Application Engineer, Aladdin Product Engineering, Associate

About this role

About BlackRock

BlackRock invests and protects over $14 trillion (USD) in assets for clients globally. Our purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well‑being. Technology plays a meaningful role in this mission, enabling scalable and resilient platforms that support retirement, annuity, and investment outcomes for millions of investors worldwide.

We value diversity of thought and background and believe it strengthens our ability to deliver for clients while upholding our fiduciary responsibility.

Team Overview

This role is part of Aladdin Product Engineering – CXE – Client Life Cycle Engineering, passionate about MyLifePath, BlackRock’s retirement and annuity platform.

The team owns the end‑to‑end engineering lifecycle for cloud‑native, enterprise‑scale applications, including building, development, testing, deployment, and production support. We work closely with product management, platform engineering, architecture, and operations teams to deliver secure, resilient, and scalable solutions for internal and external clients.

Role Description

The Associate – Backend is an experienced individual contributor responsible for crafting, building, and supporting core backend services within the MyLifePath platform.

The position demands strong technical judgment and independence when addressing moderately complex challenges. Associates should develop technical plans, help improve engineering standards, and guide junior engineers. They work closely with product and platform collaborators to provide crucial business functions.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering & Delivery

• Build, develop, and maintain backend services and APIs for the MyLifePath platform with clear ownership
• Implement services using microservices and event‑driven architectures, aligned with enterprise standards
• Build production‑grade applications using Java (21+) and Kotlin within Spring‑based ecosystems
• Develop and support integrations with messaging and event platforms (e.g., Azure Service Bus)
• Translate business and product requirements into robust, scalable technical solutions, including AI‑enabled features

AI & Intelligent Platform Skills (Good to Have)

• Contribute to the delivery of AI‑powered features, including:
  • Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) patterns for enterprise knowledge and use cases centered on handling documents
  • Integrate backend services with LLM platforms, embedding services, and vector stores in accordance with approved architectures
• Apply engineering guidelines to AI solutions, including:
• Leverage approved AI developer assistants (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Windsurf) to improve efficiency while adhering to firm policies

Quality, Reliability & Operations

• Define and implement testing strategies (unit, integration, automated) for both traditional and AI‑enabled components
• Participate in production support, incident response, and root‑cause analysis
• Identify technical debt, performance bottlenecks, and reliability risks, driving continuous improvement
• Apply secure coding practices and resilience patterns to ensure platform stability

Collaboration & Influence

• Contribute to technical build discussions, including AI architecture and integration reviews
• Partner with product managers, UX, and platform teams to build AI‑enabled user experiences
• Mentor junior engineers through code reviews and technical mentorship
• Communicate technical trade‑offs clearly to cross‑functional collaborators

Required Technical Skills

Core Backend Engineering

• Strong backend development experience using Java 21+ and/or Kotlin
• Deep working knowledge of the Spring ecosystem (Spring Boot, Spring Data, Spring Security, Spring Integration)
• Experience crafting and consuming RESTful APIs and event‑driven services
• Proficiency with JUnit and automated testing practices
• Experience with Azure Cosmos DB, MS SQL, or similar data stores
• Hands‑on experience with Docker and Kubernetes
• Strong understanding of cloud‑native and distributed systems concepts

AI & Intelligent Systems (Preferred)

• Practical experience or strong familiarity with:
  • LLM integration patterns via APIs and backend services
  • Understanding of agentic AI concepts, including orchestration of tools, workflows, and services
• Awareness of AI risks, governance, and security considerations in enterprise environments
• Ability to apply AI capabilities to real business problems, not just experimentation

Skills You'll Use Every Day

• Demonstrates independent execution and ownership of assigned problem spaces
• Applies sound technical judgment to balance quality, speed, and risk
• Communicates clearly with engineers and cross-functional collaborators
• Collaborates effectively within and across teams
• Shows a continuous improvement approach and invests in learning
• Demonstrates focus on detail and responsibility for production results
• Domain experience in financial services, retirement, or insurance platforms is a plus

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 Employer.  We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, disability, family status, gender identity, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and other protected attributes at law.