Associate, Application Engineer

About this role

Are you interested in building innovative technology that helps power the financial markets? Do you enjoy working in a fast-paced environment and solving meaningful technical challenges? Do you want to work with and learn from experienced leaders in technology and finance?
At BlackRock, we are looking for Software Engineers who are curious, collaborative, and excited to build high-quality solutions. We recognize that strength comes from diversity, and we value your skills, curiosity, and passion while giving you the opportunity to continue growing technically and professionally.
We invest and protect over $9 trillion (USD) of assets and have an extraordinary responsibility to our clients all over the world. Our technology helps millions of investors 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 world’s leading financial companies while being part of a software development team building 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 support informed decision-making and connect thousands of users investing worldwide.

Our development teams sit within the Aladdin Engineering group. Together, we build technology that changes the way information, people, and technology come together for global investment firms. We build and deliver tools that manage trillions in assets and support 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: Comfortable working in a fast-paced and complex environment.
Creative thinker: Able to evaluate solutions and apply technology in flexible ways.
Great teammate: Collaborative, thoughtful, and able to communicate effectively.
Fast learner: Eager to learn new concepts and apply them quickly.

Responsibilities include:

Collaborate with team members in a multi-office, multi-country environment.
Build and support efficient, reliable, and scalable software and technology systems.
Contribute to the development of Aladdin’s global, multi-asset trading platform.

Design and develop solutions to technical problems, helping identify issues and remove roadblocks.
Apply sound software engineering practices through all phases of development.
Contribute ideas to improve team productivity and efficiency.
Support an inclusive team culture through collaboration, recruiting support, and employee engagement.

Qualifications:

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

Skills and Experience:

• A proven foundation in core Java and related technologies, with OO skills and design patterns

• Experience building high-quality software using design-focused and test-driven approaches

• Hands-on experience in Java/Spring Framework/Spring Boot

• Hands-on experience in modern front-end frameworks such as React, Vue.js or Angular.

• Good understanding of concurrent programming and experience building reliable, scalable 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 design skills, with an emphasis on writing well-tested code.

• 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.

• Experience contributing to development projects and supporting the design and technical quality of an application, system, or component.

• Ability to form positive relationships with partnering teams, sponsors, and user groups.

Nice to have and opportunities to learn:

• Experience in scripting languages such as Python, Golang, etc.

• Exposure to building distributed applications using SQL and/or NoSQL technologies such as MS SQL, Sybase, or in-memory data stores for caching and real-time analytics.

• Exposure to cloud-native design patterns and event-driven microservice architectures.

• Exposure to high scale distributed technology like Real-time distributed event streaming platform, Mongo, Ignite, In-memory data stores for caching and real-time analytics

• Exposure to building microservices and APIs ideally with REST, Real-time distributed event streaming platform 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 (Open Container Initiative (OCI) container packaging and runtime, Automation tools for configuration management and deployment, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools for provisioning cloud resources, 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.

• Exposure to Open Container Initiative (OCI) container packaging and runtime, Cloud-Native distributed containerized microservice orchestration, 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, NY Only the salary range for this position is USD$132,500.00 - USD$162,000.00 . Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, and benefits including healthcare, 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 workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity to all applicants and existing employees, and we evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity/expression), sexual orientation, age, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religion, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. View the EEOC’s Know Your Rights poster and its supplement and the pay transparency statement.

BlackRock is committed to full inclusion of all qualified individuals and to providing reasonable accommodations or job modifications for individuals with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation/adjustments are needed throughout the employment process, please email Disability.Assistance@blackrock.com. All requests are treated in line with our privacy policy.

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.