Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida hired Austen Carroll as executive vice president and chief lending officer. In his newly-created role, Carroll will lead the commercial banking division at Seacoast. Additionally, the company promoted Julie Kleffel, the company’s current community banking executive and Central Florida market president, to chief banking officer.

“Austen is a well-known and highly-regarded banker in the Southeast. He has demonstrated tremendous success in his prior roles and will help accelerate the progression of our commercial banking business. We see great opportunity ahead and are thrilled to bring on board a leader with Austen’s talent and experience,” Chuck Shaffer, president and chief operating officer of Seacoast, said. “Julie has been a key driver of Seacoast’s balanced growth strategy, delivering growth in new client acquisition, and enhancing client satisfaction in multiple areas across the enterprise. We are excited to expand her leadership role within the organization.”

Before joining Seacoast, Carroll served as chief banking officer for Ameris Bank, where he led commercial banking in the Southeast and was based in Jacksonville, FL. He has almost 20 years of total banking industry experience.

Kleffel joined the company following Seacoast’s merger with BankFirst in 2014. She has held numerous roles for Seacoast, including leading small business banking, retail banking and, most recently, serving as community banking executive and Central Florida market president.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is a community bank headquartered in Florida, with approximately $7.4 billion in assets and $5.9 billion in deposits as of March 31, 2020.