Robbie Keane has been confirmed as the assistant manager to Jonathan Woodgate at Middlesbrough.
The Dubliner will continue to work under Mick McCarthy on Ireland's backroom team while at the Championship club.
Former England defender Woodgate will take the hot seat at his home-town club after the departure of Tony Pulis.
Woodgate and Keane played together at Leeds and Tottenham and will now join forces in Yorkshire.
Keane, 38, said it was another stepping stone in his managerial ambitions and stressed that it won't affect his role in the Irish national team.
He said: “This is a great opportunity for me on my pathway to a manager’s job in the future and I am very excited about it.
“I am also grateful to the FAI and to Mick McCarthy for allowing me to take this role and to continue with Ireland.
"I made it very clear to everyone at Middlesbrough that I would not be coming here if I had to give up my Ireland role and they are happy to agree.
"Ireland means everything to me as it always has done and I look forward now to helping the team in our bid to make the Euro finals and those games in Dublin.”
Roy Keane took a role in the Aston Villa backroom team while assistant manager to Martin O'Neill.
And Ireland boss McCarthy said their record goalscorer's move to Middlesbrough is a good thing for everyone involved.
“I am thrilled for Robbie as he takes the next step in his path to becoming a top manager,” said McCarthy.
“He told me about it the minute he was offered the job and I told him that it was only a runner if he continued with Ireland.
“We are building for the future with this Ireland team and Robbie is a key part of that.
"He has made a big impression on the players and the staff already as my assistant coach and this new role will only improve him which works for Middlesbrough and, most importantly, for Ireland.”
Keane and Woodgate's challenge is to end Boro's exile from the Premier League after they missed out on promotion for the second successive season following their return to the Sky Bet Championship at the end of the 2016-17 campaign, the club's only Premier League season since 2008-09.
Chairman Steve Gibson took his time in identifying the right man for the job, but ultimately opted - not for the first time - to appoint a young, ambitious coach.
Woodgate made a total 112 appearances for Boro in two spells in a glittering career, albeit one plagued by injury, which also included spells at first club Leeds, Newcastle, Real Madrid and Stoke, as well as eight England caps.
Following his retirement in 2016, Woodgate took up a scouting role with Liverpool in Spain, but returned to Teesside in March 2017 to work under interim manager Steve Agnew.
He later took on a role with the club's Under-18s before being elevated to the first-team ranks once again.
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