Python Financial Model Engineer, Vice President

About this role

About Quantitative Analytics Engineering

BlackRock is one of the world’s preeminent asset management firms and an outstanding provider of global investment management, risk management, and advisory services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors around the world. Besides offering a range of investment solutions — from fundamental and quantitative active management approaches to highly efficient indexing strategies – BlackRock also provides direct access to its market leading analytic models by onboarding clients to its Aladdin Platform, an end-to-end portfolio management software solution.

The Investments and Trading Engineering (ITE) team builds and delivers Aladdin's industry-leading risk management, portfolio management, compliance and trading capabilities. Within ITE, Quantitative Analytics Engineering (QAE) is a global team of quantitative developers responsible for the implementation of security valuation, portfolio risk, liquidity and performance attribution models. BlackRock Portfolio managers and external Aladdin clients such as pension funds and insurance companies rely on models maintained by QAE to identify investment opportunities, build portfolios and manage risk.

What will you be doing?

Our diverse and distributed team has a keen interest and expertise in all things related to technology and financial analytics. We are also for the technology platform that enables research, implementation, delivery and execution of financial risk models to our internal partners and external clients, and their integration with Aladdin.

We are looking for self-motivated software engineer to contribute to said platform. We maintain a set of Python libraries, both internal and soon-to-be open source, that allows modellers to research, implement and run financial risk models. We also maintain and advise our users on our Model SDLC that heavily relies on the Aladdin Engineering SDLC. To design, implement and maintain this platform, we are looking for an individual with experience and interest in Python library development, Azure DevOps, Apache Arrow and potentially Snowflake for data warehousing and computation.

Our team is:

• Passionate about technology and solving complex problems.
• Develops in Python, working with technologies like Pandas, Apache Arrow, Snowflake, Prefect, Docker, and Azure DevOps.
• Comprised of technology leaders that unlock constant innovation.
• Constantly challenges the technology status quo and looks for ways to improve the platform.

Key Responsibilities

We expect the role to involve the following core responsibilities and would expect a successful candidate to be able to demonstrate skills or experience with the following (not in order of priority):

• Quickly learn the platform and act as a subject matter expert towards modelling teams.
• Facilitate technical design and code review sessions to ensure software meets functional and compatibility requirements, as well as high quality standards.
• Build widely used and reliable fundamental components as part of the platform, distributed as Python libraries.
• Build high quality software that improves the user experience of the downstream modeller and developer.
• Stay abreast of the latest developments in machine learning, quantitative finance, and technology to incorporate innovative solutions into our platform.
• Working with modellers to understand the business and their requirements. Help refactor and optimise the risk model code.
• Enhance the performance of existing models, ensuring they operate efficiently at scale.
• Implementation and maintenance of a standard data / technology deployment workflow to ensure that all deliverables/enhancements are delivered in a disciplined and robust manner.
• Ensure operational readiness of the product and meet customer commitments with regards to incident SLAs.

Skillset

• Strong experience (5+ years) in Python is crucial
• Experience with Pandas, Apache Arrow, Snowflake, (Prefect is a plus)
• Good understanding of Object-Oriented Design principles
• Good understanding of fundamental Algorithms and Data Structures
• Knowledge of Azure DevOps and git, CI/CD
• Good understanding of unit tests, integration and regression tests, and their importance
• An aptitude for designing data models and building tools for data due diligence and data extraction pipeline is a plus
• Ability to understand advanced mathematical and statistical methods and concepts
• Fluency in reading, writing and speaking English

Personal Qualities

• Team player
• Problem-solving skills
• Critical and analytical thinking
• Technical curiosity
• Adaptable

Our benefits

To help you stay energized, engaged and inspired, we offer a wide range of employee benefits including: retirement investment and tools designed to help you in building a sound financial future; access to education reimbursement; comprehensive resources to support your physical health and emotional well-being; family support programs; 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 Employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, disability, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics at law.