Permanent TSB executive Niall O’Grady has announced his intention to leave the State-controlled bank after 17 years with the business.

Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Mr O'Grady, who is the director of PTSB's product management unit, said he will stay until early next year to complete some projects for the bank before leaving to pursue other career opportunities.

“Now feels like a logical time to move on to another opportunity because the organisation is back in profit for the first time in a long time, the IPO has been done, and the ship has been steadied,” he said.

“The place is getting a bit of mojo back. When I joined, I expected I’d stay for three to five years. I only stayed 17 years because of the phenomenally different challenges over the period. It feels like the right time to move to other opportunities.”

He declined to comment on his next move but said it “may be” in financial services. “I’m agnostic on the industry, it’s really the challenge that I’m looking for.”

Mr O’Grady (51) has held a number of different roles in his time with PTSB, including as marketing director, as head of intermediaries and the call centre, while he also had responsibility for digital and public relations.

Brussels

He had previously worked for the European Commission in Brussels and also held roles with Procter & Gamble and with Irish drinks group C&C.

Mr O'Grady joined the bank just as Irish Permanent was being acquired by Irish Life in 1999 and has experienced the many highs and lows of the group since then. It acquired TSB bank in 2002 and expanded to become the biggest mortgage lender in the State as part of the listed Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P) group.

It was nationalised in 2011 as part of the State’s €4 billion bailout of IL&P with the bank later separated from Irish Life.

PTSB regained a main stock market listing in 2015 with an IPO of 25 per cent of its shares and returned to profit in the first half of this year.