ST KILDA has settled on its new list manager with former Adelaide Crow and commercial banker James Gallagher set to take on the crucial role.

The Saints have been on the hunt for a new list boss since Tony Elshaug stepped down from the role in June following the club's extremely disappointing start to the 2018 season.

AFL.com.au has confirmed St Kilda has identified Gallagher as the man to lead its list management team, with his appointment expected to be announced on Thursday. 

Gallagher played 38 games for Adelaide between 2000-04 and 228 games for Norwood, where he was captain between 2007-11 and won two best and fairest awards and a premiership.

The 38-year-old is now a senior assistant coach at De La Salle Old Collegians, but the Saints were also attracted by his extensive commercial experience outside of football. 

Gallagher has worked for Macquarie Business Bank for the past eight years, where he is currently Head of Professionals Bank Victoria. He previously worked at Westpac for four years as commercial banking manager.

St Kilda CEO Matt Finnis detailed the qualities the club was looking for in its new list manager when he spoke to AFL.com.au last week.

"This role comes in to head up recruiting and list management, and really focused on the strategy, the modelling, the contracting, TPP management, all of those elements," Finnis said 

Gallagher will work closely with the Saints' national recruiting manager Chris Liberatore, who was promoted to the role of in March. 

St Kilda will also seek to bolster the analytics section of its recruiting department. 

The Saints entered this season with high hopes of returning to the finals after a seven-year absence.

But the foundations of the long and patient list rebuild they have been working on since the end of Ross Lyon's coaching era in 2011 have appeared shaky this year.

The Saints have identified their midfield as one area that needs an injection of class, with Andrew Gaff and Jared Polec among those rival stars on their radar.

Gallagher's cousin and namesake James works in legal for the AFLPA.