Application Engineer - Aladdin - Vice President

About this roleAre you interested in building innovative technology that crafts financial markets? Do you like working at the speed of a startup, and solving some of the world’s most exciting challenges? Do you want to work with, and learn from, hands-on leaders in technology and finance?At BlackRock, we are looking for Software Engineers who like to innovate and solve sophisticated problems. We recognize that strength comes from diversity, and will embrace your outstanding skills, curiosity, and passion while giving you the opportunity to grow technically and as an individual.We invest and protect over $14 trillion (USD) of assets and have an extraordinary responsibility to our clients all over the world. Our technology empowers millions of investors to save for retirement, pay for college, buy a home, and improve their financial well-being.Being a technologist at BlackRock means you get the best of both worlds: working for one of the most sophisticated financial companies and being part of a software development team responsible for next generation technology and solutions.What is Aladdin and Trading Devops Engineering?You will be working on BlackRock's investment operating system called Aladdin. Aladdin is used both internally within BlackRock and externally by many financial institutions. Aladdin combines sophisticated risk analytics with comprehensive portfolio management, trading, and operations tools on a single platform to power informed decision-making and create a connective tissue for thousands of users investing worldwide.Our development teams reside inside the Aladdin Engineering group. We collaboratively build the next generation of technology that changes the way information, people, and technology intersect for global investment firms. Trading platform is a complex, multi-language codebase (Java, npm/JavaScript, Python, C++) with intricate dependency structures. This role focuses on uplifting developer productivity, modernizing build systems, and driving cloud-native transformation.Being a member of Aladdin Engineering, you will be:Tenacious: Work in a fast paced and highly complex environmentCreative thinker: Analyse multiple solutions and deploy technologies in a flexible way.Great teammate: Think and work collaboratively and communicate effectively.Fast learner: Pick up new concepts and apply them quickly.Qualifications:B.E./ B.TECH./ MCA or any other relevant engineering degree from a reputed university.9+ years of experienceSkills and Experience:            Build Systems & Developer Productivity (Critical)7+ years in DevOps, Platform Engineering, or Build Infrastructure rolesDeep expertise in modern build systems: Hands-on experience with Bazel, Pants, Buck, or Gradle for large-scale, multi-language monoreposProven track record of improving build speeds and success rates in complex codebases (50%+ improvement metrics preferred)Experience managing polyglot build pipelines spanning Java, C++, Python, and JavaScript/npm ecosystemsStrong understanding of dependency management across multiple package managers (Maven, npm, pip, etc.Experience with build caching strategies (remote caching, incremental builds, hermetic builds)Ability to analyze and resolve complex dependency graphs and circular dependency issuesAbility to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.  Strong understanding of software development life cycle, agile methodologies, and best engineering practices.  Familiarity with source control at scale (Git LFS, Git subtrees, or similar for large binary assets)Excellent problem-solving skills and an analytical mindset.  Experience taking emotional ownership of the design and development of a significant application, system, or key component. Ability to form positive relationships with partnering teams, sponsors, and user groups in a distributed team environment.  Demonstrate an ability to build real-time applications or apps that process large volumes of data yet remain highly responsive even in high-latency environments.Experience with the Agile SDLC, with a quality-first mindset and high test-coverage, using test frameworks like Cypress, Jest, Mocha, Karma etc.CI/CD & Release EngineeringExpertise designing high-performance CI/CD pipelines for multi-language projectsExperience with CI platforms: Azure DevOps, GitHubKnowledge of artifact management across ecosystems (Artifactory, NPM registry, PyPI)Cloud-Native & Multi-CloudStrong knowledge of Kubernetes (K8s) for container orchestrationExperience with multi-cloud architecture (AWS, Azure, GCP) and cloud-agnostic toolingFamiliarity with Infrastructure as Code like TerraformUnderstanding of containerization for C++/Java/Python workloads (Docker, buildpacks)Experience with GitOps workflows (ArgoCD, Flux) for declarative deploymentsKnowledge of service mesh and cloud-native networking patternsStrategic & LeadershipExperience acting as technical liaison between product engineering teams and central platform/infrastructure teamsAbility to influence roadmaps and drive alignment on tooling and platform decisionsTrack record of driving adoption of new tools and practices across engineering teamsStrong communication skills to articulate technical strategy to senior leadershipExperience creating migration plans for legacy systems to modern stacksLanguage & Ecosystem Expertise (Required)Java (Strong): Build tooling (Maven, Gradle, Bazel rules), JVM tuning for buildsC++ (Moderate to Strong): CMake, Bazel C++ rules, linking/compilation optimizationPython (Moderate): pip, Poetry, Pants/Bazel Python rules, virtual environmentsJavaScript/npm (Moderate): npm/yarn/pnpm, bundlers (webpack, esbuild), Bazel JS rulesPreferred ExperienceTrading/Financial SystemsExperience in trading systems, capital markets, or fintech environmentsUnderstanding of low-latency requirements and their impact on build/deploy pipelinesFamiliarity with regulatory and compliance considerations in financial