James McKnight

James McKnight is an experienced payroll and HR operations professional currently serving as the Head of Global Payroll at Sazerac Company since July 2025. Prior to this role, McKnight held the position of Senior Payroll Manager at LyondellBasell and has accumulated extensive experience in payroll and HR functions at NRG Energy, where roles included Manager of HR Operations, Senior HRIS Analyst, and Senior Payroll Accountant. Career foundations were built at Aon Hewitt as an SAP Payroll Analyst and Rowan Companies as a Senior Payroll Analyst, with earlier experience at Baker Hughes and KBR, Inc. McKnight holds a Bachelor's degree in Human Resources Management from The University of Arizona Global Campus and an Associate of Science in Accounting from the University of Phoenix, complemented by a certification in Computerized Accounting from Texas School of Business-North.