NDAs.
Serve as a senior escalation point for complex or higher-risk vendor contracts and provide practical, solutions-oriented advice on contractual and commercial risk.
Ensure vendor contracts reflect Ares' contractual standards, policies, and risk tolerances while supporting commercial objectives.
Partner with Procurement, Technology, Information Security, Privacy, Finance, and other business functions on vendor contracting matters.
Develop and improve contract templates, playbooks, fallback positions, and escalation guidelines.
Lead and supervise contract professionals responsible for day-to-day vendor contract review, drafting, and negotiation.
Personally review and negotiate contracts while managing, developing, and supporting the wider contract review team.
Establish standards, workflows, and escalation protocols, and provide guidance and coaching to contract review team members.
Monitor contract volume, turnaround times, workload allocation, and performance indicators to ensure timely, high-quality, consistent support.
Build relationships with business stakeholders and serve as a primary Legal contact for the vendor contract review process.
Develop and implement a scalable, efficient, technology-enabled operating model for vendor contracting.
Evaluate AI, contract review, workflow automation, and other legal technology solutions.
Partner with Legal Operations, Technology, and other stakeholders to optimize CLM functionality, workflows, and integrations, and lead or support related implementation changes.
Evaluate and, when appropriate, oversee external legal service providers, law firms, and other resources supporting vendor contract review; establish service expectations, escalation procedures, quality standards, and performance metrics.
Identify ways to streamline contract review, reduce unnecessary friction, improve stakeholder experience, and appropriately manage legal and commercial risk.
Develop and use metrics and reporting to assess function effectiveness and identify continuous improvement opportunities.
Stay current on CLM technology, AI-assisted contract review, and evolving legal service delivery approaches, and apply relevant developments to Ares' contracting function.