It is the latest change in the organisation following the departure of head coach Jürgen Grobler in August 2020 after 29 years in charge and the departure of chief executive Andy Parkinson in September 2021.

Parkinson's departure came shortly after a disappointing Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where the country failed to win an Olympic rowing gold for the first time since Moscow 1980.

Director of performance Brendan Purcell has also left British Rowing since Tokyo 2020, where Stannard was one of four "lead Olympic coaches".

Stannard has worked with British Rowing for 18 years and since 2013 has led the men's sculling team, including at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

At Tokyo 2020, the men's quadruple sculls team of Harry Leask, Angus Groom, Tom Barras and Jack Beaumont won Britain's first Olympic medal in that boat class, placing second.

Stannard's first role with British Rowing was as a world-class start coach, in which he set up a talent-identification programme in Bath.

"In my interview for my first world-class start role back in 2003 I stated that my main motivation for the job was to help British athletes win medals on the world stage," said Stannard.

"The quad's silver medal in Tokyo was fantastic and I look forward to working with the coaches and support staff to help our talented athletes continue to win medals for Britain and themselves in the years to come."

Stannard was named Performance Development Coach of 2012 at the Sportcoach UK Coaching Awards and recognised with the Nick Broad Award for Emerging Talent for the world-class start programme.

"I am absolutely delighted to see Paul step up into the new head coach role, he beat a strong field of internal and external candidates," added director of performance Louise Kingsley.

"Paul's leadership of a programme has grown significantly in the past 12 months while he has been interim lead coach for men's sculling. 

"I am excited to see him work with the wider squad to deliver world class performances, evolve a contemporary performance culture and stay actively connected to the pathway."

British Rowing chair Mark Davies, Kingsley, UK Sport's Catriona Semple, British Paralympic chief coach Tom Dyson, Olympic champion Constantine Louloudis, Olympic silver medallist Victoria Thornley and British Rowing chief medical officer Ann Redgrave were part of the interview panel.

Recruitment for the women's Olympic head coach is ongoing.

Grobler joined the French Rowing Federation as an executive high-performance consultant in October, in advance of the home Paris 2024 Olympics.

Alastair Marks was named interim chief executive of British Rowing in November.