Senior Engineering Team Director - Aladdin Engineering ETF Systems Engineering
BlackRock · New York, United States +1 · 21d ago
About this role
About Aladdin Engineering
Aladdin is BlackRock’s end-to-end investment management and operations platform — trusted by hundreds of institutional clients and advisors globally, supporting over $21 trillion in assets across the investment lifecycle.
The Aladdin Engineering Group designs and scales technology for tomorrow’s challenges. We build innovative solutions that serve both BlackRock and our global client ecosystem — operating at the speed of a startup with the reach and resources of the world’s largest asset manager. Our engineers take emotional ownership of what they build, shipping products that clients rely on every day.
About ETF Systems
The ETF Systems Engineering team builds the technology powering BlackRock’s iShares primary markets business — the world’s largest ETF franchise. The team owns the ETF Servicing Platform (ESP), a multi-tenant platform at the heart of the ETF ecosystem, enabling ETF Issuers, Authorized Participants, and Service Providers to meet and grow demand for the ETFs they manage, custody, or make markets in.
The engineering organization also owns a suite of mission-critical applications including Basket Management, Order Capture, Order Fulfillment and Custom Basket Negotiation serving clients from ETF Capital Markets, Portfolio Management and Operations across the globe.
Role Overview
We are seeking a Head of Engineering to lead the ETF Systems engineering organization — a globally distributed team of 50+ engineers across San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, London, and Singapore.
This is a senior leadership role accountable for the technical vision, delivery execution, operational excellence, talent strategy, and AI transformation of a platform that underpins one of the fastest-growing segments of the global asset management industry. You will partner closely with Product Management, iShares business leadership, and Aladdin platform teams to scale systems that support new market expansion, new asset classes, and platform commercialization.
The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong organizational leadership — someone who takes emotional ownership of outcomes, inspires engineering excellence, and thrives in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Architecture
- Define and drive the long-term technical vision for the ETF engineering platform, ensuring alignment with Aladdin-wide architecture standards and BlackRock’s technology strategy.
- Own domain architecture decisions across ESP and adjacent systems — including microservices decomposition, event-driven architectures (Kafka), cloud-native infrastructure, and API design.
- Lead the resiliency strategy for ETF critical workflows (Creation/Redemption), including high availability, isolation, and graceful degradation across application and platform layers.
- Establish and enforce engineering standards for code quality, observability, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and release governance.
AI Strategy & Adoption
- Define and execute the AI/GenAI adoption strategy for ETF Engineering — identifying high-value opportunities for AI-assisted development, intelligent automation, and AI-powered product features.
- Drive adoption of AI engineering tools (e.g., code generation, automated testing, intelligent observability) to accelerate delivery velocity and engineering productivity.
- Establish governance frameworks for responsible AI use — including model risk management, data governance, and compliance with BlackRock’s AI principles.
- Partner with Aladdin AI/ML platform teams and vendor partners to evaluate, pilot, and scale AI capabilities across the ETF technology stack.
Delivery & Execution
- Oversee delivery across multiple product engineering teams operating in an Agile/SAFe framework.
- Drive release governance and software change management processes in partnership with Product Management and business stakeholders.
- Manage cross-team dependencies with Aladdin platform teams and external integrations (DTCC/Fund/SERV, custodians, liquidity providers).
Regulatory Compliance, Risk & Resilience
- Ensure all engineering practices and platform capabilities comply with global regulations, internal risk policies, and BlackRock’s technology risk framework.
- Embed resilience, business continuity, and disaster recovery into system design — owning RCSA (Risk & Control Self-Assessment) obligations and audit readiness.
- Partner with Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Cybersecurity teams to deliver “controls by design” — ensuring regulatory requirements are embedded in architecture, not bolted on.
- Own production stability, support escalation, and incident management for ETF applications globally — driving continuous improvement in MTTR and operational efficiency.
Talent, Culture & Inclusion
- Lead, develop, and inspire a globally distributed engineering organization across multiple time zones and cultures.
- Own the engineering talent strategy: hiring, promotion calibration, organizational design, spans of control, and workforce planning.
- Develop the next generation of engineering leaders at the VP and Director level — creating accountability, stretch opportunities, and clear career paths.
- Champion a culture of engineering excellence, continuous learning, and innovation — where engineers take emotional ownership of their craft and are empowered to challenge the status quo.
- Foster an inclusive, equitable environment where diverse perspectives are actively sought, valued, and leveraged to build better products and stronger teams. Model BlackRock’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of team leadership.
Stakeholder Partnership
- Partner closely with Product Management to align engineering investment with business priorities and commercial strategy.
- Collaborate with iShares business leadership, Capital Markets, Portfolio Management and Operations to deliver technology that supports BlackRock’s ETF growth agenda.
- Represent ETF Engineering in Aladdin-wide forums, leadership reviews, and cross-product initiatives.
Qualifications
Required:
- 15+ years of progressive software engineering experience, with 5+ years in senior leadership roles managing large, globally distributed engineering teams.
- Deep expertise in building and operating high-availability, mission-critical financial systems at scale.
- Strong technical foundation in Java, microservices architecture, cloud-native infrastructure (Azure/AWS), event-driven systems (Kafka), distributed databases, and modern CI/CD practices.
- Demonstrated ability to drive organizational design, talent development, and engineering culture in a fast-paced, regulated environment.
- Proven track record of delivering resiliency, operational excellence, and engineering efficiency at enterprise scale.
- Strong communication and influencing skills with the ability to partner effectively at the executive level and across business and technology functions.
- BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
Preferred:
- Experience with ETF primary markets, capital markets technology, or investment management platforms.
- Experience leading AI/GenAI adoption in engineering organizations — including tool evaluation, governance, and scaled implementation.
- Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks in financial services (e.g., SOX, SEC, FCA).
- Experience with Aladdin or comparable enterprise investment management platforms.
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.
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 workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity to all applicants and existing employees, and we evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity/expression), sexual orientation, age, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religion, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. View the EEOC’s Know Your Rights poster and its supplement and the pay transparency statement.
BlackRock is committed to full inclusion of all qualified individuals and to providing reasonable accommodations or job modifications for individuals with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation/adjustments are needed throughout the employment process, please email Disability.Assistance@blackrock.com. All requests are treated in line with our privacy policy.
BlackRock will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in a manner consistent with the requirements of the law, including any applicable fair chance law.