Quantitative Research, Associate

About this role

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’s mission is to create a better financial future for our clients. We have a responsibility to be the voice of the investor, and we represent each client fairly and equally. Constant communication with a diverse team of partners strengthens us and delivers better results for our clients. Continuous innovation helps us bring the best of BlackRock to our clients. 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.

Systematic Active Equity (SAE) is the quantitative equity group within BlackRock.  We invest our client assets using a systematic investment approach.  SAE is a pioneer and thought leader in the industry and has consistently achieved client investment goals across global equity markets for over 30 years.  We believe research and innovation is critical to continuing our success and believe in a multi-disciplinary approach that intersects traditional finance and economics with computer and data science. 

We are seeking a Quantitative Researcher to complement our investment team.  The successful candidate is passionately interested in investing, and researching ideas and testing them on historical data to seeing which specific stocks and broad-based factors a portfolio buys and sells resulting from those ideas.  This candidate also approaches new data and research ideas with an open mind and a strong belief in the scientific research process. We are considering candidates at all levels of experience.

We have:

$100+ billion USD under management, including $5+ billion in hedge funds

A team of world class researchers, portfolio managers, and data scientists

Through BlackRock, access to some of the best investors and thought leaders, as well as leading experts in statistics, machine learning and optimization

A 40-year plus track record of performance innovation - from early quant pioneering in the 1980s to the cutting edge of data-driven investing today

You have:

• A passion for data and a keen attention to detail

• A desire to research and develop investment ideas and strategies, and to onboard and manage data in an effective way

• Boundless creativity and a desire to constantly learn

• The desire to work in a team environment with quantitative investors of many different backgrounds

You should also have:

• 2+ years of work experience in the financial domain

• A Bachelors, Masters, or PhD in a quantitative discipline: e.g., economics, finance, statistics, applied mathematics, computer science

• Experience working with data and/or conducting empirical research utilizing large, complex data sets

• Financial market experience: asset pricing, portfolio optimization, macroeconomics, global stock selection, or a similar relevant field

• Familiarity with natural language processing, machine learning, and/or artificial intelligence.

• Strong programming skills, either from a data pipeline background (AWS, Hadoop, Spark, SQL), and/or statistical analysis background (Python, R, Matlab, ML libraries)

For San Francisco, CA and 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.