The president and chief executive officer of the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank will leave early next month to take a job in New Hampshire, bank leaders have confirmed.

Paul Falvey will become president and CEO at the Bank of New Hampshire.

Speaking briefly to the Gazette Monday, savings bank board chairman Frank Fenner said Mr. Falvey informed the board late last Thursday that he had taken a new job. Statements went out to bank employees on Friday from both the bank board and Mr. Falvey.

Mr. Fenner said the news came as a surprise. “Out of the blue,” he said, also noting that a board meeting is planned for Tuesday to discuss the next steps, which he said will include a search for a new CEO.

Mr. Falvey is expected to leave in January. He took the helm at the savings bank in October 2012 following the departure of bank president Chris Wells, during a time of internal upheaval at the Island’s largest community bank.

He is formerly a resident of Hingham and past president and chief executive officer at the Holbrook Cooperative Bank on the south shore.

Speaking to the Gazette by phone on Monday, he said he was recruited for his new position. He called it a career opportunity, noting it is the largest and oldest mutual bank in New Hampshire. “It was, I guess, humbling when people reached out to me,” he said. He continued: “I love the community-based model and it’s similar to this bank in its commitment and dedication. It’s a much larger organization . . . . these opportunities don’t come around very often.”

Mr. Falvey also praised the Vineyard bank, noting that it was recently ranked 12 out of 133 banks in Massachusetts for its earnings, and he credited his management team for the work accomplished during the past four years. “From almost any measure, I’m very, very pleased about what this team here has accomplished,” he said.

The Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank has assets of about $752 million and nine locations, according to the FDIC. The Bank of New Hampshire has assets of $1.4 billion and 24 locations, according to the FDIC.

The news of Mr. Falvey’s departure comes during a time of change in the Vineyard banking community. Edgartown National Bank announced in October that it will merge with Rockland Trust Company, a large south shore community bank that has been expanding. The merger has been approved by boards at both banks and is expected to be complete by May 2017, pending regulatory approvals. The transaction is valued at about $24.5 million.

Last spring Cape Cod Five Cents, an independent Orleans community bank, opened a full-service branch in Vineyard Haven. The branch is headed by Richard Leonard, former chief operating officer at the savings bank and before that president of the Martha’s Vineyard Cooperative bank. The savings bank and cooperative banks merged in 2007.

Mr. Falvey said despite all the changes, he expects the savings bank will remain competitive, in part due to a robust Island housing market and loyal customer base.

“The bank is sound and well positioned for the future,” he said in his own statement to employees.