Quant Engineer(Index Quant Engineering), Associate

About this role

Elevate your career by joining the world's largest asset manager! Would you thrive in an environment that fosters positive relationships and recognize outstanding performance? We know how important it is to feel valued every single day and be recognized for your contribution. At BlackRock, we strive to empower our employees and effectively engage your involvement in our success. With over $10 trillion of assets under management, we have an outstanding 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.

BlackRock Index Services (BIS) is responsible for the design, development, and administration of Multi-Asset and Fixed Income indices used by internal and external clients. The Index Quant Engineering (IQE) team within BIS builds and maintains the quantitative models that support our best-of-breed indices. These indices take the core investment thesis behind many of BlackRock’s leading systematic investment strategies and package them into thoughtfully designed market indices.

Role & Responsibilities

Index Design Research

• Collaborate with internal BlackRock investment and client facing teams to bring new index concepts to market. The Index Engineer will play a key role throughout the index development process, starting from the initial conceptual design, all the way through to authoring the index methodology and development of production software code for index construction. 

• Understand the requirements of different index stakeholders and synthesize them into key index design features.

• Author the official index methodology. 

• Develop the index back-test and be able to contextualize and answer client questions, for instance, by quantifying the impact of specific index features on index positioning and performance. 

• Ensure BIS standard processes are followed during all phases of the index development process.

Index Implementation and Support

• Act as a key member of the index implementation team for new indices with responsibility for the execution of index deliverables and coordination with colleagues from platform engineering, governance, business management, and index operations.

• Work in partnership with internal stakeholders and external clients to align and achieve agreement on project milestones and key dates. Proactively communicate status updates on a timely basis.

• Develop the production quant index calculation code, ensuring high quality and all software development lifecycle procedures are followed.

• Participate in Internal and External Client discussions and presentations.

• Respond to technical questions from clients regarding index methodology and perform ad-hoc analyses as needed.

• Carry out post-launch support activities such as working directly with index clients and third-party hedge providers to support their index related projects and processes.

Platform Engineering

• Contribute to enhancing the data and technology platform, especially as it pertains to index research and design.

• Contribute to enhancing our index calculation and analysis toolbox, a suite of standardized, fully tested and documented code for index research, production, analytics and reporting.

Software Development

• Design, develop, and maintain software systems for the calculation and analysis of indices.

• Collaborate with other teams to integrate new software systems and improve existing ones.

• Ensure software systems are accurate, reliable, and efficient.

• Write and maintain documentation for software systems.

Experience and Skills

• Bachelor's degree in quantitative finance, financial engineering, operations research, mathematics, statistics, or a related field. Advanced degree in the aforementioned fields preferred. Strong background in statistics and linear algebra is required. 

• Demonstrated experience (2+ years) in quantitative analysis, preferably within a financial services, asset management, or index provider environment.

• Python development experience, ideally with hands on experience with numerical/statistics/ml packages such as pandas, numpy, cvxpy, and scipy for data manipulation, statistical analysis, and algorithmic implementation. 

• Basic understanding of financial markets, asset classes, and investment products is required. Experience with index methodologies, portfolio construction, and risk management principles is a plus.

• Excellent analytical skills, with the ability to think critically, solve complex problems, and communicate findings effectively to diverse audiences.

• Proven ability to work collaboratively in a team-oriented environment, manage multiple priorities, and thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

• Experience working in an agile software development environment and with related technologies (Git, JIRA, ADO, etc.).

• Database design knowledge and data engineering experience is an asset. 

• Working experience with BlackRock Aladdin is a major plus. 

• Technical writing skills a plus.

• CFA, FRM, or similar professional certifications are desirable but not required.

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.