Associate, BlackRock Investment Stewardship: Communications

About this role

About BlackRock Investment Stewardship

At BlackRock, investment stewardship is core to our role as an asset manager and a fiduciary to our clients. As stewards of our clients' assets, we engage with companies and vote at shareholder meetings to promote sound corporate governance and business practices that support companies in delivering durable, risk-adjusted financial returns over time. We are committed to building strong relationships through constructive, ongoing dialogue with the boards and executive management of the companies in which our clients are invested.

BlackRock’s stewardship policies are developed and implemented by two independent, specialist teams, BlackRock Investment Stewardship (BIS) and BlackRock Active Investment Stewardship (BAIS). While the two teams operate independently, their general approach is grounded in widely recognized norms of corporate governance and shareholder rights and responsibilities.

BIS is responsible for engagement and voting in relation to clients’ assets managed by certain index equity portfolio managers. BAIS partners with BlackRock’s active investment teams on company engagement and voting in relation to their holdings.

This role will support the BIS team and will hire at the Associate or Vice President level.

About this team

The BIS Communications team is responsible for the drafting, reviewing, and publishing of all external reports covering BIS’ engagement and proxy voting on behalf of clients, as well as thought leadership materials on a range of corporate governance topics. Additionally, the BIS Communications team produces a range of client-facing and internal materials to promote the global BIS team’s work. BIS Communications partners with other teams across the firm to advance BlackRock’s brand and reputation with key stakeholders

About this role

The BIS Communications team is hiring an Associate to support the function. The Associate role will be based in New York, NY or Washington, D.C., and will report to the Global Head of BIS Communications. This individual will provide support on BIS’ internal and external communication strategy, including contributing to our flagship reports and partnering closely with our Corporate Communications and Legal & Compliance teams in order to effectively contribute to the firm’s narrative. We are looking for an individual who will proactively contribute ideas and is comfortable engaging across functional areas.

Primary responsibilities will include:

• Support the BIS team in implementing strategic communications plans

• Contribute to the drafting, editing, and publication of BIS’ flagship reports, such as the BIS Annual Report and Quarterly Reports

• Prepare and update client-facing and other internal materials as needed

• Act as proof-reader at final stage of key internal materials and external publications

• Facilitate the approval process for key documents, ensuring alignment with compliance standards and consistency with BlackRock's brand messaging across various stakeholder teams

• Upload BIS materials to the public website and the internal BIS SharePoint

• Support the maintenance of the BIS website on an ongoing basis, ensuring they reflect most up-to-date content and data

• Liaise with the BIS Voting Operations and Reporting team in the completion of Requests for Proposals (RFP), Requests for Information (RFI), Due Diligence Questionnaires (DDQs), and other client requests on a weekly basis

• Support senior team members as needed, e.g. performing research activities or preparing remarks and presentations for public speaking opportunities or other external engagements

• Contribute to firm-wide publications and ensure BIS content included in any of these publications is accurate, up-to-date, and properly substantiated

• Monitor third-party research and external publications in relation to stewardship and/or BlackRock’s holdings to contribute to rapid response efforts or the drafting of internal talking points, as needed

Qualifications:

• At least 3 years of experience  in financial services, corporate communications, public relations, journalism, marketing/multimedia content strategy, or related field and a BA degree in these fields is preferred

• Strong personal communication, presentation, organizational and leadership skills

• Strong research and quantitative skills, with the ability to gather, analyze, and synthesize information and data from various sources to support BIS’ content strategy

• Proficient in using Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Adobe, and other productivity tools to create, manage, and present dat