Global Head of Benefits

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 looking for an experienced Global Head of Benefits to join the Global Human Resources team. The Global Head of Benefits will be responsible for developing, executing, and governing the organization’s global benefits strategy for over 4,300 employees globally. This leader ensures that all health, retirement, wellness, risk protection, leave of absence, and ancillary offerings are competitive, cost-effective, compliant, and aligned with the organization’s talent strategy. The role oversees benefit programs across all operating regions and partners closely with HR, Finance, Legal, and business leaders to create a unified global framework that supports employee wellbeing and provides an exceptional employee experience worldwide.

The successful candidate will be responsible for providing exceptional client service, promptly addressing all related queries and concerns, streamlining and improving our benefits processes to ensure best practices while managing a team of four and partnering with the broader global team in a fast-paced rapidly growing environment.  He/she will be responsible for managing multiple vendor relationships and external benefits providers and developing a strong sense of the benefits market in each of the regions in which we operate.  The ideal candidate will also effectively interface and liaise with other Human Resources leaders and senior leaders and manage ongoing relationships with clients.

Reporting relationships

Reports to: Head of Rewards

Primary functions and essential responsibilities

Global Strategy & Program Leadership

• Develop and execute a unified global benefit and leave of absence strategy that supports business objectives and employee wellbeing.

• Lead the design and delivery of global, regional, and local programs for healthcare, retirement, insurance, wellbeing, and all leave of absence programs (medical, statutory, parental, personal, and disability).

• Ensure global consistency while providing flexibility to meet local market requirements.

Leave of Absence (LOA) Program Management

• Own global LOA program design, governance, and compliance across all operating countries.

• Oversee administration of medical leaves, disability leaves, family/parental leaves, statutory leaves, and paid/unpaid time-off programs.

• Partner with Legal to ensure adherence to complex global regulations (FMLA, ADA, state and country-specific laws).

• Create/enhance clear global LOA policies, employee communications, and manager playbooks.

• Implement systems, vendors, and workflows that ensure timely, accurate, and empathetic support for employees on leave.

• Monitor claims, trends, and costs to drive early intervention, improved employee outcomes, and operational efficiency.

Governance, Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure global benefits and leave programs comply with local regulatory requirements and fiduciary obligations.

• Establish governance frameworks to ensure global consistency in benefits and LOA administration.

• Support audit processes, data privacy compliance, and required reporting.

Financial Management

• Lead global benefits and leave budgeting, cost modeling, and long-range forecasting.

• Evaluate financial performance and ROI of benefit and leave programs using analytics and benchmarking.

• Drive cost-efficiency through plan design optimization, vendor negotiations, and risk management strategies.

Vendor & Partner Management

• Manage global broker relationships, insurers, LOA administrators, wellbeing partners, and technology vendors.

• Lead RFPs, contract negotiations, renewals, and performance reviews.

• Establish clear service level expectations and oversight structures for benefits and LOA vendors.

Employee Experience & Communication

• Champion a best-in-class employee experience for benefits and leave programs.

• Oversee global communications for annual enrollment, program updates, and LOA processes to ensure clarity and accessibility.

• Partner with HR Business Partners and other HR disciplines to ensure employees and managers receive consistent, high-quality support.

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead and develop global benefits and LOA team across multiple geographies.

• Drive cross-functional alignment with HR, Finance, Legal, Payroll, and People Operations.

• Serve as a senior advisor to executives on global benefits and leave trends, risks, and opportunities.

• Direct the day-to-day responsibilities of a global team of four employees.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in business administration

Experience Required:  

• Minimum of 12-15 years of progressive experience in global benefits

• Prior experience leading global benefits and leave of absence programs across multiple regions.

• Deep knowledge of global benefits and leave program design, regulations, and best practices.

• Good knowledge of Microsoft products required.

• Experience with Workday preferred.

• Strong strategic thinking and financial acumen.

• Excellent communication, influencing, and executive presentation skills.

• Proven ability to lead distributed teams and navigate matrixed organizations.

• Empathy, discretion, and a strong commitment to employee wellbeing.

General Requirements:

• Strong management skills, including proven experience of managing and/or collaborating with teams in remote locations to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and high level of supervisory oversight

• Ability to successfully manage multiple priorities and competing demands

• Ability to multi-task and prioritize deadlines; result oriented

• Strong communication skills and team orientation; capability of interacting with key stakeholders to direct prioritization of Benefits-related activity

• Strong client service orientation

• High accuracy and detail orientation

• Strong knowledge of benefits procedures, including knowledge of pensions, etc.

• Good judgment in terms of escalating issues vs. solving problems independently

• A solutions-oriented self-starter with ability to see the big picture

• A demonstrated ability to research and leverage available resources to accomplish the task at hand

• Comfort in dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty in a dynamic and fast-paced environment

• Ability to be flexible in terms of hours in order to coordinate with team members across various time zones

• An analytical mind and a passion/interest in bringing new ideas to increase efficiency of existing processes

• Dependable, great attitude, highly motivated and a team player

• Ability to handle confidential information appropriately

Reporting Relationships

Compensation

$200,000-$250,000