Bristol City have appointed former Arsenal technical director James Ellis as sporting director, a move that takes effect ahead of the 2026-27 season and gives the club a key figure in place as it searches for a new head coach.

Chief executive Charlie Boss said Ellis has already started work behind the scenes, advising on candidates for the coaching job and helping shape the club’s plans for the transfer window. Boss said the 2026-27 campaign will be the point at which Ellis formally oversees coaching, recruitment, performance, medical work and the academy.

Ellis left Arsenal in February after seven months as technical director. Before that, he was the club’s head of recruitment after joining from Fulham in 2021. During five years at Arsenal, he was credited with helping put in place much of the recruitment structure the club still uses.

Bristol City have been searching for a sporting director as part of a wider restructuring under Boss, who said on arrival that the role was needed to help prepare the club to reach the Premier League. Ellis’s appointment is another major step in that overhaul, and it comes while the club is still working through the next stage of its coaching reset.

Roy Hodgson had been serving as interim coach after Gerhard Struber left in March, and Boss thanked him for guiding the side through the final seven games. Boss said Hodgson had met the standards the club wanted and that staff had learned a great deal from him during his spell at the Robins High Performance Centre.

Ellis said his focus on high performance was rooted in people as much as process. He said investment in people was important, and that while technology, data and facilities matter, it is the connections, relationships, support, understanding, care and motivation that cannot be replaced.

The immediate task is clear. Bristol City need a head coach, and Ellis is already involved in finding one before turning fully to the wider rebuild when the 2026-27 season begins. For Boss, the hire is another sign that the club’s leadership wants the structure in place before it asks for results on the pitch.