Ian Thomas, who has been director of children’s services (DCS) in Derbyshire since August 2011, will take over at Rotherham in January.
News of his appointment comes seven weeks after the authority’s previous DCS Joyce Thacker resigned.
Her resignation was one of several at the authority following the publication in August of an independent inquiry report that estimated at least 1,400 children had been sexually exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
The report was highly critical of the handling of CSE by both Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police.
Findings made during an inspection carried out in the wake of the report led to Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw flagging up “widespread and serious failures” in child protection at the authority.
This led to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan last month appointing an independent commissioner to oversee children’s services in the Yorkshire town.
Under Thomas's leadership, Derbyshire County Council received a "good" rating from Ofsted under the new single inspection framework introduced last year.
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