Sr. Director of Developer Platform & Engineering Excellence

About this role

Senior Director of Developer Platform and Engineering Excellence - Job Description 

Business Overview: 

BlackRock helps investors build better financial futures. As a fiduciary to our clients, we provide the investment and technology solutions they need when planning for their most important goals. At the heart of technology at BlackRock, is Aladdin Engineering (AE), the team responsible for designing, building, and operating Aladdin, BlackRock’s investment and operating technology platform. Being a member of Aladdin Engineering means working with the industry’s thought leaders to build and power innovative and next generation investment technology products that shape the financial markets. We are 3,500 strong and we eat, live and breathe tech. We partner with our end users to deeply understand their business strategy and build technology to help them get there. We think big about new opportunities and ways technology can change the financial services ecosystem.   

Since its inception, Aladdin has fueled the firm’s commercial success. The question that we are asking ourselves today is: how do we continue to revolutionize Aladdin through to the next wave of innovation? Join us and play a critical role in shaping the future of FinTech.  

The Platform Engineering Team is a critical function as part of the Aladdin Engineering organization and is responsible for designing, delivering, and operating an open, resilient, cost-efficient and scalable technology platform that empowers innovation and productivity in the Aladdin ecosystem. This team is a foundational part of protecting our estate and driving new revenue and scale channels for our clients and BlackRock. 

As a highly skilled and experienced technical and enterprise leader for Engineering Services in the Platform of Aladdin, you will contribute as a relentless driving force behind the transformation of our organization and empowerment of the developer community within and beyond the walls of BlackRock. This means that the successful candidate will have a critical seat in accelerating Aladdin and BlackRock for the next 30 years. You will fall in love with the culture, be excited by the challenge, and be an inspiration to your team to get things done. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Design, transform and lead the Engineering Excellence organization, which is responsible for providing a developer platform that enables engineers to deliver high-quality, operable software rapidly, efficiently, and predictably to production. 

• Provide strategic leadership to build a high-performance engineering team. You will grow technology leaders and connect the team to AE’s mission and outcomes. You will nurture engineering culture and ultimately drive execution. 

• Work in partnership with our product managers, users/client base and engineering teams to implement a product and technical roadmap.  

• Be an inspiring leader across the entire engineering organization to evangelize leading engineering practices, productivity and tooling 

• Become a guide in the BlackRock user/provider model and develop deep technical expertise of the Aladdin platform; provide engineering best practices leadership across BlackRock  

• Sample “Missions” you may take on in this role: 

• Lead an effort to move the entire firm to continuous integration 

• Lead an effort to bake cloud-native attributes into all the firm’s apps 

• Establish unified SDLC for the firm’s official software languages 

• Lead the firm’s usage of AI for code generation and SDLC 

• Revamp the firm’s agile strategy and ways of measuring productivity 

• Integrate industry developer portals or tooling with homegrown change and release management systems 

Who you are: 

• You are passionate about modern engineering best practices, efficiency, and productivity and see it as your mission to advocate for a strong, productive engineering culture. 

• You are obsessed with using metrics to measure the impact and outcomes for your organization and stakeholders – “what gets measured gets managed.” 

• You understand the mindset of developers and are relentlessly driven to improve the developer experience. 

• You know how to influence decision-making – at all levels and across contexts – within the organization. 

• You enjoy rolling up your sleeves and getting into the details when vital, and you persevere where others do not. 

• Excited to mentor engineers and driving towards engineering and business deliveries precision. 

• You believe diversity crafts driven advantage through insights, team cohesion, personal dedication, and interpersonal culture. 

Desired Qualifications 

• 10+ years of combined enterprise leadership and technical experience in Financial Services or Technology running a globally diverse engineering team. 

• Deep technical knowledge across multiple languages of engineering best practices and productivity management (Java/JS and Python are essential) 

• Able to navigate a wide organization and command respect from Managing Directors who need to be guided through expansive transformations in how they work 

• Experience building cost-effective infrastructure at scale, including applied knowledge of cloud-native architecture 

• Proven track record of accomplishment and successful navigation in large, complex organizations, specifically, successful deliveries of technology focused products through the entire product development lifecycle 

• Superb engineering leadership experience across complex/cross functional initiatives – the ability to operate in a fast-paced environment, manage multiple tasks, adapt to change and work well under pressure and tight deadlines. 

• Excellent analytical and technical skills, with working knowledge of cutting-edge engineering applications, software development methodologies and product technologies 

• Strong intellectual ability and stakeholder management skills, evidenced by being able to establish his/her credibility and influence with senior leaders throughout the firm. 

• Ability to adapt to changing priorities in a dynamic business environment and continually reprioritize to focus on the key issues/topics. 

• Outstanding interpersonal characteristics, reputation, and team orientation, which will enable her/him to earn confidence, loyalty, and respect of colleagues 

• AI domain knowledge is a nice-to-have 

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 and Affirmative Action Employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, and other statuses protected by law.