McDermott + Bull has successfully placed Natalia Coen as Executive Vice President, Chief Risk Officer at Bank of the Sierra. Natalia will provide collaborative leadership throughout the organization to ensure risk programs are effective and efficient in identifying, preventing, and correcting noncompliance and risk matters. 

Natalia brings nearly 20 years of risk and compliance leadership experience in the banking industry. She joins Bank of the Sierra from Gateway First Bank, where she served as Risk and Compliance Officer. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President, Director of Compliance for CoBiz Financial. Natalia graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Texas, Austin and a master’s degree in international economic policy studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Monterey.  

Bank of the Sierra is a community-centric regional bank, which offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking services through full-service branches located within the counties of Tulare, Kern, Kings, Fresno, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara. The bank also maintains an online branch and provides specialized lending services through agricultural credit centers in Templeton and a loan production office in Roseville, California. Bank of the Sierra was recognized as one of the strongest and top-performing community banks in the country, with a 5-star rating from Bauer Financial.

This executive search was completed by McDermott + Bull President Brandon Biegenzahn, Managing Director Courtney Dorrel, Senior Executive Recruiter Rachel Loye, and Director of Research Josh Nichols