Operational Resilience Associate

About this role

We are seeking individuals who are passionate about operational resilience and are looking to work in a dynamic environment that values proactive, innovative and pragmatic solutions. With over USD $11 trillion of assets, we have an extraordinary responsibility: our technology and services empower millions of investors to save for retirement, pay for college, buy a home and improve their financial well-being. Operating in 89 offices across 38 countries, and with around 20,000 employees, BlackRock is a truly global firm that can combine the benefits of worldwide reach with local service and relationships. This role truly offers the opportunity to experience what it feels like to be part of an organization that makes a difference.

Organizational Overview

The role will reside in the Resilience & Safety team, part of the Enterprise Services organization within the Technology and Operations group at BlackRock.

Technology and Operations is the backbone for BlackRock’s client and investment lifecycle. The group ensures that the firm’s operations are consistent and efficient across all investment products, client channels and geographies, helping to deliver a superior client experience and drive scalability. Technology and Operations is driven by a global network of Operating Centers of Excellence, which centralize knowledge and equip support teams with the data and timely information needed to innovate and deliver on behalf of internal stakeholders and clients.

Enterprise Services contributes to the continued success of BlackRock through strategic solutions and business services that provide each employee with an efficient, resilient, safe and high-performance workplace experience. Enterprise Services is comprised of four key functions – Resilience & Safety, Real Estate Management, Workplace Experience, and Executive Operations & Corporate Security.

The Resilience & Safety team has responsibility for protecting the firm’s employees and visitors, reputation, physical and information assets, and operations from disruptive events so BlackRock can continue to meet the needs of its clients. The teams brings together operational resilience with business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management, to ensure the resilience of BlackRock by working to prevent, adapt, respond to, recover, and learn from operational disruptions.

Position Purpose

The role will support maintaining the Resilience framework globally to meet both business and regulatory expectations.

The role will be responsible for working with other members of the Resilience team and other risk teams (e.g. information security, technology, 3rd party risk, operational risk), along with business stakeholders to coordinate and implement the resilience program as it relates to testing activities.

The role will report to the Resilience team lead for Testing and be based in Edinburgh.

The successful candidate for this position will be able to deliver exceptional performance in a professional, innovative, scalable, and pragmatic manner.

Your key responsibilities:

General Resilience responsibilities:

• Be part of the team designing, delivering, and embedding the resilience framework and strategy across the firm.
• Support the continued development of policy and standards as well as governance arrangements for resilience, to ensure these meets global regulatory, business and client expectations.
• Help support program change caused by business, regulatory, or industry-specific change initiatives.
• Support the development and maintenance of key program documentation including process documentation and reporting materials for Boards and other governance groups.
• Partner with business functions to maintain or develop response plans in the event of severe but plausible operational disruptions.
• Monitor operating events relating to resilience, including near misses and help escalate, remediate, and coordinate the firm’s response as required, including participation in major incident management where required.
• Help identify areas to mature in the program to increase the firm’s resilience capabilities, assisting the business functions in identifying and remediating gaps in their resilience capabilities and proactively identifying and implementing innovative solutions to mitigate resilience risks.
• Support the firm in Resilience engagement with regulators, clients, suppliers, and industry bodies.
• Assist in the planning and execution of resilience projects and initiatives as required.

Testing responsibilities:

• Assist in the development and implementation of a scenario testing framework, along with associated tools and methodologies.
• Help maintain and enhance a library of severe but plausible scenarios.
• Support the creation and design of tests in a robust and realistic manner.
• Participate in and run tests that enable business functions to rehearse their responses to operational disruption and that create opportunities for them to learn how to improve their resilience.
• Work with other teams across the firm who perform resilience testing (e.g. disaster recovery, operational risk, information security) to capture test outcomes and to develop an ongoing governance and oversight framework as necessary.
• Leverage operational resilience testing to train colleagues and build awareness of the overall program.
• Contribute to global policy and standards for resilience testing.

The role will also:

• Assist in the response and review of incidents that have the potential to cause operational disruption.
• Support operational resilience regulatory reporting requirements, for example that relate to testing and incidents

Qualifications, Experience and Key Competencies:

• 3+ years of relevant experience in:
• Resilience, or
• Testing
• Financial Services industry experience, preferably in asset management and with knowledge of financial regulatory requirements relating to resilience.
• Excellent written communication skills.
• Excellent data visualization / presentation design skills.
• Excellent data analytics skills.
• Excellent client facing skills.
• Works well in a matrix team environment, with a flexible and collaborative approach.
• Strong technical knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook).
• Experience using Resiliency systems a plus.
• Availability during off-hours during emergencies or incidents may be required.

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.