Credit Research, Associate / Vice President

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 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.

BlackRock’s Systematic Fixed Income (SFI) group manages more than $80 billion in global fixed income assets across ETFs, active long-only, alternative, and liability driven strategies. The platform offers fixed income investors one of the industry's broadest array of investment choices across security-selection and factor-based investment styles.

BlackRock’s SFI team is hiring a Quantitative Credit Researcher, who will focus on developing and supporting systematic active credit models and infrastructure across Long/Short and Long-Only strategies. The Researcher will partner with Portfolio Managers and other Researchers across US and European credit markets to generate high quality risk-adjusted alpha. The successful candidate will also partner with other investment teams outside of Systematic Credit on cross-platform initiatives that further expand our capacity and unlock new applications of our credit insights/strategies.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop, test, and refine systematic trading strategies for corporate bonds, credit default swaps (CDS), and other credit instruments.

• Conduct research on market inefficiencies, alpha signals and factor models in credit markets.

• Build predictive models for credit spreads, default probabilities, and liquidity risks.

• Analyze vast datasets, including bond prices, spreads, ratings, and macroeconomic indicators.

• Apply machine learning and/or statistical methods to identify trading opportunities.

• Work with structured and unstructured data, including fundamental and alternative datasets.

• Construct and evaluate risk models for credit portfolios.

• Design and optimize execution algorithms for trading corporate bonds and credit derivatives.

• Improve liquidity estimation techniques.

• Collaborate with PM and traders to enhance execution efficiency and minimize transaction costs.

• Develop and maintain quantitative libraries and infrastructure for research and production as part of SFI research platform.

• Optimize computational efficiency in large-scale simulations and data processing.

• Work closely with fellow researchers, traders, portfolio managers, and risk teams to translate research into actionable strategies.

• Present research findings to senior management and investment teams.

• Collaborate with technology teams to productionize models for daily trading.

• Continuously monitor credit markets, economic trends, and regulatory changes.

• Adapt models and strategies based on market conditions and real-time data.

• Stay up to date with academic research and industry best practices in credit quant strategies.

Knowledge/Experience:

• BA/BS required. Post-graduate degree and/or CFA a plus.

• Some experience conducting quantitative research, either in academic or professional capacities.

• Demonstrated ability building technology solutions related to portfolio management, trading and data analytics. Python/Git/SQL/Tableau skills strongly preferred.

• Ability to grasp quantitative concepts and its application to portfolio management.

• Strong communication and problem-solving skills with a sharp attention to detail. Comfortable multi-tasking in fast-paced environment and reacting to time-sensitive events.

For San Francisco, CA Only the salary range for this position is USD$162,000.00 - USD$215,000.00 . Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, and benefits including heath care, 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.

We recruit, hire, train, promote, pay, and administer all personnel actions without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), sex stereotyping (including assumptions about a person’s appearance or behavior, gender roles, gender expression, or gender identity), gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, mental or physical disability, ancestry, medical condition, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable law. We interpret these protected statuses broadly to include both the actual status and also any perceptions and assumptions made regarding these statuses.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.