ST KILDA has poached Jessie Mulholland from Melbourne to be its new general manager of AFLW, with the club restructuring a large portion of its women's football department across the off-season.

The highly respected Mulholland joins from the Demons, where she was the head of AFLW, and replaces Tessie McManus in charge of the Saints' football program after she departed the club in December.

Mulholland joins St Kilda after four seasons leading Melbourne's successful AFLW program, enjoying an historic period where the club claimed the 2022 (season seven) premiership.

The arrival of Mulholland comes amid a series of changes to St Kilda's AFLW department, with the club's list and recruiting manager Anthony Tang also leaving his post in recent weeks.

It will mean two women's programs are searching for new AFLW list bosses, with Essendon's list manager Georgia Harvey also moving to a new role at the Bombers last month.

But the Saints will welcome back the recently retired Steph Chiocci as their new player development manager, just months after she called time on her 61-game career in the midst of her recovery from a severe ACL injury.

Chiocci was Collingwood's inaugural AFLW captain, where she played 55 games, crossing to St Kilda in 2023 and adding six more appearances under her belt before rupturing her ACL in October 2023.

St Kilda has also added to its coaching team behind boss Nick Dal Santo, hiring Chris Gamble from Collingwood and Matt Skubis from the Western Bulldogs as new assistants.

They will replace previous assistants Dale Robinson and David Carmden, who have both departed the club, while Alex Davila has been promoted to be the club's new AFLW high performance manager.

The Saints finished 11th on the ladder last season with a 4-7 record, extending their finals drought to six seasons, but ensured stability at the helm by signing Dal Santo to a contract for a further two years through to 2026 at season's end.