WARWICK, R.I. (AP) – Citizens Bank will add 525 jobs in Rhode Island during the next 16 months, as part of a $40 million expansion of the bank’s operations, company officials announced Wednesday.

The jobs’ addition makes Citizens the fourth-largest private employer in Rhode Island and the largest employer in financial services in the state, according to bank executives. The average salary range for the new positions is between $30,000 and $70,000 annually.

Citizens said its investment will come through renovation and expansion projects at various facilities statewide.

The money goes to expand operations facilities in Warwick, East Providence and Smithfield, and to upgrade the call center in Cranston. The work is expected to last through March 2006.

Citizens received an exemption from the state sales tax on capital purchases and construction materials for these expansion projects, which have resulted, the company said, in indirect jobs that include a construction payroll of about $5.5 million.

The bank’s parent company is Citizens Financial Group, Inc., which is a $131 billion commercial bank holding company. The Providence-based company has about 24,000 employees in 13 states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, according to its Web site. Citizens Financial is owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc.

In August, Citizens acquired Charter One Financial Inc., for $10.5 billion. The takeover made Citizens the 12th largest bank in the United States, according to company executives. Joseph MarcAurele, bank president and chief executive officer, cited the Charter One deal as a reason for the banks’ addition of jobs.

AP-ES-12-01-04 2054EST