Essendon has confirmed a pair of changes to its football department structure for the 2024 season, announcing two general manager appointments on Tuesday afternoon.

Daniel McPherson has been revealed as the Bombers' General Manager of AFL, while Aysha Ward has been appointed General Manager of Essendon's AFLW program.

According to the Bombers' club release late Tuesday afternoon, the pair of appointments have been made as part of a 'revised' football department structure as the Tullamarine club prepares to commence its 2024 campaign.

Essendon CEO Craig Vozzo expressed his congratulations to McPherson and Ward on their respective elevations.

"We feel that these are two great appointments that will strengthen both our AFL and AFLW programs," Vozzo started on Tuesday.

"Dan and Aysha are both high-quality people and we look forward to their leadership in driving each area forward and having a significant impact on the club more generally.

"The updated structure is designed to create clear accountabilities within each elite program and to ensure both programs have an executive member solely focused on their success.

"Both Dan and Aysha were standout candidates for these positions, and we're delighted to be able to promote our people from within and I congratulate them on their appointments."

McPherson, who played 111 games for the Sydney Swans between 1994 and 2003, will work with senior coach Brad Scott to lead the AFL program.

McPherson joined Essendon at the end of the 2022 season as its General Manager of Performance. He previously capped a four-year tenure at Melbourne as its GM of Football Operations before a year-long stint with North Melbourne in 2022 as its General Manager of Football Performance.

"Dan is an intelligent and driven individual who has more than 20 years of experience as a player, coach, and administrator at AFL level," Vozzo also said.

"He has played an important role in driving a winning football program and in the building of a successful off-field structure.

"Our AFL program continues to develop and evolve under Brad Scott and the alignment between our coaching group, players and football department will be driven by Dan in this role."

Ward, meanwhile, commenced her Essendon journey in 2015; most recently holding the dual role of Head of AFLW and AFL Operations Manager. In her new, esteemed role, she will lead the entire Essendon Women's Football program, both at AFLW and VFLW levels.

"Aysha is a highly respected football person both within Essendon and throughout the AFL industry," Vozzo said.

"She brings great expertise, passion, and commitment to our football club and it will be terrific to now have her on our executive team driving our Women's programs and aspects of our wider community engagement strategies."

McPherson commented on his appointment via Tuesday's club release, expressing his excitement at getting started and working in conjunction with Scott.

"I'm grateful to be given this opportunity at the Essendon Football Club and look forward to working closely with Brad and the rest of the football department to continue to build and drive a world-class football program for our players," he said.

"We've been very active in the off-season, both on-field and off-field, to bring in quality people who we believe can help build on the foundations that are already in place.

"We have a lot of work in front of us to get to where we want to get to, but I'm confident and incredibly excited about what's ahead for our footy club."

While the Bombers conduct business relating to their football department, they also continue to navigate dealings regarding this year's free agency and trade period.

Essendon officially acquired North Melbourne's Ben McKay via free agency on Tuesday, just a day after confirming its acquisition of veteran Todd Goldstein from Arden Street.

The Bombers are also expected to welcome St Kilda's Jade Gresham and Port Adelaide's Xavier Duursma via trade, while defender Brandon Zerk-Thatcher is anticipated to be a Power player by the trade period's end next Wednesday evening.

SEE ALSO: TRADE NEWS & RUMOURS HUB