Jitesh Sodha will take up his new role at the security printer on 10 August. He joins from £15.7bn turnover fuel distribution and management business Greenergy International, where he held the same position.

De La Rue chief executive Martin Sutherland has implemented a new board structure at the £472m group since his arrival last November, involving a number of 'chief officer' roles replacing the old group director nomenclature.

Sodha’s prior jobs include chief financial officer at T-Mobile International UK and he was also vice-president of international consumer marketing at T-Mobile.

Chairman Philip Rogerson said his “wide-ranging financial and commercial experience” would be an asset to the group.

During his five years at the business Child acted as De La Rue’s ‘man Friday’ during a time of turmoil at the top of the company, twice stepping up as interim chief operating officer. In January he announced that he would step down this summer, and he will officially stand down at De La Rue’s AGM on 23 July.

Separately, De La Rue has announced a global collaboration with Japanese print giant Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) for anti-counterfeiting solutions related to secure identity documents.

The partnership will involve a combination of De La Rue’s security and design expertise with DNP’s “highly-functional anti-counterfeit technologies”.