Java Backend Engineer, Aladdin Engineering – Vice President

About this role

Java Backend Developer

Are you interested in building innovative technology that crafts the financial markets? Do you like working at the speed of a startup, and solving some of the world’s most exciting challenges? Do you want to work with, and learn from, hands-on leaders in technology and finance?

At BlackRock, we are looking for Software Engineers who like to innovate and solve sophisticated problems. We recognize that strength comes from diversity, and will embrace your outstanding skills, curiosity, and passion while giving you the opportunity to grow technically and as an individual.

We invest and protect over $9 trillion (USD) of assets and have an extraordinary responsibility to our clients all over the world. Our technology empowers millions of investors to save for retirement, pay for college, buy a home, and improve their financial well-being.

Being a technologist at BlackRock means you get the best of both worlds: working for one of the most sophisticated financial companies and being part of a software development team responsible for next generation technology and solutions.

What are Aladdin and Aladdin Engineering?

• You will be working on BlackRock's investment operating system called Aladdin. Aladdin is used both internally within BlackRock and externally by many financial institutions. Aladdin combines sophisticated risk analytics with comprehensive portfolio management, trading, and operations tools on a single platform to power informed decision-making and create a connective tissue for thousands of users investing worldwide.
• Our development teams reside inside the Aladdin Engineering group. We collaboratively build the next generation of technology that changes the way information, people, and technology intersect for global investment firms. We build and package tools that manage trillions in assets and supports millions of financial instruments. We perform risk calculations and process millions of transactions for thousands of users every day worldwide!

Being a member of Aladdin Engineering, you will be:

• Tenacious: Work in a fast paced and highly complex environment
• Creative thinker: Analyse multiple solutions and deploy technologies in a flexible way.
• Great teammate: Think and work collaboratively and communicate effectively.
• Fast learner: Pick up new concepts and apply them quickly.

Responsibilities include:

• Collaborate with team members in a multi-office, multi-country environment.
• Deliver high efficiency, high availability, concurrent and fault tolerant software systems.
• Significantly contribute to development of Aladdin’s global, multi-asset trading platform.
• Work with product management and business users to define the roadmap for the product.
• Design and develop innovative solutions to complex problems, identifying issues and roadblocks.
• Apply validated quality software engineering practices through all phases of development.
• Ensure resilience and stability through quality code reviews, unit, regression and user acceptance testing, dev ops and level two production support.
• Be a leader with vision and a partner in brainstorming solutions for team productivity, efficiency, guiding and motivating others.
• Drive a strong culture by bringing principles of inclusion and diversity to the team and setting the tone through specific recruiting, management actions and employee engagement.
• In addition to the above, a VP level candidate should be able to lead individual projects priorities, deadlines and deliverables using AGILE methodologies.

Qualifications:

• B.S. / M.S. degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related subject area
• 8+ years of proven experience

Skills and Experience:

• A proven foundation in core Java and related technologies, with OO skills and design patterns
• Track record building high quality software with design-focused and test-driven approaches
• Hands-on experience in Java/ Spring Framework/Sprint Boot/Hibernate
• In depth understanding of concurrent programming and experience in designing high throughput, high availability, fault tolerant distributed applications.
• Prior experience in message brokers
• Understanding of relational databases is a must.
• Demonstrable experience building modern software using engineering tools such as git, maven, unit testing and integration testing tools, mocking frameworks.
• Strong analytical and software architecture design skills with an emphasis on test driven development
• Great analytical, problem-solving and communication skills
• Some experience or a real interest in finance, investment processes, and/or an ability to translate business problems into technical solutions.
• In addition to the above, a VP level candidate should have experience leading development teams, projects or being responsible for the design and technical quality of a significant application, system, or component. Ability to form positive relationships with partnering teams, sponsors, and user groups.

Nice to have and opportunities to learn:

• Expertise in building distributed applications using SQL and/or NOSQL technologies like MS SQL, Sybase, Cassandra or Redis
• A real-world practitioner of applying cloud-native design patterns to event-driven microservice architectures.
• Exposure to high scale distributed technology like Kafka, Mongo, Ignite, Redis
• Exposure to building microservices and APIs ideally with REST, Kafka or gRPC
• Experience working in an agile development team or on open-source development projects.
• Experience with optimization, algorithms or related quantitative processes.
• Experience with Cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud
• Experience with cloud deployment technology (Docker, Ansible, Terraform, etc.) is also a plus.
• Experience with DevOps and tools like Azure DevOps
• Experience with AI-related projects/products or experience working in an AI research environment.
• Knowledge of modern front-end frameworks such as React, Vue.js or Angular is a plus.
• Exposure to Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud services is beneficial.
• A degree, certifications or opensource track record that shows you have a mastery of software engineering principles.

For New York City only: The salary range for this position is $157,500 – $214,500. Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, and benefits including heath care, 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 and Affirmative Action Employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, and other statuses protected by law.

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.