Bordeaux have handed Ricardo a second stint in charge as the Brazilian steps in to replace Gus Poyet at the French club.
Poyet was sacked as first-team coach last month following a public rant aimed at club officials who sold striker Gaetan Laborde without his consent, according to the former Chelsea and Tottenham midfielder.
After Thierry Henry reportedly dropped out of the running, Ricardo, who negotiated a release from his role as sporting director of Brazilian club Santos earlier this week, quickly became the favourite to step in at the Ligue 1 club, whom he took charge of for the first time in 2005.
Bordeaux confirmed the 53-year-old will be known as their "General Manager" as he does not possess the necessary coaching badges to be officially appointed the first-team coach.
That role will still be held by Eric Bedouet, the Bordeaux fitness coach who had initially stepped in on an interim basis following Poyet's dismissal.
Ricardo, who won the Portuguese and French titles while playing for Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain, began his coaching career at PSG in 1996 and then guided Bordeaux to a runners-up finish in Ligue 1 in the 2005-06 season.
Bordeaux also won the Coupe de la Ligue the following season under Ricardo before he left for an ill-starred spell at Monaco.
After recovering from a stroke that occurred during a Brazilian championship game while in charge of Vasco da Gama in August 2011, he returned to the dugout in 2015 as boss of Botafogo and then Sao Paulo in his native country before a short spell in Saudi Arabia.