Senior Settlement Reconciliation Specialist

🏗 We're Hiring: Senior Settlement Reconciliation Specialist📍 Location: United Arab Emirates (Remote)🕒 Employment Type: Full-Time💼 Experience Level: Mid-Level to Senior🌐 Work Arrangement: Fully RemoteAbout UsWe are a construction-focused organization committed to operational excellence, financial accuracy, strong internal controls, and effective risk management. Our multidisciplinary teams collaborate across Project Management, Construction, Engineering, Procurement, Commercial, Legal, Finance, Human Resources, Design, Quality, HSE, Consultants, Contractors, Suppliers, Logistics, Administration, Information Technology, and Executive Leadership to support complex projects and maintain reliable financial operations.We value professionals who demonstrate analytical thinking, attention to detail, accountability, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Through robust reconciliation processes, transparent reporting, and cross-functional collaboration, we aim to strengthen financial integrity, minimize settlement risks, and ensure the timely resolution of discrepancies.The RoleWe are seeking an experienced Senior Settlement Reconciliation Specialist to oversee and support settlement reconciliation activities across financial transactions, payment records, bank statements, counterparties, vendors, and relevant financial systems. The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in transaction matching, settlement validation, discrepancy investigation, exception management, cash reconciliation, and financial reporting.This role will be responsible for ensuring settlement records are complete, accurate, and consistent across internal systems and external statements. The successful candidate will work closely with Finance, Treasury, Accounting, Procurement, Commercial, Banking Partners, and Information Technology teams to investigate settlement breaks, resolve outstanding items, improve reconciliation controls, and maintain audit-ready documentation.Key ResponsibilitiesLead daily, weekly, and monthly settlement reconciliation activities across bank accounts, payment platforms, financial systems, and counterparty statements.Reconcile settlement instructions, transaction records, cash movements, payment confirmations, and accounting entries.Verify that settlements are processed accurately, completely, and within agreed timelines.Match internal transaction records against bank statements, payment confirmations, settlement reports, and external counterparty records.Investigate settlement discrepancies, unmatched transactions, duplicate entries, missing payments, and unexpected cash movements.Identify the root causes of reconciliation breaks and coordinate corrective actions with relevant stakeholders.Monitor outstanding settlement items and ensure exceptions are investigated and resolved within established service-level agreements.Maintain accurate records of settlement differences, investigation findings, resolutions, and supporting evidence.Validate settlement amounts, currencies, value dates, transaction references, beneficiary details, and applicable fees.Review payment instructions and settlement confirmations for completeness, consistency, and appropriate authorization.Identify failed, delayed, rejected, reversed, or partially completed settlements and coordinate timely resolution.Reconcile incoming and outgoing payments involving customers, suppliers, contractors, consultants, and other counterparties.Support the reconciliation of project-related payments, supplier invoices, contractor disbursements, and other approved financial transactions.Coordinate with Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable teams to resolve payment allocation and settlement discrepancies.Work with Treasury teams to reconcile cash positions, bank balances, transfers, and inter-account movements.Investigate differences between operational transaction records, bank balances, and general ledger entries.Support month-end and year-end financial close activities by completing reconciliations and clearing outstanding exceptions.Prepare reconciliation summaries and supporting schedules for financial reporting and management review.Ensure reconciliation entries and adjustments are properly documented, reviewed, and approved.Monitor settlement cut-off times, processing deadlines, payment calendars, and contractual settlement requirements.Escalate high-value discrepancies, aged breaks, potential fraud indicators, and material settlement failures through established channels.Collaborate with banks, payment service providers, financial institutions, and external counterparties to resolve settlement issues.Maintain effective communication with internal teams to obtain missing information and accelerate exception resolution.Verify that settlement adjustments are supported by appropriate documentation and comply with internal approval procedures.Maintain comprehensive reconciliation logs, exception trackers, settlement reports, and audit trails.Ensure settlement records are properly organized, securely maintained, and readily available for authorized review.Perform periodic reviews of reconciliation procedures to identify control gaps, recurring issues, and opportunities for improvement.Support the implementation of standardized reconciliation templates, workflows, and operating procedures.Assist in automating transaction matching, exception identification, reconciliation reporting, and follow-up processes.Work with Information Technology and Finance Systems teams to investigate data mismatches, interface failures, and system-generated reconciliation errors.Participate in user acceptance testing, system upgrades, process migrations, and implementation of reconciliation tools.Validate data integrity between enterprise resource planning systems, treasury platforms, banking portals, and accounting applications.Ensure appropriate segregation of duties, authorization controls, and independent review of sensitive settlement activities.Support internal and external audits by preparing reconciliation evidence, transaction records, approval histories, and investigation documentation.Monitor compliance with applicable financial policies, accounting procedures, contractual requirements, and internal control standards.Assist with identifying suspicious payment patterns, unusual settlement activity, duplicate disbursements, and potential financial control weaknesses.Protect confidential banking information, transaction records, beneficiary details, and other sensitive financial data.Prepare periodic reports covering reconciliation completion rates, outstanding breaks, aged items, settlement failures, and resolution performance.Analyze reconciliation trends and recommend measures to reduce processing errors, settlement delays, and recurring discrepancies.Provide guidance and technical support to junior reconciliation analysts and other finance operations personnel.Coordinate with management to prioritize material exceptions and improve the efficiency of settlement operations.Maintain professional knowledge of settlement processes, banking operations, reconciliation practices, financial controls, and relevant technology developments.Perform other settlement reconciliation, financial operations, reporting, and control-related duties as assigned by management.Qualifications and ExperienceBachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Banking, Business Administration, Economics, or a related discipline.Relevant professional qualifications or equivalent practical experience may be considered.Typically 5–8 years of experience in settlement reconciliation, banking operations, treasury operations, financial control, payment processing, or related functions.Demonstrated experience reconciling high-volume financial transactions and investigating complex settlement discrepancies.Strong understanding of payment processing, bank statements, cash movements, transaction matching, and settlement lifecycles.Experience with general ledger reconciliation, accounts payable and receivable, and month-end financial close processes.Familiarity with enterprise resource planning systems, treasury management platforms, banking portals, and reconciliation tools.Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including lookups, pivot tables, data validation, and reconciliation analysis.Experience with financial reporting tools, data analysis, or reconciliation automation is an advantage.Strong analytical, numerical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.Ability to investigate discrepancies systematically and document findings clearly.Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.Ability to manage competing deadlines while maintaining accuracy and control discipline.High standards of integrity, confidentiality, accountability, and attention to detail.Ability to work independently in a remote environment and collaborate effectively with geographically distributed teams.Preferred CertificationsAssociation of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).Certified Public Accountant (CPA).Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) credentials.Certified Treasury Professional (CTP).Relevant banking operations, reconciliation, financial controls, or treasury certifications.Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)Reconciliation completion rate within established deadlines.Percentage of settlement discrepancies resolved within agreed service-level agreements.Number and value of outstanding settlement breaks.Aging of unresolved reconciliation items.Accuracy and completeness of settlement reconciliation records.Reduction in recurring discrepancies and manual processing errors.Timeliness of escalation for material settlement issues.Compliance with reconciliation procedures and approval requirements.Audit findings and remediation completion rates.Improvements in reconciliation efficiency and automation.