Associate, Index Fixed Income Algo Engineer

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 meticulous 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. Business Unit Overview

BlackRock Global Markets and Index Investments (BGM) brings together BlackRock’s Index Investments, Cash Management, Global Trading, ETF Markets, Securities Lending, and Financing & Financial Resource Management businesses. Together, we provide clients with superior market access and index investment outcomes through: 

• World class talent, operating at the intersection of investment insight, markets expertise, risk management and process design 

• Technology at the heart of our processes, with in-business tech teams that create cutting-edge IP, providing an advantage in quality, scale, and risk control 

• A focus on transforming markets, driving and advocating for more accessible, resilient, and transparent markets to deliver more choice and lower costs for investors 

Job Purpose/Background: 

The Index Fixed Income (IFI) team has responsibility for managing Blackrock’s Index Fixed Income portfolios, including Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), mutual funds, & segregated mandates. The IFI team liaises closely with many areas of Fixed Income and is responsible for ensuring that Fixed Income portfolios are managed efficiently and in a consistent and risk-controlled manner. 

BlackRock’s IFI business is the leading index investment group in the world. We help investors build better portfolios with the industry’s leading suite of index investment tools. We manage over $1.5 trillion in global index fixed income assets across Developed and Emerging Markets. Our clients include corporate and public pension plans, central banks, sovereign wealth funds and retail investors. 

The PM Architecture team are designing and developing portfolio construction algorithms to significantly increase automation and productivity across IFI globally.  They are also partnering with Technology teams to develop the core platform with which to deploy algorithms robustly at scale.  Algorithms have already been successfully deployed which are event-based and automatically propose order lists that rebalance funds back to target.  A key focus is developing algorithms and analytics to support the rapid growth of Fixed Income ETFs. 

A successful candidate will be familiar with management of a wide range of Fixed Income funds and have strong technology skills, allowing them to develop both prototypes which make immediate improvements to the PM process and then refine them into production solutions that can operate at scale.  They will also have the communication skills to partner with PM, Trading, and Technology teams to guide the integration of these algorithms into the investment process and leverage core BlackRock technology. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Design efficient algorithms and optimizers to automate key portfolio construction processes 

• Develop both prototypes and production tools 

• Partner with PMs to integrate these tools into daily processes and continually refine them 

• On occasion, undertake portfolio management activities to develop a deeper understanding of specific investment processes 

• Partner with BlackRock Technology teams to design and develop the core “Algo Platform”  

• Develop other desk tools to support the PM investment process. 

• Partner with BlackRock Technology teams to ensure existing applications continue to evolve to support PM needs 

• Develop reporting methods & analytics on new tools to ensure improvements can be measured 

Knowledge/Experience/Qualifications: 

• Strong quantitative background (at least BA/BS in Maths/Science/Engineering/related discipline). 

• Strong programming skills in at least two of the following: Python, Visual Basic, R, MATLAB, Java, C++ 

• Experience of working as Portfolio Manager, either directly or alongside 

• Working knowledge of Fixed Income markets 

• Familiarity across a range of funds and investment styles (index/active, fundamental/quantitative) 

• Excellent problem-solving skills and process-oriented approach 

• Excellent teamwork and communication skills 

• Knowledge of BlackRock Aladdin tools beneficial