Director, Retail Alternatives Contracts

Do you thrive in a stimulating and multifaceted environment where legal, commercial and risk management skills are key? We are seeking a director who is curious, analytical, and passionate to become part of our team.

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Team Overview

The Contracting team is responsible for driving the successful completion of contract negotiations in support of the US open-end mutual fund, Retail Alternatives and Liquidity products lines. We manage the end-to end- contract lifecycle including facilitation of initial due diligence approvals, contract negotiations, contract execution and storage. Our scope includes new contractual arrangements and amendments to existing arrangements in the US Wealth Advisory, Cash Management and Retirement Group business channels. We work closely with our business partners and internal teams to negotiate contracts resulting in the best possible commercial outcomes for our clients while ensuring compliance with BlackRock’s regulatory and fiduciary obligations.

Role Responsibilities

• Senior contracting lawyer responsible for supporting the Retail Alternatives business line, including:

• Contract negotiation based on BlackRock’s template or client forms of agreement

• Assessment of legal, business and operational risks for escalation to impacted stakeholders

• Work closely with the Legal Department, Compliance and business on new product launches that require distribution contracts

• Serve as point person for business partners for all requests, prioritization, escalations and ad hoc queries

• Ensure that contractual documentation is executed and filed in compliance with internal procedural and regulatory/recordkeeping requirements

• Potential to lead adoption of new business lines, including:

• Assess and implement new processes, approval workflows and performance metrics

• Analyze and upgrade contract templates, negotiation playbook and approval framework

• Create/update applicable policies

• Train contracting team members

Experience/Qualifications

• 10+ years of cumulative work experience in legal contract negotiation in the financial services industry

• Proven ability to draft, analyze and negotiate legal contracts across the complexity spectrum (e.g., from template -based contracts to bespoke drafting)

• Strong written and oral communication skills that can be modified based on one’s audience (e.g., Relationship Manager, Legal Department, Client)

• Motivated by steep learning curves and highly detail-oriented

• J.D. is required

• Familiarity with mutual funds and alternatives products and related regulations

• Change management experience would be helpful

Proficiencies

• Self-starter with the ability to independently manage tasks and workload

• Able to work effectively and efficiently on multiple tasks simultaneously while maintaining the highest standard and attention to detail

• Think critically, identify and raise issues and risks in a legal contract or process

• Values working in a collaborative way and understands the importance of strong working relationships