Aberdeen have promoted director of football operations Steven Gunn to the new role of director of football.
Gunn, who has been with the Dons for more than 20 years, will take charge of all football functions at the club including first team, academy, women’s team, recruitment, medical and sport science, performance, support operations, legal and compliance.
Dons chairman Dave Cormack said: “I’m very pleased to announce Steven Gunn as our new director of football.
“This is a critical role for the club when you think about the sheer quantity of people involved within the football business unit, and Steven will be responsible for all aspects of that.
“It’s all encompassing, we take our duty of care to our people seriously and that will be a crucial element in our director of football remit.”
Following a review of the club’s football operation the Dons have also begun the search for a new head of recruitment following the departure of Russ Richardson, who was brought to the club by former Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes.
Cormack said: “Russ has moved on and we thank him for everything he has done for the club. An important task for Steven now is to fill the head of recruitment role.
In this modern age the use of technology, having a global outlook at player recruitment and taking advantage of collaborations, such as our strategic partnership with Atlanta United, will be fundamental.
“Steven is an outstanding asset to the club, and he will be dedicated to ensuring we have the correct infrastructure in place to achieve our ambitions on the pitch.”
Gunn has pledged to do all he can to support new manager Stephen Glass and his coaching team in delivering success for the club.
The new director of football said: “We’ve been clear in outlining our football strategy and my role will be to ensure we are all custodians of that strategy.
“We’re fortunate to have a hugely dedicated staff here and we all crave success. We’re looking forward to next season and my role is to ensure we have the structure and resources in place to help meet the ambitions of Stephen Glass and his staff.
“A number of areas are critical in terms of what we want to achieve on the pitch. We want to be competitive, build a value in the squad that we can reinvest, and continue to develop young talent.
“The youth academy will be critical to our success going forward. We need a core of homegrown talent in our team.
“That is something which Stephen has fully bought in to, it was an important part of the recruitment process when searching for our new manager and it’s something I will be looking to make sure we have going forward.”