Former North Melbourne mentor Scott appeared among the leading contenders to succeed David Teague at Carlton but has instead been appointed the AFL's general manager of football.

Scott will report to Andrew Dillon and work alongside Laura Kane, who has joined the AFL from the Kangaroos as the league's general manager of competition management.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said Scott had made it clear his future lay at league headquarters, rather than in the coaches' box.

"What I was really clear in the conversations and which I know went through his mind is 'If he wants to coach, he should coach'," McLachlan told reporters on Friday.

"He's made a decision that this is the pathway he wants to go down."

Dillon had been the AFL's interim football department boss since Steve Hocking's departed in July, ahead of his move to Geelong as their next chief executive.

He will now take on the role permanently, adding football operations to his other portfolios - legal and integrity - while he will no longer run game development.

Scott most recently worked as the head of AFL Victoria after a decade as coach of North Melbourne, who he led to two preliminary finals across 211 games between 2010 and 2019.

His new portfolio at the AFL includes umpiring, talent pathways, game analysis and list management, the match review officer, tribunal and review system, the competition committee and player education.

Kane will be responsible for football operations and competition management for all AFL-run competitions, including AFL, AFLW, VFL and VFLW, along with COVID-19 management and football projects.

She was North Melbourne's general manager of strategy and football operations and was previously the Kangaroos' head of football operations.

Kane is a member of the AFL competition committee and has also been part of the AFLW competition committee.

Australian Associated Press