Associate, Aladdin Business Manager

Title: Business Manager, Associate   

BlackRock is one of the world’s preeminent asset management firms and a world-class provider of global investment management, risk management and advisory services. Aladdin is the firm’s investment and operating technology platform and is offered to external clients. 

The Aladdin COO team provides cross functional support to an organization of several thousand individuals across engineering, data, product, client support, sales, marketing, and more. Within the Aladdin COO office, the Business Management team is responsible for managing a suite of key functions for org. We are seeking an Associate, Business Manager to report to the head of Business Management. 

The Business Management team acts as subject matter experts in a variety of areas including budget and P&L, headcount, recruiting, people topology, procurement, vendor strategy and more. Our role is to ensure smooth operations, develop process and operational controls, prioritize + hunt for efficiencies, ensure adherence to our budget targets, and keep our stakeholders plugged in.  

This role will concentrate on operating our estate, with a particular emphasis on managing external partners and associate expenditures, management of several significant cost categories and their P&L impacts, the oversight of a comprehensive suite of approval processes, and continuous improvement on the associated processes. 

This will require at least some prior experience in a business management, financial planning / analysis, vendor management, or procurement role. The hire must be a passionate, hardworking, and self-motivated go-getter with a unique blend of people, business, and financial skills. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Oversee multiple reporting and business intelligence systems, ensuring we can effectively measure performance and use data to inform decision making.  

• Oversight and analysis of several large, bespoke datasets. 

• Act as the gate for multiple approval processes including (but not limited to) procurement (Coupa), ServiceNow, and Workday. 

• Operate our tech consulting (contingent worker) estate: identify resourcing needs, manage the relationship with external vendors, maintain (a significantly sized) dataset on the population, and ensure that we stay within budget.  

• Operate our broader expense management estate: maintain a close relationship with our internal procurement partners, understand procurement demand, oversee purchase orders, and look for anomalies in accruals / actuals. 

• Analyze + understand macro trends, and actively manage P&L, in large spend categories including tech consulting (contingent workers), software, and Cloud. 

• Capture requirements, connect them to business value, and translate them into easily understood reporting and action plans.  

• Prepare presentations on strategic growth, financial performance, operational governance, and other critical items. 

• Participate in and lead portions of our annual planning exercises. 

• Join meetings to learn with senior leaders regarding strategic relationships, direction and governance, and summarize key points and follow ups. 

• Focus on process improvement, finding ways to achieve the desired outcomes with fewer manual touchpoints while simultaneously improving transparency to key stakeholders. 

Who You Are: 

• 2+ years of relevant experience in one or more of the following areas (or similar): business management, financial planning / analysis, vendor management, or procurement. 

• Undergraduate degree required, with an MBA or advanced degree desirable. 

• Financial Skillset: At minimum, must possess a basic understanding of the P&L lifecycle – including requisitions, POs, accruals, invoices / actuals – and their effect on the overall budget. 

• Advanced Data Management: Significant hands-on Excel and data management experience is a must. Ability to track and manipulate significant datasets using disparate data sources, and the ability to design dynamic tooling that solves problems. Must be able to tell a compelling story by leveraging data, metrics, and visualizations.  

• Advanced PowerPoint and Writing: Ability to produce quality presentations and synthesize key information using data and analytics. 

• Problem Solving: Structured critical thinker with superior problem-solving abilities who can organize people under pressure and pull in key decision makers to prioritize issues and respond to senior leaders.  

• Communication: Must be able to communicate upcoming deliverables and objectives, influence stakeholders and effectively manage programs with clear and inclusive guidance. 

• Self-Starter: High level of self-motivation, able to own and drive things forward, gather feedback and identify ways to do things better along the way. 

• Interpersonal Skills: Ability to engage a diverse set of stakeholders, build long term relationships, and create a collaborative and approachable environment, especially when working across departments or on time sensitive matters. 

Nice to Have: 

• Background in an enterprise grade ERP system such as TM1 (preferred), SAP, IBM Cognos, EssBase, etc. (Coupa a plus). 

• Operational background in people-focused areas such as headcount planning / reporting, talent acquisition, etc., and experience with HRIS tools (Workday a plus). 

• Real estate / facilities management experience.  

• Technical, product management, project management, or Agile background.