Derek Llambias has been appointed chief executive officer of Rangers.
Llambias joined the club's board as a non-executive member on November 2, having previously been managing director at Newcastle under Mike Ashley, who has a 8.9 per cent share in the Ibrox club.
David Somers will revert to his previous role as non-executive Chairman.
Somers said: "I am delighted that Derek has agreed to step up to the Chief Executive role.
"This is a successful outcome to the process, announced on 27 October 2014, which involved interviewing a number of high calibre candidates.
"Derek has impressed us with his grasp of the issues since joining the group and brings a wealth of experience, particularly from his time at Newcastle United, which we feel confident will be invaluable to Rangers."
But the 57-year-old's appointment could yet set Rangers on a collision course with the Scottish Football Association.
Hampden chiefs are ready to punish Ashley and the club over the billionaire Newcastle United owner's Ibrox involvement and have issued both with notices of complaints relating to "dual ownership".
Ashley was one of the original investors in the initial public offering when Rangers was floated on the AIM Market - a sub-market on the London Stock Exchange - at the end of 2012.
But Ashley had already promised the SFA that he would not own more than 10 per cent of Rangers as part of an agreement designed to limit his influence at Ibrox while he remains in control at St James' Park.
Although his current stake in the club stands below that limit, Ashley also runs Rangers' retail division and has recently handed the club a £3million loan.
But the Sports Direct tycoon's behind-the-scenes influence has continued now that his right-hand man Llambias has added the chief exec's role to the directorship he was given last month.
Another of Ashley's associates, Barry Leach, has also been hired as a consultant.
Both Rangers and Ashley will face a principal hearing on Tuesday, January 27, next year - with the appointment of Llambias expected to form a major part of the SFA's case.
If found guilty, Rangers could face a range of punishments that include a censure, fine, being thrown out of the the Scottish Cup, a transfer ban or even having their membership of the SFA terminated.
Ashley, meanwhile, risks a £10,000 fine if he fails to have the charges dropped.
Llambias is the fourth man to have held the chief exec role at Ibrox since the club's liquidation crisis and follows Charles Green, Craig Mather and Graham Wallace.
He has already been representing the club in negotiations with departing boss Ally McCoist this week. The club's record scorer has triggered a 12-month notice period but although it is understood the club want him to go now, no deal could be reached after he met Llambias for a 40-minute showdown on Wednesday.
Llambias' first official duties will be to address disgruntled shareholders at Monday's annual general meeting at Ibrox.
Rangers announced his new title in a 7am statement to the London Stock Exchange and also confirmed that Llambias' pay would be much lower than the package enjoyed by any of his predecessors.
The club's statement said: "In line with the cost cutting exercise announced on 12 November 2014, Mr Llambias's remuneration will be significantly lower than previously offered for this position."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article