Portfolio Risk Quantitative Modeler, Associate - Aladdin Financial Engineering

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. 

Aladdin Financial Engineering (AFE) 

AFE is a diverse and global team with a keen interest and expertise in all things related to technology and financial analytics.  The group is responsible for the research and development of quantitative financial and behavioral models and tools across many different areas – single-security pricing, prepayment models, risk, return attribution, liquidity, optimization and portfolio construction, scenario analysis and simulations, covering all asset classes. The group is also responsible for the technology platform that delivers those models to our internal partners and external clients, and their integration with Aladdin. 

AFE conducts leading research on the areas above, delivering state-of-the-art models. AFE publishes applied scientific research frequently, and our members present regularly at leading industry conferences. AFE engages constantly with the sales team in client visits and meetings. 

Role 

We are seeking a hands-on Quantitative Associate to join the Portfolio Risk team within AFE. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working deeply with data and code, has strong attention to detail, and is motivated to build practical, production-ready risk models and analytics used by real investment professionals.

This is an individual contributor role focused on quantitative research, model development, testing, and implementation. Formal project management responsibilities are not required, but the role does require strong ownership of work, critical thinking, and the ability to collaborate effectively with researchers, engineers, and stakeholders across regions.

The Portfolio Risk team develops and maintains a broad set of analytics, including:

• Multi-factor Linear risk models
• Value-at-Risk (VaR) methodologies
• Volatility and covariance matrix estimation
• Portfolio stress testing and scenario analysis

These models are widely used across Aladdin and directly influence investment and risk management decisions. As a result, the team places strong emphasis on model rigor, governance, scalability, and transparency.

This role also offers the opportunity to contribute directly to the team’s AI transformation journey, particularly in applying AI and automation to modernize and scale model governance workflows.

What You Will Do

• Research, design, and back-test portfolio risk models using Python-based infrastructure
• Work hands-on with large and complex financial datasets, ensuring data quality and robustness of results
• Collaborate closely with software engineers to test, productionize, and maintain models
• Support existing models in production, including investigation and resolution of model-related questions from internal stakeholders and clients
• Develop and enhance testing, validation, back-testing, and quality-control frameworks

• Contribute to the team’s AI transformation journey, with a focus on applying AI, ML, and automation to model governance processes, such as:

• Model validation and back-testing
• Testing and quality control
• Documentation and reproducibility checks
• Research-to-production code migration

• Clearly document and communicate model assumptions, results, and limitations to both technical and non-technical audiences

Skills & Qualifications:  

• Master’s degree (e.g., MFE) or PhD in a quantitative field such as Finance, Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, or Engineering
• Strong hands-on programming experience, primarily in Python (R a plus)
• Experience working with large datasets and applying statistical, econometric, or quantitative techniques
• Solid understanding of financial markets, financial products, and basic economics
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with high attention to detail
• Clear written and verbal communication skills in English
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, team-oriented environment

Competencies: 

• Critical thinking and intellectual curiosity
• Strong ownership of work and accountability for quality
• Ability to translate complex quantitative ideas into practical, usable solutions
• Comfort working across disciplines (quant research, engineering, risk, product)
• Interest in building robust, scalable, and well-governed analytical systems
• Innovative thinking balanced with sound judgment and practicality

Is a plus…

• Exposure to machine learning and AI techniques, particularly as applied to financial or time-series data
• Experience applying AI, ML, or automation to model lifecycle and governance workflows, such as validation, back-testing, testing, monitoring, documentation, or code migration
• Knowledge of fixed income and/or equity risk factor models
• Understanding of portfolio theory and risk analytics
• Experience designing rigorous testing and back-testing frameworks
• Familiarity with building scalable and repeatable research or modeling processes
• Strong software engineering practices (clean, well-tested code)
• Experience with Unix/Linux and Git

Our benefits

To help you stay energized, engaged and inspired, we offer a wide range of employee benefits including: retirement investment and tools designed to help you in building a sound financial future; access to education reimbursement; comprehensive resources to support your physical health and emotional well-being; family support programs; 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.

Guidance on AI use for candidates

At BlackRock, AI has long been part of how we work – enhancing decision-making, improving operations, and helping us deliver better outcomes for clients. We encourage candidates to use AI thoughtfully to learn, prepare, and work more effectively; but during our interview process, we want to focus on getting to know you through your own experiences, thinking, and judgment. To support you, we’ve provided guidance on when and how to use AI during our hiring process so you can approach each step with confidence and showcase your best self.

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.

To learn more about BlackRock, please visit Careers.BlackRock.com. We also encourage you to get to know us on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, X, and TikTok.

BlackRock is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, disability, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics at law.