Despite leaving early -- his contract with the Warriors expires at the end of 2012 -- Cleary said his focus remained on ensuring the Warriors finished the season as strongly as possible.
With nine games in the regular season remaining, the Warriors lie ninth on the table, on the same points as the 10th-placed Panthers who have a game in hand.
"My total focus will be on working together with the staff and players to ensure the Warriors are the best they can be for the rest of this season," Cleary said.
"I won't be talking about anything beyond the 2011 season."
After weeks of speculation, Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah made the announcement at a Mt Smart press conference this morning.
Panthers coach Matthew Elliott and assistant Wayne Collins were last week told their contracts would not be renewed. Steve Georgallis has taken over in a caretaker role for the remainder of the season.
Scurrah said discussions on Cleary's future had followed an approach by Penrith's general manager of football Phil Gould.
"At that point, both Ivan and the club confirmed a commitment to see out the full term of his contract to the end of the 2012 season."
But further discussions on extending Cleary's contract had shown his long-term future was more secure with the Panthers.
"While we were discussing the potential to extend Ivan's contract over the last week, it became apparent that Ivan had a chance to secure his long-term coaching career with Penrith immediately," Scurrah said.
"We were not in a position at the moment to guarantee a similar term."
Scurrah said it became clear that it wouldn't have been in anyone's interests for Cleary to fulfil the last year of his contract with the Warriors when he had an immediate opportunity offering him significant security elsewhere.
"We're excited for Ivan that he has this opportunity at this stage of his career and we're grateful to him for the fantastic contribution he has made to the Warriors."
Cleary joined the Warriors in 2005, initially as Tony Kemp's assistant, then as head coach since 2006. He is the club's longest serving coach.
Scurrah paid tribute to Cleary's work over the years, particularly for the manner in which he had coped with a wide range of challenges when he came into the role as a rookie NRL coach.
"He began at a time when the club was in real difficulty with issues surrounding on-field results, the salary cap, finances, player recruitment, our development programme and our reputation in the community," Scurrah said.
"As a club we're in a really strong position now and so much of that is due to the work Ivan has done in helping us to grow and develop through the challenging times when he first came into the job."
Cleary scored 439 points in 53 matches for the Warriors between 2000-2002, finishing his playing career with the 2002 grand final against the Sydney Roosters.
