BUFFALO — First Niagara Financial Group (NASDAQ: FNFG) today announced changes to the banking company’s executive leadership team, including the elimination of one position, a search to fill another post, and two promotions.

The Buffalo–based banking company, which is the parent of First Niagara Bank, has promoted Inder Koul to executive vice president and chief information officer (CIO), First Niagara said in a news release.

First Niagara, which ranks third in deposit market share in the Syracuse market, also promoted Julie Signorille to executive vice president and managing director of operations.

And, First Niagara also announced the elimination of the chief banking officer position. The person serving in that role, Daniel Cantara, III, will leave the banking company no later than Feb. 28, First Niagara said. 

The company has also launched a search for an executive vice president of commercial financial services, the news release stated.

First Niagara promoted Koul, who joined the company in November 2012 from Columbus, Ohio–based Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN), where he served in the roles of CIO for that bank’s commercial, auto-finance and corporate-services groups, and as director of enterprise project-management office, according to First Niagara.

Signorille joined First Niagara in May 2010 as senior vice president and managing director-operations. She has enterprise-wide leadership responsibility for banking and card operations, consumer-loan operations, facilities, strategic sourcing and business- performance management.

Signorille previously served as vice president of U.S. operations for Symcor, a Mississauga, Ont.–based  operations outsourcer to the financial-services industry, First Niagara said.

In addition to Koul and Signorille, four company officials who have been serving on the executive-leadership team will continue in their respective roles.

They include Gregory Norwood, senior executive vice president and CFO; Richard Barry, executive vice president and chief risk officer; Andrew Fornarola, executive vice president, consumer-finance group; and Mark Rendulic, executive vice president of retail banking.

Each member of the company’s executive-management team and will report directly to Gary Crosby, the banking company’s president and CEO.

Crosby calls it a “talented” leadership team.

“Each one of these leaders has a proven track record of success and a deep knowledge of our business, customers and industry,” he added in the release.

First Niagara, through its wholly owned subsidiary, First Niagara Bank, N.A., operates about 420 branches, and has $37 billion in assets, $27 billion in deposits, and about 6,000 employees providing financial services in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts, the company said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com