Operations and Provider Practice - Aladdin Client Business, Director

About This Role 
Aladdin® is an operating system for investment managers that seeks to connect the information, people, and technology needed to manage money in real time. The Aladdin platform combines risk analytics with portfolio management, trading, compliance, and operations tools on a single platform to power informed decision-making, effective risk management, efficient trading, and operational scale. Aladdin is used by a community of over 200 institutional clients around the world, including BlackRock. There are over 50,000 end users of Aladdin globally. The team is comprised of 800+ professionals responsible for implementing and supporting our Aladdin clients, sales and marketing, and ensuring the Aladdin Community maximizes Aladdin products through engagement and education. 

We are seeking a candidate to work within the Operations and Provider Practice, part of the Aladdin Client Business, as a regional practice lead supporting the implementation of investment operations. The individual will work closely with our partner implementation teams and the client acting as a subject matter expert and primary point of contact, providing guidance on best practices and supporting a smooth implementation. 

Key Responsibilities Include: 

• Project accountability and oversight of all projects in region, including demonstration of effective governance  
• Resource management for region 
• Talent development for region 
• People management for region 
• Drive strategic initiatives globally. 
• Own L1 and L2 relationships with Clients. 
• Own relationships with partner teams in region and enhance horizontal connectivity. 
• Build strong internal relationships within Aladdin Client Business, and the wider BlackRock globally, in support of your clients. 

 
Required Skills and Experience:

• 10+ years of work experience in the financial services industry within the investment operations space or preferably from a large investment bank 
• Familiarity with post-trade operational workflows including confirmation & settlement lifecycle, fund order execution, collateral and margin requirements, corporate actions, reconciliations and previsioning. 
• Prior working knowledge and engagement with third party trade execution, settlement/confirmation platforms as well as market data vendors 
• Strong industry knowledge and can speak to market issues, trends, regulatory needs with clients 
• Working understanding of equity, fixed income and derivative markets, and analytics 
• Experience advising and engaging with clients at scale on workflows 
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex concepts simply and clearly to clients 
• Ambitious approach to large, complex projects, with a flair for problem solving 
• Self-starter who enjoys a fast-paced, high-intensity environment and works well as part of a multi-disciplinary global team but also has the ability to take initiative and work independently 
• Ability to travel and be on-site with client at various stages of an implementation 
• Experience working on large agile implementations 
• Strong understanding of project lifecycle 
• Experience engaging with and managing project stakeholders (C-Suite) 

Preferred Skills and Experience:

• Prior people manager/leadership experience 
• Project management experience 
• Prior experience with Aladdin is useful but not required 
• Knowledge of private market (hedge funds, real estate, private placements) is useful but not required 
• Experience with SQL, UNIX, VBA , C++, PERL or similar tools