About this role
Job Title
Payroll Specialist
Work Schedule
Sunday - Thursday
Department
HR
Work Location
HKN Erbil Office
Reports to
HR Manager
Start Date
To be confirmed
Subordinates
N/A
Application Deadline
September 4, 2026
Contract Type
Open Contract
Other details
Three months' probation
About Us:
HKN Energy Ltd. is a privately held, independent energy company with oil exploration and production operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
HKN Energy is focused on increasing production of its Sarsang Block, located in the prolific Zagros fold, and thrust belt of Northern Kurdistan. We have a highly experienced, diverse team with work experience in over 80 different countries. HKN Energy is committed to building a company culture that is guided by its Core Values of Integrity, Respect, Excellence, Commitment, and Teamwork.
Position Summary:
The Payroll Specialist is responsible for the accurate and timely preparation and processing of payroll for HKN's multi-entity operations, covering monthly salaried, daily-rate and rotational contract types.
The role is responsible for gathering and validating payroll inputs, maintaining employee payroll records, preparing payroll runs and supporting schedules, completes reconciliations, and assembles the documentation required for review, approval and payment. Payroll operates in post-conflict environments where banking infrastructure, statutory administration and employee records are underdeveloped, so accuracy, evidence and disciplined record-keeping matter more than volume.
Main Duties & Responsibilities:
Payroll Preparation & Processing
• Prepares and processes payroll for HKN's multi-entity employees across monthly-salaried and daily-rate contract types, in line with the agreed payroll calendar.
• Processes allowances and benefits and applying the correct tax and social insurance treatment to each.
• Prepares bank payment files, cash disbursement schedules and off-cycle payment requests, together with the supporting documentation required for review and authorisation.
• Calculates final settlements, end-of-service benefits, severance and submits them for verification and approval within the required timeframe.
Payroll Records & Data
• Maintains payroll master data across all entities, employee records, national identity and civil documentation, bank and payment details, dependent records, grade and step assignment, and cost centre coding, ensuring changes are supported by approved documentation.
• Supports verification and cleansing of inherited workforce records, including reconciliation of legacy payroll registers against verified headcount, identification of duplicate records, and checking of identity documentation prior to first payment.
• Checks that every payroll record is traceable to a signed contract, an approved grade and step, and an approved position, and escalates any record that is not.
• Files and maintains the audit trail for pay changes, promotions, transfers, grade movements, green-circling and red-circling arrangements, acting allowances, with evidence of approval at the correct authority level.
Disbursement Support
• Prepares disbursement packs for field payments where banking penetration is limited, including payment listings, receipt registers and identity verification records.
• Ensures signed receipt registers and payment evidence are returned, scanned, filed and reconciled against the payroll register without delay.
Reconciliation & Compliance Support
• Completes routine payroll reconciliations, month-on-month variance, headcount-to-payroll, gross-to-net and payroll-to-general-ledger, and presents them with explanations for review.
• Prepares statutory schedules for income tax withholding, social insurance and pension contributions in each jurisdiction, and submits them for review, remittance and filing.
• Works within applicable labour laws and social security law applicable to multi entities and social security requirements, seeking guidance from HR and Legal on interpretation.
• Supports annual salary review, bonus and increment cycles through data preparation, mass upload, letter generation and post-implementation checking.
• Uses HKN's HRIS environment (UKG Pro) as a day-to-day payroll user, including pay rules, paycodes, time and attendance data, workflow approvals and mass upload templates, and raises system issues to HR Systems for resolution.
• Prepares recurring payroll reports and dashboards (headcount, workforce cost, national versus expatriate split, overtime and absence trends, accruals and provisions) for HR, Finance and Management.
• Maintains payroll SOPs, checklists, calculation notes and country payroll guides, updating them as processes and regulations change.
• Identifies opportunities to simplify or automate payroll steps and supports implementation of agreed improvements.
• Supports payroll projects such as system upgrades, new entity or asset onboarding, and integration of absorbed workforces through testing, data preparation and reconciliation.
• Acts as first point of contact for employee payroll queries and disputes, investigating and responding within agreed timeframes and escalating unresolved or sensitive cases.
• Liaises with finance, banks, third-party manpower providers and outsourced payroll or tax advisers on day-to-day operational matters.
• Handles all pay and personal data in strict confidence and in line with HKN's data protection requirement
Competencies
Functional & Technical
• Payroll preparation and processing, ideally across more than one country
• Working knowledge of an enterprise HRIS / payroll system (UKG Pro preferred; SAP, SuccessFactors, Oracle or similar acceptable)
• Time and attendance, rotation and POB data handling
• Payroll reconciliation and variance analysis
• Statutory payroll requirements in MENA jurisdictions — income tax withholding, social insurance and pension contributions
• Multi-currency payroll and application of foreign exchange rate policy
• Cash and hybrid disbursement documentation and record-keeping
• Grade structure and pay band administration
• Expatriate, rotational and day-rate contractor payroll
• Advanced Excel (lookups, pivots, data validation, reconciliation of large files)
• Clear written and verbal communication, including with non-finance audiences
• Accuracy, attention to detail and disciplined document filing
Behavioural
• Integrity and discretion — the role has continuous access to confidential pay and personal data
• Reliability under deadline pressure, particularly around cut-off and disbursement
• Composure and adaptability in volatile operating conditions, including security-driven disruption and downmanning.
• Willingness to raise a concern or escalate rather than process an unsupported instruction.
Minimum Qualifications and Experience:
Essential
• Bachelor's degree or diploma in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Business Administration or a related discipline.
• Minimum 5-8 years of payroll experience, including at least 2 years processing payroll for more than one country or legal entity.
• Hands-on experience preparing payroll end to end, input validation, processing, reconciliation, statutory schedules and final settlements.
• Experience of payroll in the MENA region; exposure to Iraq, Syria, Libya or comparable markets is a strong advantage.
• Practical experience of an enterprise HRIS / payroll system as a day-to-day user.
• Advanced Excel and strong data reconciliation capability.
• Professional working proficiency in English.
Desirable
• Oil and gas, EPC, construction, mining or other remote-site industry experience, including rotational and camp-based workforces.
• Experience of cash or hybrid payroll disbursement and the documentation it requires.
• Experience supporting payroll through audit, workforce absorption or system implementation.
Certifications
Progress towards or completion of a payroll, HR or accounting qualification (CPP, CIPP, CIPD, SHRM-CP, ACCA or equivalent) is an added advantage.