Data Platform Architect, Architecture – Aladdin Data

About this role Your team The Aladdin Data Platform Engineering team builds and operates the foundational data and developer platforms that power the Aladdin ecosystem. Our portfolio includes the Enterprise Data Platform (EDP), Data Services and supporting infrastructure, and Aladdin Studio, the builder ecosystem for Aladdin. Together, these platforms enable the Aladdin community to acquire, manage, govern, process, and distribute third-party and proprietary data at enterprise scale. Through Aladdin Studio, we provide the tools, services, and runtime capabilities that enable data producers, consumers, integrators, and application builders to create and operate solutions on top of Aladdin. We operate at significant scale across a complex global technology landscape, where reliability, performance, interoperability, security, and developer experience are critical. Your role and impact We are looking for an accomplished technical architect to help shape the future of Aladdin’s data platform. This is a senior individual-contributor leadership role for an architect who wants to do more than produce designs or provide technical advice. You will define architectural direction and work with engineering teams to turn that direction into production systems, common platforms, and measurable improvements in reliability, scalability, performance, and developer productivity. Working across platform engineering, product, and operations, you will influence architecture across data platforms, application programming interfaces, shared services, and Aladdin Studio. You will combine deep technical expertise, strong engineering judgment, and the ability to simplify complex systems and drive decisions across a large engineering organization. Your responsibilities 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. The scope of this role also includes the following responsibilities: Define and evolve the target-state architecture for Aladdin Data platforms, shared services, application programming interfaces (APIs), software development kits (SDKs), metadata, configuration, and data models, while guiding investments and technology adoption that improve scalability, reliability, performance, security, interoperability, and developer experience. Shape platform capabilities for artificial intelligence (AI) and agent-based applications across structured and unstructured data, including metadata, retrieval, governance, application development, and workload orchestration. Partner with engineering, product, and operations teams from technical discovery and prototyping through implementation, rollout, and adoption, validating architectural decisions against production outcomes and adjusting designs as needed. Drive measurable improvements in availability, throughput, latency, scalability, onboarding speed, and engineering productivity, using recurring production and operational issues to identify and resolve systemic platform problems. Define reference architectures, engineering patterns, and technical guardrails for code quality, testing, security, observability, resilience, and release management, and lead reviews that produce clear decisions while keeping governance practical and enabling. Establish reusable, paved-road capabilities through libraries, templates, infrastructure, APIs, automation, tooling, documentation, and self-service patterns that reduce fragmentation and improve development speed and consistency. Serve as a senior technical leader and force multiplier by mentoring engineers and architects, advancing modern engineering practices, and leading cross-platform initiatives that improve design quality, delivery automation, observability, resilience, and performance. Your experience Extensive experience in data platform architecture, data engineering, distributed systems, or related disciplines, including designing scalable, reliable, high-performance, and cost-effective enterprise data platforms across complex, multi-team environments. Experience designing governed platforms for AI and unstructured-data workloads, including object storage, document management, metadata, retrieval, vector or graph technologies, security, and operational reliability. Experience designing high-performance data services and APIs with demanding scale, availability, throughput, and latency requirements, supported by strong knowledge of distributed systems and integration patterns. Technical fluency in data modeling and transformation, Structured Query Language (SQL), Python or Java, reusable packages, automated testing, and continuous integration and continuous delivery practices. Experience with streaming and event-driven architectures using distributed event streaming and messaging platforms and stateful stream and batch data processing engines, including schema management, delivery semantics, event time, checkpointing, and fault tolerance. Proven architecture leadership and technical judgment across workflow orchestration, Data Operations, release management, observability, cloud infrastructure, and source-control and delivery platforms, with the ability to simplify systems and make pragmatic trade-offs. Ability to influence through technical credibility, align engineering, product, architecture, and executive stakeholders, communicate complex concepts clearly, and operate effectively in financial services or another highly regulated industry. 
For NY7 - 50 Hudson Yards, New York Only the salary range for this position is USD$215,000.00 - USD$275,000.00 . 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