Modelling Data Scientist, Vice President - AI Labs

Description

About this role

AI Labs Overview

For more than three decades, BlackRock has combined world-class talent and technology to redefine what's possible in asset management. Today, AI is reshaping every aspect of our industry, from investments and client experiences to operations, risk management, and product innovation. BlackRock AI Labs sits at the center of that transformation.

AI Labs is BlackRock's advanced AI science and engineering organization. We partner with teams across the firm to solve some of the most complex and consequential challenges in financial services, applying generative AI, machine learning, optimization, and statistics to deliver measurable business impact. Our mission is simple but ambitious: combine human and machine intelligence to revolutionize asset management.

What sets AI Labs apart is our ability to move from idea to impact. We are not a research lab detached from the business, nor are we a traditional software engineering organization. We are a hybrid team of scientists and engineers who build solutions that run at scale in production environments and create capacity for our business partners. From AI-powered investment insights and risk management solutions to next-generation agentic workflows and enterprise AI platforms, our work is helping to shape the future of BlackRock.

Our teams work on some of the firm's highest priority strategic initiatives, including large-scale generative AI systems, intelligent agents, predictive analytics, optimization engines, operational risk solutions, and AI platforms that accelerate innovation across BlackRock. We help define best practices, establish technical standards, and enable teams throughout the organization to adopt AI safely, effectively, and at scale.

AI Labs has offices in New York, Edinburgh, Atlanta, San Francisco and Seattle.

We are looking for candidates with unique backgrounds and diverse skill sets with fresh perspectives to accelerate and amplify our efforts to make an impact at BlackRock.

As a data scientist, you will collaborate with a distributed team of outstanding scientists, engineers, and investment professionals to develop methodologies to solve a corporate-wide set of client, investor, and operational problems. Solutions developed often use multiple subject areas, including Generative AI, machine learning, and optimization, and combine original methods with pioneering solutions available in industry and academia. You will be responsible for the entire solution lifecycle, from initial scoping, research and prototyping, scaled implementation, productionalization in collaboration with engineering, and clearing internal review processes.

Responsibilities

• Be accountable for the delivery of major projects and key initiatives for AI Labs.
• Work with stakeholders to translate business needs into well-scoped AI/ML solutions.
• Design, build, and evaluate AI agents and agentic workflows - including tool use, memory, and multi-step reasoning - on top of large, complex datasets.
• Rapidly prototype agentic solutions using cutting-edge AI/ML tools, agent frameworks, orchestration platforms, and foundation model APIs.
• Work with engineers and stakeholders to build production-grade solutions that are reliable, scalable, and operate in compliance with firm-wide processes, including agent observability, guardrails, and evaluation pipelines.
• Define and maintain evaluation frameworks (evals) to measure agent quality, safety, and reliability in production.
• Present technical work clearly to senior leaders and general audiences, and promote thought leadership through white papers, publications, and presentations.
• Required experience
• PhD in a quantitative field (machine learning, artificial intelligence, mathematics, statistics, economics, computer science, physics, engineering, or related field) with 4+ years of professional experience OR
• MS degree in a quantitative field plus 7+ years of professional experience in machine learning, artificial intelligence, or other aspects of the AI / data science and agent development process.
• Strong familiarity with Python programming.
• Strong theoretical background in and practical experience using AI, machine learning, optimization, or statistical techniques.
• Experience assessing performance of machine learning methods and agentic systems: benchmark construction, metric design, and statistically sound measurement of quality, safety, and reliability.
• Ability to work within a team environment, and to collaborate and communicate across cross-functional groups.
• Additional experience we value: you don't need all of these. We're looking for depth in some areas and the range to grow into the rest.
• Depth in one or more research areas relevant to our work, e.g. LLM reasoning, reinforcement learning, machine learning, statistical modeling, or quantitative optimization.
• Academic publications, preprints, or open-source contributions.
• Experience building and deploying AI agents and agentic workflows using open-source frameworks (e.g. LangGraph, Pydantic AI, OpenAI Agents SDK), agent platforms (e.g. Amazon Bedrock, Microsoft Agent Framework, Claude Agent SDK), or comparable tools, including standards such as Model Context Protocol (MCP) for connecting agents to tools and data.
• Experience with retrieval systems for agents: retrieval-augmented generation, embedding models, vector databases, and long-term memory.
• Experience with machine learning libraries (e.g. PyTorch), cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), and the analysis of financial or economic data.
• Experience building production-grade solutions, and leading technical projects or managing
• 
For New York, NY and SF4-San Francisco - 400 Howard Street Only the salary range for this position is USD$167,500.00 - USD$225,000.00 . Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, and benefits including healthcare, leave benefits, and retirement benefits. BlackRock operates a pay-for-performance compensation philosophy and your total compensation may vary based on role, location, and firm, department and individual performance.

• 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.