Vice President, Database Administration

About this role

Vice President, Database Administration

Black Rock is a global leader in investment management, risk management, and advisory services for institutional and retail clients. Our Aladdin platform powers trillions in assets and millions of transactions daily, making reliability, scalability, and innovation mission‑critical. At Black Rock, we’re not just managing data – we’re shaping the future of financial technology.

The Database Hosting Team, part of Platform Hosting Services under Aladdin Platform Engineering, is responsible for the reliability, stability, and performance of Black Rock’s financial systems. We operate globally, delivering engineering and operational excellence across:

• OLTP and OLAP systems for transactional and analytical workloads

• Data warehousing and distributed platforms for large-scale processing

• Replication and high availability solutions ensuring resiliency and business continuity

As VP of Database Administration, you will:

• Lead global operations and engineering strategy for mission‑critical database platforms supporting Aladdin and other financial systems.

• Drive innovation and automation to scale operations and reduce complexity across hybrid environments (on‑prem and cloud).

• Partner with senior technology and business leaders to align database strategy with firm‑wide objectives.

• Champion performance optimization, security, and compliance, ensuring platforms meet evolving regulatory and business needs.

• Oversee administration and engineering of OLTP, OLAP, data warehousing, and distributed No
  
  SQL platforms.

• Ensure 24 x 7 availability and resiliency for global investment systems.

• Engage with infrastructure, application, and business teams across regions to deliver seamless service.

• Influence technology roadmaps and participate in architecture reviews.

• Scale operations through advanced automation frameworks and custom toolsets.

• Drive adoption of Dev Ops practices for database deployments and monitoring.

• Own configuration, capacity planning, security, disaster recovery, and audit compliance.

• Establish robust incident management processes with root‑cause analysis and long‑term remediation.

• Lead major upgrades, migrations, and consolidation initiatives.

• Contribute to monitoring and maintenance utilities using Python, Perl, Java, and modern frameworks.

• Education:
  
  Bachelor’s in computer science or related field (preferred).

• Experience:
  
  8+ years in enterprise database administration and engineering, with proven leadership in global environments.

• Platforms:
  Sybase ASE/IQ, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Postgre
  
  SQL, Snowflake, Cassandra, Cosmos DB.

• Replication:
  Sybase Replication, MSSQL HA, HVR/Fivetran.

• Cloud:
  Azure, AWS, GCP.

• Automation & Dev Ops:
  Python, Perl, Java, Go, Ansible/AWX, Git, Azure Dev Ops.

• OS:
  Linux, Windows; advanced shell scripting and system performance analysis.

• Leadership
  
  Skills:
  
  Ability to influence senior stakeholders, manage complex projects, and foster a culture of innovation.

• Mindset:
  Strategic thinker with a passion for operational excellence, continuous learning, and data‑driven decision‑making.

• Integrity and highest ethical standards.

• Strong learning agility and adaptability.

• Self‑starter with a drive for superior performance.

• Natural curiosity and commitment to innovation.

To help you stay energized, engaged and inspired, we offer a wide range of employee benefits including: retirement investment and tools designed to help you in building a sound financial future; access to education reimbursement; comprehensive resources to support your physical health and emotional well‑being; family support programs; and Flexible Time Off (FTO) so you can relax, recharge and be there for the people you care about.

Black Rock’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…