Executive Search Success Story: Building the Digital Banking, Risk, and Finance Leadership Team for a Regional Bank Modernizing Against Fintech Competition

How JRG Partners executed a confidential, multi-role North American executive search strategy that equipped a publicly traded regional bank with the digital banking, chief risk, finance, and lending leadership required to modernize its customer experience, strengthen risk and regulatory standing, and compete for commercial and consumer relationships against fintech and national bank competitors.

The Challenge

A publicly traded regional bank had a strong deposit franchise and community reputation but was losing younger customers and commercial relationships to fintech platforms and national banks with superior digital experiences. Its digital banking lagged peers, a recent regulatory examination had elevated risk management concerns, and three executive retirements were approaching simultaneously. The board recognized the bank needed a new generation of leadership to modernize while satisfying regulators. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the bank:

• Digital banking capabilities and customer experience trailing fintech and national bank competitors
• Regulatory examination findings elevating enterprise risk management and compliance concerns
• Three simultaneous executive retirements across finance, risk, and commercial banking
• Commercial relationship attrition to competitors with stronger treasury and digital offerings
• A core banking technology platform limiting modernization
• Investor and regulator expectations for a credible, leadership-backed modernization and risk plan

Recognizing that modernization and succession had to be addressed together, the CEO and board engaged JRG Partners to recruit a Chief Digital & Customer Experience Officer, Chief Risk Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Head of Commercial Banking, and Chief Information Officer. The bank required an executive search partner with deep financial services expertise, regulatory sensitivity, and access to leaders from both traditional banking and fintech.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Financial Services and Fintech Industry Focus

JRG Partners possesses deep recruiting expertise across regional and national banks, fintech companies, payments, lending, and wealth management organizations, including digital, risk, finance, commercial, and technology leadership. This domain knowledge ensured an immediate understanding of regulatory expectations, digital banking competition, and the leadership profiles that bridge traditional banking and fintech.

Regulated-Industry Succession Experience

Our team has extensive experience managing multi-role executive succession in regulated financial institutions, sequencing placements around regulatory priorities and board governance.

Public Company Experience

JRG Partners has extensive experience serving publicly traded financial institutions, with a clear understanding of investor expectations, regulatory relations, and the disclosure considerations surrounding executive transitions.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Succession & Modernization Review

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, board, and retiring executives to review examination findings, digital competitive position, succession timing, and modernization priorities. This review sequenced the search to place risk and finance leadership first in response to regulatory priorities.

Phase 2 — Industry Talent Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting digital, risk, finance, commercial, and technology executives at regional and national banks and fintech companies. Over 460 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of modernizing digital banking, remediating regulatory findings and strengthening risk management, leading bank finance through transformation, growing commercial relationships, and modernizing core banking technology. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Final Selection

Finalists completed comprehensive leadership assessments, participated in structured interviews with the CEO, board committees, and retiring executives, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified modernization, risk, and growth outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 460+ banking and fintech executive profiles mapped across North America.
• Successfully placed a synchronized executive tier spanning digital, risk, finance, commercial banking, and technology.
• Remediated regulatory examination findings and restored regulatory standing within twelve months.
• Launched a new digital banking platform and reversed younger customer attrition.
• Returned commercial deposits and loans to growth.
• Improved analyst sentiment and valuation relative to regional bank peers.