March 20 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada's ( RY )

chief administrative and strategy officer, Christoph Knoess,

will be leaving the country's largest bank after a four-year

stint there, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Legal chief Maria Douvas, who joined the firm in 2021, will

take on the additional role of chief administrative and strategy

officer, the memo said.

Knoess, a former McKinsey consultant, joined the Canadian

lender in 2019 and oversaw the bank's key initiatives including

cost reduction at its California-based unit, City National.

However, City National has been facing several financial

headwinds of late, leading it to cut jobs and make management

changes.

RBC has seen high-profile departures in recent months. Last

year, Jacqui Allard, who was leading the bank's mortgage,

unsecured lending and automotive businesses in addition to the

its Caribbean banking and U.S. cross-border banking business,

left the lender to join peer Bank of Nova Scotia ( BNS ).

RBC is also set to close its C$13.5 billion ($9.96 billion)

purchase of HSBC's ( HSBC ) Canada unit this month. The deal is

touted to further tighten the country's top lender's grip on the

market.

($1 = 1.3557 Canadian dollars)