Ex-Caterham technical director Mark Smith is due to join Sauber on July 13.
Smith has worked for Jordan, Red Bull, Force India and Caterham in his 10-year F1 career and will join Sauber as its first technical director since 2012 when James Key left for Toro Rosso. He will take responsibility for the overlapping tasks of the heads of car performance, aerodynamics and the design groups that operate at Sauber's impressive ex-BMW base in Switzerland.
"When I saw the facilities for the first time in Hinwil, I immediately realised the possibilities I would have," Smith said. "The wind tunnel, the supercomputer and the machine shop - everything is on a very high technical level. And not to forget the competence of the team.
"These facts were compelling reasons and arguments for me changing to Hinwil. The potential of Sauber is enormous, which is not self-evident in a constantly changing Formula One world. The factory in Hinwil has all the requirements to be competitive in Formula One."
Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn added: "After talks with the technical committee, we have searched for a technical director for the Sauber F1 Team - and found Mark. Mark Smith is an engineer with a lot of experience in Formula One. Above all, he knows the environment in which privateer teams must work and the challenges that are there - and how important it is to keep calm and keep things in perspective. With us he finds technical possibilities on a very high level. We wish Mark a good start for which he has our full support."