David Rath has informed Essendon he will depart the club at the end of the season to seek opportunities elsewhere.
Rath was the Bombers' coaching innovation and game strategy manager, joining the club ahead of the 2024 season. He worked closely alongside former coach Brad Scott.
He was previously at Hawthorn, St Kilda, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Wallabies over the past two decades.
"He spent three seasons with the Dons, working through several aspects of the club's football strategy, including player biomechanics, game analysis and skill acquisition," the club statement said.
"The club thanks Rath for his contributions and wishes him all the best for the future."
Rath joins assistant coach Ben Jacobs and head of psychology and wellbeing Ben Robbins out the door of Tullamarine. The pair, who were closely aligned with Scott, departed in May.
A former North Melbourne midfielder, 2026 was Jacobs' fourth in AFL clubland after starting his coaching career at St Kilda.
Robbins is highly regarded in the industry with 27 years of experience in high-performance environments.
Essendon is set to announce its new senior coach next week from a quartet vying for the position.
Former Bombers players James Hird and Mark McVeigh are deemed leading candidates for the vacancy, while Murray Davis (Adelaide) and Jaymie Graham (Fremantle) are also in the running.
Caretaker Dean Solomon ruled himself out of the race following a difficult time in the hot seat, which has yielded one solitary victory in 11 weeks.
Solomon is contracted for next year, but acknowledged the new coach may want to bring in his own staff to welcome the new era of the Bombers.
"There'll be a new coach in place and it all makes sense because the structure will be clearer," Solomon said on Thursday.
"I don't love delving into my private life, but my wife and kids also live in northern New South Wales, so there are a few moving parts to it."
