The 44-year-old has been appointed to the newly created position of manager, performance and talent.
Forde has had several roles with Otago cricket since retiring.
He has been a selector in the past and last season was Nathan King's assistant coach.
King resigned in April following a performance review.
Forde could not be contacted for comment yesterday but in a press release said he could not wait to get started.
"I'm very proud to have been appointed to this role and to now play a part in the future of Otago Cricket,'' he said.
"The work already being carried out at Otago Cricket and New Zealand Cricket is exciting and I really can't wait to play a key leadership role in forging our performance and talent environment.''
Forde played 10 first-class games and 20 one-dayers for the province from 1998 to 2001.
A right-arm off-break bowler, he picked up four first-class wickets but was more effective in limited-overs cricket, grabbing 20 wickets at an average of 31.55.
The panel which appointed Forde included Otago Cricket Association and New Zealand Cricket representatives who felt Forde's local knowledge and passion for the province made him the ideal candidate.
Otago Cricket Association chief executive Mike Coggan said NZC had been instrumental in the process.
"NZC have much broader expectations on how we structure and deliver an optimal performance environment,'' Coggan said.
"Simon has fantastic all-round skills and bleeds blue and gold. Simon's first task will be to work alongside NZC and draft our high performance plan.
"We have set a specific strategic direction for the next five years and, with the right level of resourcing, our future is really buoyant.''
Forde will report to Coggan but have a close association with the coach of the Volts and Sparks.
OCA is yet to appoint a replacement for King but is understood to have conducted some interviews last week.
Forde's role will involve putting together campaign and performance plans and providing support for player development.
A key aspect of the job will be to review the talent programme.
"By that I mean we need to have a greater quantity of genuinely capable young cricketers who can be benchmarked against the best in New Zealand and who have the potential to represent New Zealand in future years,'' Coggan said.
Forde will start in the role on July 18.
