The McLaren Group has confirmed the appointment of Zak Brown as executive director, following the departure Ron Dennis.

The 45-year-old American will take up the position with the Formula One team in December. Dennis, the founder, chief executive and chairman of the company, has been placed on gardening leave by the board until the expiration of his contract in January.

Brown is renowned as a commercial expert within motorsport and has considerable chops in that regard, having founded Just Marketing International (JMI), a marketing agency which had previously secured a number of high-profile sponsorships for McLaren, among other Formula One teams. His most recent role was as group chief business development officer at CSM Sport & Entertainment, which acquired JMI in 2013. Brown stepped down from that position in September 2016.

"I'm immensely proud to be joining McLaren Technology Group," Brown said in a statement on his appointment. "I have the utmost respect and admiration for what the business has achieved to date, and I look forward to contributing to the next important phase in its development.

"Having worked closely with McLaren for many years, I've been struck by the talent and ambition of the entire workforce, and I very much look forward to complementing the business' many existing strengths, and building on them to drive future success."

Brown had previously been linked with the chief executive role at Formula One Management (FOM) in the aftermath of Liberty's takeover of the sport, with whom he is believed to have rejected a "senior position."

McLaren, one of Formula One's most decorated teams, have endured a difficult period in recent years, and currently sit sixth in this year's constructors' championship with one race remaining.