Vice President, Digital Enterprise Legal - Trading Commercial

About this role

About this role

The Digital Enterprise Legal team is seeking a FinTech lawyer with 6-10 years of experience in capital markets, trading, commercial negotiations, and contracting to support various financial markets trading technology initiatives at BlackRock.  

This lawyer will work closely with global leadership teams across BlackRock and Aladdin in support of strategic business development, partnerships, and product development in the trading space by conceiving and executing projects designed to enhance business impact, mitigate legal and regulatory risk, and to enable BlackRock to best serve its clients.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be required to:

• Support business development and product development in the trading ecosystem across asset classes (tradfi and digital) by advising on regulatory, intellectual property considerations, and risk assessments.
• Advise stakeholders on contracting and legal issues related to trading technology, such as pre-trading tools and analytics, order routing, trading venues and liquidity pools, and settlement and reporting processes.
• Draft and negotiate strategic partnership agreements, technology agreements, and license arrangements with BlackRock partners and in the trading ecosystem. 
• Structure, draft and negotiate agreements to incorporate third party software and data within BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, ensuring alignment with BlackRock’s business objectives, legal standards, and compliance with regulation.
• Identify and mitigate legal risks, offering practical solutions to complex legal challenges.
• Liaise and work with other members of the Digital Enterprise Legal team, BlackRock Trading Legal team, and BlackRock’s Legal & Compliance functions where required to protect BlackRock’s reputation and interests.
• Participate in local, regional, and global initiatives to drive industry-leading technology changes to our platforms, resiliency and electronification of markets.
• Supervise, manage, and coach junior attorneys in supporting the above-referenced responsibilities with a view to supporting their development and impact.

Qualifications & Requirements

• J.D. (US), or LL.M. (US) with state bar qualifications, with a minimum of 6-10 years’ experience, preferably at a major law firm (secondment experience a plus) or in-house at a corporate legal department in the financial services sector.  Experience advising a fixed income or derivatives trading desk should be highlighted.
• Deep understanding of trading ecosystem, including pre-trade communication tools and protocols, trading venues, post-trade settlement and regulatory reporting requirements, across asset classes.
• Sophisticated understanding regulatory requirements impacting trading such as best ex, crossing, clearing, margin, and trade reporting. 
• Fluency with trading ecosystem participants and intermediaries, such as broker-dealers, APs, trading venues (CLOB, ATS, MTF), matching engines, and clearinghouses, and the regulatory regimes under which these participants operate.
• Experience with digital assets, digital ledgers, tokenization, and the ecosystem buildout required to facilitate institutional investments in digital asset classes.
• Experience in direct client-facing contract negotiations.
• Experience as a people manager should be highlighted.

Competencies

• Facility working as part of global and cross-functional teams, including legal and business colleagues in New York, London, Europe, and Asia. 
• Ability to learn business requirements, analyze legal and commercial risks, propose creative, business-oriented solutions, and develop a knowledge bank for others to follow.
• Ability to learn and understand sophisticated technical and service offerings and apply knowledge in negotiation of commercial contracts.
• Ability to directly work with internal business and subject matter experts to address the needs of a global business.
• Ability to effectively assess, calibrate, communicate, and support evolving priorities in a multifaceted and dynamic environment.
• Initiative and ownership, attention to detail, and a collaborative working style, effective as part of deal team.
• Positive mindset, adaptability to support different initiatives and opportunities as they arise in the team.

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.