Associate/Vice President, GPS Product Research & Innovation

About This Role Business Unit Overview Global Product Solutions (“GPS”) was formed in 2024 with a mission to innovate, curate and commercialize the full breadth of our investment platform for what our clients need, wherever they are. The team is responsible for driving commercial investment priorities across the platform, innovating the next wave of products and solutions, accelerating our iShares adoption, sharpening our commercial focus on active products and helping clients build better portfolios via actionable market and portfolio insights. For this purpose, iShares is looking to appoint an Associate/Vice President within the iShares Product Research & Innovation team.

Development Value This is an opportunity to join an exciting and fast-growing segment within the asset management industry. This important role will give the successful candidate an opportunity to be involved in shaping the product strategy and design, while interacting with many different teams across the organization (investment research, sales, marketing, risk management, fund platform, index providers, investment strategy, sustainable, factors amongst others).

Key Responsibilities And Requirements The individual will work in the Product Innovation team and contribute towards constructing quantitative index strategies and reviewing existing index methodologies as part of the new product launch process or enhancement of existing products with particular focus on Fixed Income.

The Successful Candidate Will Be Required To

• Design systematic strategies to capture specific market exposures. This may include reviewing existing data and solutions available, testing of the usability of data & financial rationale to transform data into investable indices, testing of index strategies and interpreting the output results vs investments and platform requirements.
• Lead research efforts within the Product Research and Innovation team: manage, support and guide the team members and review related projects. Work in partnership with internal stakeholders towards generating new product ideas and building the product pipeline by taking into consideration market data, client feedback as well as broader research trends.
• Lead projects and work with internal stakeholders to successfully deliver new investment products: present new product proposals in front of the product development committee and the fund board, produce and present digestible and relevant applied research material to help the product sale, collaborate with the platform team in the structuring of new funds, support the sales force with custom analysis and in meeting with clients as a product experts, help conduct internal training sessions as and when required to share product knowledge.
• Collaborate with research and investment teams, both within the iShares business and the wider BlackRock organisation and represent GPS Product in selected BlackRock investment forums.
• Analyse and review systematic investment strategies and index methodologies proposed by third parties, providing a critical comparison between index strategies.

Knowledge/Experience

• Degree in a quantitative discipline is strongly preferred
• Experience in analysing and/or designing Fixed Income investment strategies
• Working knowledge of investment risk management tools is strongly preferred
• Knowledge of index construction methodologies and terminology within ETF wrapper
• Knowledge of sustainable investment and ESG data
• Programming skills (Python, R)
• Attention to detail and ability to pick up & digest new information quickly
• Good communication skills, including written and presentation skills
• Highly organised and able to adhere to tight deadlines
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative environment
• Commercial awareness and capability to understand client needs and ways to solve them

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.

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 Employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, disability, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics at law.