About this role

About our team:

• Investment stewardship is one way BlackRock fulfills our fiduciary responsibilities as an asset manager to our clients. BlackRock Investment Stewardship serves as a link between our clients and the companies they invest in.
• We take a long-term approach to stewardship, focused on engaging with company boards and executive leadership to understand the drivers of risk and financial value creation in companies' business models. Globally, the BlackRock Investment Stewardship (BIS) team leads more than 3,500 engagement meetings with 2,500 portfolio companies annually.
• For clients who authorize us to vote on their behalf, we use voting to formally communicate our support for or concerns about how companies are serving the financial interests of our clients as long-term investors. Globally, in 2023 we voted on behalf of those clients who authorized us to do so at more than 18,000 shareholder meetings on approximately 170,000 proposals.
• Our sole focus when we engage with companies or vote at shareholder meetings is to advance our clients' financial interests. As part of our fiduciary duty to our clients, we consider it one of our responsibilities to promote sound corporate governance as an informed, engaged shareholder on their behalf.
• The BIS team of 65+ dedicated professionals bring diverse skills and life experiences to our work, with professional expertise developed in legal, financial, advisory, consulting, technology, corporate, and governance roles. We operate in ten offices across three regions - the Americas (New York, Wilmington, and San Francisco), EMEA (London) and Asia-Pacific (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney). Analysts on the Americas team are based in BlackRock's New York office.
• BIS is proud of our global reach and local presence.

• Demonstrating expertise on sector dynamics, including key measures of economic performance, financial resilience, corporate strategy, corporate governance and material sustainability-related practices within the Industrials and/or Materials sectors.
• Preparing for, leading (as needed), and documenting engagement meetings with portfolio companies.
• Learning and applying BIS engagement priorities, proxy voting policies, and key industry initiatives that have impact on BIS principles.
• Working with lead sector analyst(s) to implement BIS' corporate governance policies.
• Supporting data gathering, benchmarking, and reporting to support voting decisions and policy positions.
• Assisting in preparing position papers to facilitate issue discussion with broader BlackRock audiences.
• Collaborating across the team to identify ways to improve policy and business processes.

• Preparing for engagement with senior representatives of portfolio companies, including crafting memos in preparation for meetings highlighting key data that will be useful in our engagement and stewardship efforts.
• Analyzing and benchmarking financial and operational performance as well as governance and sustainability disclosure of portfolio companies.
• Attending, documenting and leading (as needed) engagement efforts, including recording research notes to be stored and shared with select audiences across BlackRock.
• Monitoring legal, regulatory or other market developments to improve the relevance of BlackRock's principles and guidelines.
• Participating in benchmarking analysis and modeling to contribute to leading engagement and voting practices.
• Monitoring of proxy voting workflow, to ensure all accounts are voted as intended and are in accordance with the appropriate guidelines.
• Supporting the development of BIS position papers and reporting.
• Analyzing companies' shareholder meeting agendas and related materials in order to vote in the manner most consistent with BlackRock's proxy voting policies and fiduciary responsibilities.
• Collaborating with client-facing and communications colleagues to ensure client reporting and client presentations meet expectations, and that client queries on stewardship activities are responded to promptly and to the client's expectations.
• Reviewing the BIS team's output and working practices to ensure risks are minimized and performance optimized.

• An undergraduate degree in finance, economics, accounting, political science, sustainability or other relevant field.
• 3-5 years of experience in an Industrials- and/or Materials-related role, ideally with a demonstrated strong understanding of financial statements and corporate finance.
• A keen interest in corporate governance and material sustainable business practices, ideally in relation to the Industrials and Materials sectors.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information and convey it in a clear and concise manner to senior-level audiences.
• A diligent, focused, and persistent work ethic to implement while leading multiple tasks and changing priorities.
• The ability to prioritize, analyze, and resolve complex issues under time pressure while maintaining consistent attention to detail.
• An organized, self-reliant, and self-motivated approach to responsibilities.
• Collaborative working style, and strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to build and maintain successful relationships with colleagues across the firm and with external parties.
• Proficiency in using Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft products.