Aladdin Financial Engineering Quantitative Research Associate

About this role

BlackRock Overview:

BlackRock is one of the world’s preeminent asset management firms and a premier provider of global investment management, risk management and advisory services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors around the world. BlackRock offers a range of solutions — from rigorous fundamental and quantitative active management approaches aimed at maximizing outperformance to highly efficient indexing strategies designed to gain broad exposure to the world’s capital markets. Our clients can access our investment solutions through a variety of product structures, including individual and institutional separate accounts, mutual funds and other pooled investment vehicles, and the industry-leading iShares® ETFs.

Aladdin Financial Engineering Group (AFE)

AFE is a diverse and global team with a keen interest and expertise in all things related to technology and financial analytics.  The group is responsible for the research and development of quantitative financial and behavioral models and tools across many different areas – single-security pricing, prepayment models, risk, return attribution, liquidity, optimization and portfolio construction, scenario analysis and simulations, etc. – and covering all asset classes. The group is also responsible for the technology platform that delivers those models to our internal partners and external clients, and their integration with Aladdin.

AFE conducts leading research on the areas above, delivering state-of-the-art models. AFE publishes applied scientific research frequently, and our members present regularly at leading industry conferences. AFE engages constantly with the sales team in client visits and meetings.

Job Description

You can help conduct research to build quantitative financial models and portfolio analytics that help managing most of the money of the world’s largest asset manager. You can bring all yourself to the job. From the top of the firm down we embrace the values, identities and ideas brought by our employees.

We are looking for curious people with a strong background in quantitative research, data science and machine learning, have awesome problem-solving skills, insatiable appetite for learning and innovating, adding to BlackRock’s vibrant research culture.

If any of this excites you, we are looking to expand our team. We currently have quant researcher role with the AFE Investment AI (IAI) Team. The securities market is undergoing a massive transformation as the industry is embracing machine learning and, more broadly, AI, to help evolve the investment process. Pioneering this journey at BlackRock, the team has better deliver applied AI investment analytics to help both BlackRock and Aladdin clients achieve scale through automation while safeguarding alpha generation.  The IAI team combines AI / ML methodology and technology skills with deep subject matter expertise in equity, ETF, Future, IRS, and multi-asset markets, and the buyside investment process.

We are building next generation trading, liquidity, security similarity and pricing models leveraging our expertise in quantitative research, data science and machine learning. The models we build use innovative machine learning approaches, have real practical value and are used by traders and portfolio managers alike. Our models use cutting edge econometric/statistical methods and tools. The models themselves have real practical value and are used by traders, portfolio managers and risk managers representing different investment styles (fundamental vs. quantitative) and across different investment horizons.  Research is conducted predominantly in Python and Scala, and implemented into production by a separate, dedicated team of developers.  These models have a huge footprint of usage across the entire Aladdin client base, and so we place special emphasis on scalability and ensuring adherence to BlackRock’s rigorous standards of model governance and control.

Background and Responsibilities

We are looking to hire a quant researcher with 4+ years’ experience to join AFE Investment AI team focusing on equity, ETF, Futures and IRS Market microstructure models to work closely with other data scientists/researchers to support Trading Desk, Risk Mangers, Portfolio Managers. We build cutting edge trading and liquidity analytics using a wide range of ML algos and a broad array of technologies (Python, Scala, Spark/Hadoop, GCP, Azure). This role is a great opportunity to work closely with the Portfolio Managers, Risk Managers and Trading team, spanning areas such as:

• Perform analysis of large data sets comprising of market data, trading data and derived analytics.
• Evaluate trading data, including pre-processing, feature engineering, variable selection, dimensionality reduction etc.
• Leverage machine learning to extract insights from data and work with investment managers to put those into action.
• Design, develop models/ML solutions for Trading & Liquidity.
• Implement the model and integrate the model into Aladdin analytical system in accordance with BlackRock’s model governance policy.

Qualifications:

• B.Tech / B.E. / M.Sc. degree in a quantitative discipline (Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Finance or similar area). M.Tech. / PhD is a plus.
• Strong background in Mathematics, Statistics, Probability, Linear Algebra
• Knowledgeable about data mining, data analytics, data modeling
• Confident in building models to solve problems including time series forecasting, clustering problems and hands on experience with a range of statistical and machine learning approaches.
• Ability to work independently and efficiently in a fast-paced and team-oriented environment.
• Knowledge of Equity, Futures, FX, IRS, ETF markets is a plus.
• Experience with market microstructure research is a plus.

For professionals with no prior financial industry experience, this position is a unique opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of the asset management process in a world-class organization.

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 Employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, disability, family status, gender identity, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and other protected attributes at law.