Citizens' longtime exec, Beth Johnson, to retire in March

Citizens Financial Group will create a new C-suite role following the retirement of Beth Johnson, a top executive who's been instrumental in the company's transformation into a viable regional bank.

Johnson, who is currently the chief experience officer and a member of the executive committee, plans to retire as of March 3, the Providence, Rhode Island-based company said late Thursday in a press release. Her wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities include digital design, data and analytics, marketing and communications, enterprise payments strategy and sustainability.

Citizens will not directly replace Johnson, a frequent honoree on American Banker's annual Most Powerful Women in Banking lists. Instead, it said it will create a new senior executive role that will sit on the executive committee and focus on corporate strategy.

The new leader, who will be hired in the coming months, will report to Chief Financial Officer John Woods and oversee strategy, corporate development, customer experience, innovation and sustainability, the company said. Both internal and external candidates will be considered.

The $217.5 billion-asset company currently has an executive management team of 10, including Johnson.

"Beth's work in incubating critical capabilities … has helped lay a strong and lasting foundation that our highly experienced leadership team will build upon to accelerate growth, enhance product delivery and drive innovation," Chairman and CEO Bruce Van Saun said in the release.

He noted that the company, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary as a publicly-traded firm, has "carefully planned a smooth transition" to handle Johnson's work.

That includes not only creating a new C-suite role, but also redistributing some of Johnson's responsibilities to other executives. Brendan Coughlin, vice chair and head of consumer banking, will take over the data and analytics teams as well as marketing. Don McCree, who is senior vice chair and the head of Citizens' commercial banking, will oversee the enterprise payments work.

Johnson, 53, is leaving to spend more time serving on boards, advising companies and "digging in" on emerging areas in technology, such as artificial intelligence, she said in an interview on Friday. She currently serves on the board of Invesco, an independent investment management firm based in Atlanta. She also sits on the boards of the Mass Fintech Hub and The Home of Little Wanderers, a Boston-based nonprofit child and family service agency in Massachusetts.

The native of Akron, Ohio, joined Citizens in 2013 as head of strategy, the first senior-level hire that Van Saun made as CEO. At the time, the company was trying to spin itself off from its former overseas parent company through an initial public offering, at a time when IPO activities were muted.

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Formerly a partner at Bain & Co., Johnson joined Citizens' executive management team and was a central force in its strategy to home in on customer experience as a way to drive growth.

Eventually, as her role evolved, Van Saun let her choose her own title, she said in an interview in August. She said she always believed that "the way to win in banking is to build primacy" in customer relationships.

"'What do you want to be called?' Bruce asked me," Johnson said. "The reason we ended up with 'chief experience officer' is because of my belief around customer experience."

In recent years, she has helped Citizens expand into the New York metropolitan region following the acquisition of Investors Bancorp in New Jersey and the deal to buy HSBC Bank's metro New York branch franchise.

On Friday, Johnson said her plan to exit Citizens and focus elsewhere has been in the works for about six months, aiming to develop a "really sound transition … to ensure success."

"I'm excited to do other things in my career," she said. "My plan is to have a portfolio of things to keep me interested and learning and having fun over this next phase."