Aladdin Client Transformations, Front Office, Associate

About this role

Aladdin Client Transformations Associate - Front Office

What we do:

BlackRock’s business is investing on behalf of our clients, from large institutions to parents and grandparents, doctors and teachers who entrust their savings to us. We are committed to our clients—period. Our promise is to offer them the clearest thinking about what to do with their money and the products and services they need to secure a better financial future.

That’s why investors of all kinds have made us the world’s largest asset manager, entrusting us with trillions of dollars, and it's why companies, institutions and global governments come to us for help meeting their biggest financial challenges.

BlackRock runs on Aladdin. It has always been at the core of BlackRock. Aladdin® is an operating system for investment managers that seek to connect the information, people, and technology needed to manage money in real time. Our investment software combines risk analytics with portfolio management, trading, compliance, and operations tools on a single platform to power informed decision-making, effective risk management, efficient trading, and operational scale. Through Aladdin, the firm offers to clients the same technology and intellectual capital that BlackRock uses to manage investments day-to-day.

About this role:

The Aladdin Business is growing rapidly, with the volume and complexity of new client deals and strategic partnerships growing each year. We are at the next phase of our growth and are evolving into a platform focused business with multiple new product launches and external partnerships. Successful candidates will join in our efforts to help sophisticated investors onboard the world’s leading end-to-end operating system for investment portfolios to see their whole portfolio, understand risk exposures, and act with precision.

We are looking for a candidate to join us in the Associate role within the team’s Front Office practice.

Your team:

The Aladdin Client Transformation (“ACT”) is responsible for the installation and deployment of Aladdin and related products and services, globally. Aladdin implementations, including both institutional and retail assignments, are high profile initiatives that require team members to have external exposure and play an active role in the redefinition of investment organizations. A typical implementation is at least as much about processes and implementing change as it is about investments & technology. We help clients achieve ambitious strategic objectives, which range from streamlining investment operations to integrating teams, to unifying their investment analytics & risk reporting framework, to modernizing their overall investment process. BlackRock’s implementation model is unique in the sense that we take full responsibility for the Client going live on our solution. It also means that we develop true partnerships with select client personnel.

Your responsibilities:

• Collaborate closely with the client’s project team, for example program managers, risk managers, portfolio managers, technologists, and provide leadership throughout the Aladdin implementation
• Engage the client’s key leaders to understand, redesign, and deploy strategic business workflows across the investment cycle, including pre trade decisioning, order management, trading, investment operations, risk management, compliance, oversight, closed book accounting, and performance measurement and attribution
• Facilitate and document investment and operational workflow design sessions for various asset classes, including equities, fixed income, alternatives, derivatives, and related workflows
• Gain in depth knowledge of Aladdin functionality and workflows, and develop industry expertise, for example pensions, insurers, asset managers, to ensure clients take full advantage of the suite of Aladdin products and workflows
• Coordinate and assist, and where appropriate lead, client specific Aladdin configuration, testing, and user training
• Work closely with the client and Aladdin Product Managers to support client development needs, including API enabled use cases and data exchange
• Work closely with the client and key internal functional teams to ensure the full range of capabilities are considered during an Aladdin implementation, and to align to standard methodologies and integration patterns
• Participate in Aladdin business development activities, assisting in platform demonstrations, implementation pre-planning, and client due diligence as a product and workflow subject matter authority
• Actively manage client communications regarding Aladdin product changes and configurations related to onboarding, including release impacts and configuration decisions
• Comfort with periodic regional and international travel based on client location and project needs

Your qualifications:

• Familiarity with portfolio management workflows and investment analytics as a buy side technology provider or as a front office practitioner, with at least 6 years of relevant industry experience
• Strong familiarity with capital markets instruments, equities, fixed income, private markets, derivatives, and the associated analytics or investment life cycle
• Experience implementing scalable and repeatable business processes, including program management and control frameworks
• Excellent interpersonal skills with a proven ability to build relationships with internal and client stakeholders
• Excellent creative, analytical, and technology skills with an entrepreneurial approach to large, complex projects, and the ability to execute autonomously and in cross functional teams
• Enjoys a fast paced, high intensity, and complex environment, troubleshooting time critical issues and working with people
• Strong attention to detail, a proactive approach, and a hands-on mindset
• Working proficiency with SQL and at least one general purpose language, for example Python or similar, and comfort with RESTful APIs and JSON data structures
• Progress toward or completion of globally recognized professional designations, for example FRM, CFA, CAIA, or similar
• Local language proficiency (verbal/written)

Nice if you have:

• Track record of contributing to successful implementations of investment technology solutions, for example order and trading systems, risk platforms, operations tools
• Programming background or experience with query languages, and familiarity with version control and basic test automation
• Experience with order management systems, electronic trading platforms, or derivative platforms
• Understanding of investment risk, for example market risk analytics, and investment performance measurement and attribution concepts
• Experience with platform integrations, for example interfaces and APIs, including data mapping and troubleshooting
• Program management experience
• Relevant professional certifications, for example CFA, FRM, CAIA, are highly desirable

For San Francisco, CA and New York, NY Only the salary range for this position is USD$115,000.00 - USD$147,500.00 . Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, and benefits including healthcare, leave benefits, and retirement benefits. BlackRock operates a pay-for-performance compensation philosophy and your total compensation may vary based on role, location, and firm, department and individual performance. For Washington, DC and Atlanta, GA Only the salary range for this position is USD$115,000.00 - USD$132,000.00 . Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, and benefits including healthcare, leave benefits, and retirement benefits. BlackRock operates a pay-for-performance compensation philosophy and your total compensation may vary based on role, location, and firm, department and individual performance.

Our benefits

To help you stay energized, engaged and inspired, we offer a wide range of benefits including a strong retirement plan, tuition reimbursement, comprehensive healthcare, support for working parents and Flexible Time Off (FTO) so you can relax, recharge and be there for the people you care about.

Our hybrid work model

BlackRock’s hybrid work model is designed to enable a culture of collaboration and apprenticeship that enriches the experience of our employees, while supporting flexibility for all. Employees are currently required to work at least 4 days in the office per week, with the flexibility to work from home 1 day a week. Some business groups may require more time in the office due to their roles and responsibilities. We remain focused on increasing the impactful moments that arise when we work together in person – aligned with our commitment to performance and innovation. As a new joiner, you can count on this hybrid model to accelerate your learning and onboarding experience here at BlackRock.

About BlackRock

At BlackRock, we are all connected by one mission: to help more and more people experience financial well-being. Our clients, and the people they serve, are saving for retirement, paying for their children’s educations, buying homes and starting businesses. Their investments also help to strengthen the global economy: support businesses small and large; finance infrastructure projects that connect and power cities; and facilitate innovations that drive progress.

This mission would not be possible without our smartest investment – the one we make in our employees. It’s why we’re dedicated to creating an environment where our colleagues feel welcomed, valued and supported with networks, benefits and development opportunities to help them thrive.

For additional information on BlackRock, please visit @blackrock | Twitter: @blackrock | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock

BlackRock is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity to all applicants and existing employees, and we evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity/expression), sexual orientation, age, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religion, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. View the EEOC’s Know Your Rights poster and its supplement and the pay transparency statement.

BlackRock is committed to full inclusion of all qualified individuals and to providing reasonable accommodations or job modifications for individuals with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation/adjustments are needed throughout the employment process, please email Disability.Assistance@blackrock.com. All requests are treated in line with our privacy policy.

BlackRock will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in a manner consistent with the requirements of the law, including any applicable fair chance law.