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

Ares is seeking a Managing Director–level executive to serve as Head of Creative within the Corporate Communications & Marketing group. This senior leadership role is responsible for defining and executing the firm’s global creative vision and brand expression.

The Head of Creative will lead a multidisciplinary team spanning art direction, design, animation, video, and event design, and will partner closely with Corporate Communications & Marketing leadership to deliver high-impact campaigns, content, and brand experiences across all channels. The role translates complex strategic narratives into clear, compelling creative concepts; governs and evolves global brand standards; and drives operational excellence across workflows, resourcing models, and vendor partnerships. The position also champions innovation - including responsible adoption of AI-enabled creative tools - while ensuring quality, consistency, risk awareness, and strong internal client service.

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Creative Vision

• Lead and inspire a team across art direction, design execution, animation and video, and event design, elevating creative output across internal and external resources.

• Define, evolve, and enforce global brand guidelines and visual identity to ensure consistent, high-impact expression across all Ares touchpoints.
• In partnership with Corporate Communications & Marketing stakeholders, help concept and deliver global campaigns and original content that advance Ares’ narrative and business objectives.
• Translate complex brand and campaign ideas into clear concepts, articulating creative rationale and driving excellence across teams and partners.

Strategic Partnership and Business Alignment 

• Partner closely with the Co-Heads of Corporate Communications & Marketing and Marketing team leads to shape, strengthen, and evolve Ares’ brand expression.
• Ensure all creative work is grounded in business strategy, supporting company goals, marketing priorities, and long-term brand growth.
• Lead projects from concept through execution, ensuring clarity, alignment, timely delivery, budget discipline, and stakeholder approval.
• Communicate creative ideas and strategies clearly across teams, enabling buy‑in and cohesive execution.

Quality Client Service

• Partner with client groups firmwide to ensure thorough requirements/needs intake, demand management, expectations management and quality delivery.
• Address client service issues with a constructive collaborative approach.
• Ensure core processes and technology relating to request lifecycle support timely and quality delivery.
• Seek feedback and adjust approach as needed.

Innovation and Workflow Optimization

• Stay ahead of creative, marketing, and technology trends, including AI advancements, to inform strategy and maintain competitive advantage.
• Partner with Technology and the firm’s broader AI governance to develop business cases around and seek approval for value-add AI tools to increase efficiency/speed or quality.
• Optimize workflows and processes to increase efficiency and productivity across the global creative team.
• Serve as a partner on content, UX, and data-informed creative approaches that enhance impact and meet evolving business needs.
• Consider internal vs external sourcing models for categories of work for optimal and cost-effective delivery.
• Review and enhance processes in support of broader team objectives.

Leadership, Governance & People Management

• Build and lead a global team with clear roles, career paths, and performance standards; coach leaders and high-potential talent.
• Establish governance for brand and creative decisioning (intake, prioritization, escalation paths, approvals, and measurement).
• Manage budgets and forecasting for creative operations, including vendor spend; ensure financial discipline and responsible resource allocation.
• Maintain appropriate risk management practices (brand/reputation, information security, confidentiality, third-party risk, and compliance alignment as applicable).
• Model executive presence, professionalism, and high integrity in all interactions.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required (Design, Visual Communication, Marketing, Communications, or a related field preferred).
• Advanced degree (MBA, MA, or equivalent) is a plus

Experience:

• 15+ years of progressive, relevant professional experience, consistent with Managing Director–level expectations, in creative leadership, brand, design, or integrated marketing/communications
• 7+ years of people leadership experience, including managing managers and multidisciplinary creative teams.
• Preferred experience in asset management, financial services, or similarly regulated, reputation-sensitive industries.
• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-scale and global creative initiatives, including campaign development and brand expression across multiple channels.
• Experience partnering closely with senior executives and cross-functional stakeholders to drive alignment, influence decisions, and deliver against business objectives.
• Proven ownership of creative operations, including budget management, agency/vendor oversight, and resourcing decisions.

General Requirements:

• Strategic and conceptual creative leadership with strong business acumen.
• Ability to translate complex narratives into clear, compelling creative direction.
• Executive presence and credibility with senior leadership.
• Operational discipline, prioritization, and sound judgment.
• Strong collaboration and cross-functional partnership skills.
• Change leadership mindset, including comfort with innovation and emerging technologies.
• Commitment to talent development, team building, and high performance standards

Reporting Relationships

Co-Head of Corporate Communications & Marketing

Compensation

$250,000 - $300,000

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.