About this role

The Associate- BlackRock Investment Stewardship (BIS) will work for the Global Operations team, and be based in Japan. The role reports to the Head of Operations with a dotted reporting line to the Head of BIS Japan. BIS is looking for a professional to provide day to day operational, business management and project support to the Japan and global BIS community and other stakeholders across the firm for any activities related to proxy voting, company engagements and client reporting. Day to day support entails understanding the proxy voting business process and associated platform and plumbing, mutual fund and ETF administration and custody operations, as well as understanding the Aladdin ecosystem around portfolio structure and positions. Business management activities range from vendor management, recertifications, audits and maintaining comprehensive documentation of core business processes and protocols. Projects can range from smaller, short term tasks to larger more complex assignments and will require working closely with the BIS analysts globally, as well as with key business partners across the firm.

• Work in team setting performing core duties related to proxy voting and company engagement operations support as well as business management activities and longer term projects
• Maintain comprehensive documentation on key processes and procedures related to proxy voting and engagements
• Liaise with primary vendors including maintaining enhancement lists, contract renewals and annual due diligence activities
• Daily support of proxy voting operations, including; , liaising with custodians and trust banks, addressing internal reporting requests, monitoring voting activity etc.
• Support the production of client reporting for Japanese clients and the broader APAC region
• Partner with the BIS Analytics team to create internal reporting of voting, engagement and client inquiry statistics, leveraging SQL databases and Aladdin data models
• Provide data and reporting support to support BIS communications function for both ad-hoc requests as well as cyclical reporting done on a quarterly and annual basis
• Run reconciliations between Aladdin and 3rd party vote execution platform to ensure data integrity across multiple systems
• Provide high quality client service to BIS analysts globally to address inquiries, perform controls, and resolve problems quickly particularly during proxy voting season
• Learn and be able to teach colleagues about the intricacies and interconnectivities of the Aladdin® end to end investment platform, including front-end tools that can be leveraged to access data as well as the vast underlying database structure that stores critical information such as portfolio holdings, security details, client attributes including proxy voting flags and portfolio exposures/AUM
• Develop expertise in third party ISS ProxyExchange platform and how it interfaces with Aladdin and other external parties
• Initiate and drive platform and process innovations to better support internal operational workflows, management reports and client requests, working closely with Business Operations functions including fund administration and client reporting and technology teams including BlackRock Solutions and the Aladdin Product Group to spec and build solutions

• An undergraduate with a degree in finance, economics, accounting, business, communications, technology or technical disciplines such as Computer Science, Information Systems, or Engineering
• Strong SQL and/or Python proficiency
• Knowledge of proxy voting operations, associated regulations and corporate governance a strong plus
• Excellent analytical skills with very strong attention to detail
• The ability to build and maintain successful relationships with colleagues across the firm and with external parties
• The ability to analyse and resolve complex problems under time pressure
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills combined with agile critical thinking and a problem solving mindset, with the ability to collaborate with both technical and non-technical personnel
• Details focused and persistent to see things through to completion whilst managing multiple tasks and changing priorities
• Extensive knowledge of Excel and strong knowledge of the entire MS Office suite
• Experience in data analysis, consolidation and creating detailed reports, charts and tables a strong plus
• Fluency in Japanese and English