Citizens Financial Group Inc. yesterday appointed JPMorgan Chase & Co. veteran Donald H. McCree as vice chairman and head of commercial banking, effective Sept. 1.

McCree will serve on the company’s executive Committee and report to Chairman and CEO Bruce Van Saun. McCree succeeds Robert Matthews, who passed away unexpectedly in December 2014.

“I am delighted to have someone of Don’s stature and caliber join the Citizens management team to lead Citizens Commercial Banking through its next growth phase,” Van Saun said in a statement. “Robert, Bob and Steve have done a terrific job of putting an excellent foundation in place, and I am confident that Don can help take us take it to the next level. Our success as a company rests on our ability to attract great people, and the hiring of Don for this role following our recent hiring of Eric Aboaf as CFO demonstrates our capacity to do that.”

McCree comes to Citizens having held several senior leadership positions over the course of 31 years at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its predecessor companies. He has extensive experience in commercial banking gained through positions at JPMorgan including head of corporate banking and CEO of global treasury services, head of global credit markets and North American co-head of fixed income. He retired from JPMorgan in mid-2014.

“I am very pleased to join Bruce and the leadership team at Citizens as they work towards building a top-performing regional bank. It is a great platform, and I am excited by this opportunity to drive the business forward,” McCree said in a statement.