Associate, Investment Operations Specialist, SMA (Separately Managed Accounts) Solutions
BlackRock · Posted Oct 16
Investment management, asset management, risk analytics, and wealth services
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About the role
BlackRock Separately Managed Accounts (SMA) Solutions helps clients customise portfolios for tax efficiency, values alignment, and specific investment exposures across direct indexing, fixed income, active equity, and multi-asset strategies. The Investment Operations team supports the integrity and effective functioning of SMA portfolios through reconciliation, exception management, operational controls, and reporting in collaboration with investment, technology, custodian, and operations partners. This role supports middle-office activities across SMA portfolios, focused on cash and position reconciliation, exception management, data integrity, risk and control execution, and continuous process improvement.
What you will do
- In every role at BlackRock, you'll be expected to apply sound judgement and critical thinking to solve complex problems, adapt as the business evolves, and combine the curiosity to explore new approaches and technologies with the rigor to challenge the results.
- Perform daily cash and position reconciliations, investigating and resolving breaks and data discrepancies across internal books and records, custodians, and investment platforms.
- Monitor positions, cash, transactions, tax lots, pricing, corporate actions, and other portfolio data, supporting operational reporting, data-integrity monitoring, and post-trade controls.
- Partner with portfolio management, custodians, technology teams, and internal operations partners to resolve exceptions and coordinate timely issue escalation.
- Execute operational controls, maintain complete and audit-ready evidence, and identify and escalate material breaks, data-quality concerns, access issues, control weaknesses, and operational risks.
- Develop and maintain Standard Operating Procedures, while contributing to cross-training and knowledge sharing that support consistent and resilient operational execution.
- Manage competing priorities, dependencies, operational commitments, and deadlines, communicating risks or delays proactively and providing coverage during periods of increased activity.
- Identify opportunities to streamline workflows and automate manual activities, using operational data to identify recurring breaks, capacity constraints, and errors while supporting testing, documentation, implementation, and control validation.
Skills used in this role
What the employer is looking for
- 3-5 years of experience in investment operations, middle-office operations, portfolio operations, fund accounting, or a related financial-services function; exposure to separately managed accounts or tax-managed investment strategies is preferred.
- Working knowledge of the trade lifecycle, including positions, cash, securities, corporate actions, tax lots, pricing, reconciliation, exception management, and post-trade controls.
- Experience investigating reconciliation breaks and resolving data discrepancies across investment platforms, custodians, and internal books and records.
- Strong risk and control mindset, including experience following Standard Operating Procedures, performing maker-checker reviews, maintaining audit-ready evidence, and handling sensitive portfolio data.
- Strong analytical, organisational, and problem-solving capabilities, with attention to detail and the ability to independently prioritise multiple deliverables and meet operational deadlines.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders across functions and regions.
- Familiarity with investment-management platforms and advanced Excel skills; exposure to VBA, Python, Power BI, workflow tools, automation, and process-improvement initiatives is preferred.
Benefits and support
- strong retirement plan
- tuition reimbursement
- comprehensive healthcare
- support for working parents
- Flexible Time Off (FTO)
About BlackRock
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multinational investment management corporation and the world's largest asset manager. The firm provides institutional and individual clients with a broad range of investment, advisory, and risk management products, including its proprietary Aladdin financial technology platform. Headquartered in New York City, BlackRock manages trillions in assets across global equity, fixed income, alternative investments, and iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
- Industry
- Investment Management
- Company size
- 24900 employees
- Founded
- 1988-03-09
- Location
- New York, New York, USA
- Funding stage
- Public Company
Leadership
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
President and Director
Chief Financial Officer and Global Head of Corporate Strategy
Chief Operating Officer
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