Hybrid Head of Investor Relations bei Ariel Alternatives

The Company: 

Ariel Alternatives, LLC is a private asset management firm affiliated with Ariel Investments, LLC. Ariel Alternatives is an enterprise newly conceived for the times and built on a four-decade-old foundation. The firm's first fund closed with $1.45 billion in committed capital from limited partners and co-investors, and seeks to scale sustainable, market-leading businesses in high growth sectors serving Fortune 500 enterprises. Key sectors of focus include a broad subset of B2B services such as IT Services, Energy & Utility Services, Business Services, and Media and Marketing Services. Ariel Alternatives pursues a “demand-driven” investment strategy, targeting businesses that are “employers of choice” with market leading positions that can deliver meaningful innovation and value to customers. We look to bring senior level customer introductions to our portfolio companies to help accelerate their growth, creating a virtuous circle.

Ariel Investments, LLC was founded in 1983 and is a value-oriented asset management firm headquartered in Chicago, with offices in New York City and San Francisco. As of March 31, 2025, Ariel had $12.9 billion in total assets under management, including those of its affiliate, Ariel Alternatives. The firm serves individual and institutional investors through no-load mutual funds, collective investment trusts, private funds, and separate account strategies.

Every individual on the team - at all levels - plays a role that is critical to our firm’s success. We seek subject matter experts who are unapologetically themselves. We encourage our teammates to reach their full potential and give them the runway, support, and resources to succeed. Ariel Alternatives is an equal opportunity employer. Our employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, parental status, mental or physical disability, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law. Ariel is committed to recruiting and retaining talented applicants, and to providing all employees with a workplace free from discrimination and/or harassment.

For more information, please visit https://www.arielalternatives.com/.

The Position: 

Ariel Alternatives (“Ariel”) is seeking a full-time Head of Investor Relations to join its practice. This executive will be responsible for overseeing all investor relations and reporting across multiple funds, future fundraising efforts, and will work closely with executive leadership and cross-functional teams to communicate all relevant updates to investors and other stakeholders. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer and the Head of Investments, this executive will also partner with senior leadership to build out the firm’s future product strategies, in addition to managing its current fund. 

This individual must be based in the New York City area and will frequently travel to visit current / prospective investors and other key stakeholders in the industry. 

He/she will also work directly with the Investment team to identify value creation and co-invest opportunities with LPs and other institutional partners. This individual is expected to frequently engage in business development activities and will collaborate closely with the Investment Team and the Go-To-Market team for investor reporting purposes / to assist in portfolio company value creation initiatives.  

Requirements:

The Head of Investor Relations will be a highly accomplished and proven investor relations and fundraising expert, having been a senior executive at a private equity firm, managing investors across multiple funds.  

Additional requirements:

• 7-10 years of private equity investor relations expertise with institutional investors
• A track record of fundraising success, ideally across multiple asset classes and with deep industry relationships across institutional investors.
• Direct experience working with investment teams and a strong understanding of private equity fund structures.
• Experience working with placement agents.
• Strong EQ / interpersonal characteristics that will allow this individual to pitch and manage relationships at the C-Suite level of investors and prospective investors, respectively.
• Experience leading CRM efforts.
• Prepared and able to travel extensively globally.
• A “doer,” with strong work ethic and self-motivation—ability to work autonomously yet thrives as an active contributor to teams while handling multiple concurrent projects.
• Highly organized and efficient.
• Exposure to current best practices for fundraising and investor relations
• High energy; clear sense of urgency; action-
• Consistently, effectively and persistently drives results and achieves
• Able to leverage data, analytics, CRM tools, processes and relationships to manage and lead this crucial set of duties for Ariel Alternatives and to consistently deliver results.
• A culture carrier.
• Not required, but licensed (Series 7, 63, SIE) is a plus.

Competencies

• Communicate Effectively: Able to clearly and succinctly communicate verbally and in writing in a variety of settings and styles; can get messages across that have the desired effect.
• Stakeholder Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external stakeholders (investors, vendors, management teams, Fortune 500 relationships) and acts with them in mind
• Time Management: Uses his/her time effectively and efficiently; values time; concentrates his/her efforts on the more important priorities; gets more done in less time than others; can attend to a broader range of activities.
• Influencing Skills: Ability to inspire and lead teams that will not report directly to you; Use finesse to impart wisdom and perspective to a range of internal and external stakeholders
• Priority Setting: Spends his/her time and the time of others on what is important; quickly zeros in on the critical few and puts the trivial many aside; can quickly sense what will help or hinder accomplishing a goal; eliminates roadblocks; creates focus.
• Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; is not upset when things are up in the air; does not have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably manage risk and uncertainty.
• Action Oriented: Is a hard worker, action-oriented and full of energy for the things seen as challenging; not fearful of acting with a minimum of planning; seizes more opportunities than others.