M&A Technology Integration Architect

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

The M&A Technology Integration Architect is a senior role within the Global Technology organization, specializing in the technical design and execution of technology integrations for mergers and acquisitions. This role focuses on application integration, technical architecture, and cross-domain coordination, supporting transactions from due diligence through Day 0 / Day 1 readiness and post-close integration.

This individual serves as a hands-on technical leader within the M&A Technology function, working closely with integration program management, application teams, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and data stakeholders. In addition to transaction-related work, the role plays a key part in the firm’s enterprise application strategy and rationalization program, leading architectural workstreams and shaping integration and consolidation approaches.

The ideal candidate combines strong technical depth with a solid understanding of financial services business processes, can navigate complex architectural and security conversations, and is comfortable operating as an individual contributor with significant influence across teams.

Reporting relationships:

Reports to: Head of M&A Technology Integrations

Primary functions and essential responsibilities:

M&A Integration Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Lead the technical architecture and integration design for M&A transactions, spanning due diligence, Day 0 / Day 1 readiness, and post-close integration execution.
• Assess target-state application architectures and integration complexity during diligence, identifying risks, dependencies, and architectural trade-offs.
• Define integration patterns and technical approaches for application onboarding, data exchange, identity, and system connectivity.
• Serve as a key technical escalation point during integrations, partnering with program management to resolve architectural and execution challenges.

Application Integration & Domain Expertise

• Design and oversee application integration solutions across enterprise platforms, including API-based, event-driven, and file-based integration patterns.
• Work closely with application owners to align integration approaches with enterprise standards and future-state architecture.
• Bring strong understanding of business workflows and application landscapes to inform integration sequencing and consolidation decisions.
• Support integration across multiple technology domains, including applications, infrastructure, and cybersecurity.

Enterprise Application Strategy & Rationalization

• Play a key role in the enterprise application rationalization and consolidation program, leading architectural workstreams and technical assessments.
• Evaluate application duplication, technical debt, and integration complexity to inform rationalization decisions.
• Define target-state application patterns and transition architectures in partnership with Enterprise Architecture.
• Support execution of consolidation initiatives, ensuring technical soundness and minimal business disruption.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Influence

• Partner closely with M&A Integration Program Managers to align technical design with program plans, timelines, and dependencies.
• Collaborate with Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Identity, and Data teams to ensure integrations meet enterprise standards for security, resiliency, and compliance.
• Communicate technical concepts, risks, and recommendations clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Contribute to governance forums by providing architectural input and recommendations.

Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field.

Experience Required

• 10–12 years of overall technology experience, with at least 5 years focused on M&A technology integration or closely related integration initiatives.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience within the financial services industry, with exposure to asset management or adjacent regulated environments strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience designing and implementing application integrations in complex enterprise environments.
• Strong understanding of enterprise application landscapes and business workflows, sufficient to evaluate integration and rationalization trade-offs.
• Working knowledge of infrastructure, cloud platforms, identity and access management, and cybersecurity concepts relevant to system integration.
• Experience participating in or leading technical workstreams within large-scale application rationalization or consolidation programs.
• Proven ability to operate as a senior individual contributor, influencing outcomes across teams without direct authority.

Skills & Attributes

• Strong technical depth with a pragmatic, solution-oriented mindset.
• Ability to balance speed and rigor in fast-paced M&A environments.
• Clear communicator who can translate architectural concepts into actionable recommendations.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and evolving requirements.
• Highly collaborative, with the ability to build trust across technical and business stakeholders.
• Organized and disciplined in documenting architectures, decisions, and standards.

Reporting Relationships

Compensation

$150K - $200K

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.