Senior Associate, Legal Vendor Strategy & Management

Ares is seeking a Senior Associate, Legal Vendor Strategy & Management – Performance and Value Management to help build the infrastructure for how the Legal department selects, manages and evaluates outside counsel and other legal service providers.

This role is responsible for leading key workstreams relating to vendor strategy, sourcing, pricing analysis, performance management and relationship governance across Ares’ legal vendor portfolio. The successful candidate will help build a more disciplined and data-informed approach to legal vendor selection, evaluation and management.

This position is well suited for a candidate with a background in consulting, procurement, legal operations, outside counsel or account management, law firm practice management or business operations who combines strong analytical ability with sound judgment and relationship skills.

Reports to: Head of Legal Transformation

• Support development of vendor segmentation, sourcing strategy and preferred-provider approaches across the legal vendor landscape.
• Participate in vendor sourcing and procurement initiatives, including RFx processes, evaluation and feedback frameworks, pricing analysis and selection support.
• Own the preparation of vendor profiles, comparative assessments and recommendation materials for leadership review.
• Identify opportunities to improve vendor mix, cost discipline and alignment between business needs and service provider capabilities.
• Independently develop analyses and recommendations relating to pricing, staffing models, service delivery approaches and vendor selection decisions

• Help build and maintain vendor governance processes for preferred firms and service providers.
• Lead preparation of materials and insights for quarterly business reviews and other governance forums.
• Support ongoing relationship management by tracking commitments, follow-ups, performance trends and escalation items.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to ensure vendor strategy reflects business priorities, matter requirements and service expectations.
• Help incorporate, measure and report on playbook adherence, knowledge-transfer expectations and data-sharing requirements into vendor governance.

• Support pricing analysis, alternative fee arrangement evaluation and broader commercial decision-making and negotiation across vendors.
• Partner with Legal and Finance stakeholders to improve visibility into spend drivers, forecast trends and value realization.
• Help build scorecards, evaluation frameworks and performance review materials for vendors.
• Identify patterns and insights related to cost, efficiency, quality, responsiveness, staffing and service delivery performance.
• Help evaluate how firms and service providers are using AI and identify implications for pricing, performance, knowledge transfer and data-sharing expectations.
• Support continuous improvement efforts with vendors by translating data and feedback into actionable recommendations.
• Use AI-enabled tools where appropriate to support vendor analysis, performance reviews, knowledge capture, governance materials and decision support.

• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to align vendor governance and management with Ares’ evolving legal operating model.
• Prepare presentations, briefing materials and decision support for leadership discussions.
• Support rollout of new governance practices, sourcing disciplines and performance management processes.
• Contribute to the development of a more connected and data-informed model for managing and selecting legal vendors.

• 5+ years of experience in management consulting, procurement, strategic sourcing, legal operations, outside counsel/account management, law firm practice management or business operations.
• Strong analytical skills with experience evaluating vendor performance, commercial terms, pricing or sourcing options.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams and supporting structured decision-making processes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with senior stakeholders.
• Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills and strong PowerPoint or Google Slides skills.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead workstreams or projects involving vendor governance, commercial analysis, sourcing, performance management or related transformation efforts.
• Ability to synthesize financial, operational and qualitative information into clear recommendations.
• Strong judgment, relationship management skills and a collaborative working style.

• Experience with legal vendor management, outside counsel/account management, sourcing, procurement or law firm practice management.
• Familiarity with e-billing, spend analytics, scorecards or vendor governance processes.
• Comfort using AI-enabled tools to analyze information, improve productivity and support governance and performance management processes.
• Experience preparing materials for business reviews, governance forums or executive decision-making.
• Experience in a legal department, law firm, ALSP or professional services environment.
• Experience participating directly in vendor governance forums, pricing discussions or firm relationship management

Bachelor’s degree required.

• Vendor sourcing and selection processes are more structured, disciplined and data-informed.
• Preferred vendors are managed through a consistent governance cadence with clear performance expectations and measured KPIs.
• Leadership has better visibility into vendor pricing, sourcing, performance and opportunities for improvement.
• Vendor scorecards, business reviews and governance materials support data-driven outside counsel and service-provider decisions.
• Vendor relationships are managed more strategically and are better aligned with Ares’ expectations around quality, cost, responsiveness and knowledge transfer.