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

Key Responsibilities

·   Lead complex quarterly and annual financial reviews in line with defined risk tiers, materiality thresholds and review standards.

·   Lead and quality-control the review of underlying SPV and PropCo statutory financial statements, including key disclosures, supporting schedules and accounting conclusions.

·   Review and challenge trial balances, reconciliations, financial statements, supporting schedules and material movements.

·   Assess accounting conclusions, exceptions and control issues, considering their materiality and wider portfolio impact.

·   Identify and escalate material, recurring or systemic accounting, reporting and delivery issues.

·   Review workpapers and conclusions prepared by Analysts and Associates and provide clear, practical feedback.

·   Take ownership of assigned portfolios and ensure reviews are completed accurately and within agreed deadlines.

·   Challenge administrators on incomplete, inaccurate or late deliverables and follow issues through to closure.

·   Coordinate deadlines, open issues and remediation actions across multiple entities and review cycles.

·   Support the Team Lead with workload planning, prioritisation, quality assurance and day-to-day delivery.

·   Coach Analysts and Associates and contribute to their technical and professional development.

·   Support KPI reporting, issue ageing, root-cause analysis, rework monitoring and administrator performance assessment.

·   Collaborate with Luxembourg support, European Fund Controllership and other relevant stakeholders.

·   Help identify, design and implement technology, automation and AI-enabled solutions that improve review quality, consistency, scalability and efficiency.

·   Contribute expertise to broader team and organisational initiatives relating to systems and internal processes.

Experience and Qualifications

Education and Professional Qualifications

·   Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce or a related discipline.

·   Qualified or semi-qualified CA, CPA, ACCA or equivalent accounting qualification, supported by strong relevant financial statement review experience.

·   CFA qualification is advantageous but not required.

Experience

·   At least six years of relevant experience in accounting, fund administration, financial reporting or audit.

·   Strong financial statement review, reconciliation, analytical review and quality-assurance experience.

·   Experience with real estate, SPV accounting, holding companies, fund structures or multi-jurisdictional portfolios is preferred.

·   Previous experience reviewing the work of junior colleagues or providing coaching is preferred.

·   Project management, process transformation or recognised innovation experience is preferred.

·   Big Four or comparable audit, financial reporting or fund administration experience is advantageous but not required.

·   Experience with Microsoft 365, Power BI, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central or Advent Geneva is advantageous.

Technical and General Requirements

·   Strong knowledge of accounting principles, generally accepted accounting principles and financial reporting.

·   Basic understanding of US GAAP.

·   Ability to exercise accounting judgement, challenge conclusions and distinguish material risks from lower-priority observations.

·   Strong analytical, problem-solving and exception-identification capabilities.

·   Intermediate or advanced Excel skills.

·   Strong interest in using technology, data and AI to improve financial review and oversight processes.

·   Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

·   Ability to work independently and exercise sound professional judgement.

·   Ability to prioritise and manage multiple deadlines in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

·   Ability to challenge service providers professionally and communicate issues clearly to senior stakeholders.

Candidate Profile

·   Experienced, hands-on reviewer with sound judgement and a strong focus on material risk.

·   Highly motivated, proactive and resilient.

·   Strong ownership and willingness to follow issues through to final resolution.

·   Confident challenging administrators and accounting conclusions.

·   Able to distinguish material issues from lower-risk observations.

·   Clear, concise and evidence-based written communication.

·   Comfortable reviewing and coaching less-experienced colleagues.

·   Pragmatic, collaborative and able to work effectively across India and Europe.

·   Strong continuous-improvement mindset with an interest in automation, dashboards and AI-assisted review.

·   Demonstrates potential to progress into broader oversight or team-leadership responsibilities.

Success Measures

·   Accurate and timely completion of assigned reviews.

·   High-quality workpapers, evidence and review conclusions.

·   Effective quality control of Analyst and Associate work.

·   Timely identification and escalation of material or recurring issues.

·   Reduction in repeat review points and unnecessary rework.

·   Effective resolution of administrator observations and remediation actions.

·   Positive contribution to team capability, methodology, technology and

reviewer development.

Reporting Relationships

Head of Fund Accounting, India

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.