His appointment as Leigh McJames' replacement in the senior role was confirmed yesterday with Mr Kalimnios spending the past 12 months working as a consultant in the health sector after being the Top End Health Service chief operating officer for four years.

He previously worked for Queensland Health when he had his contract terminated in 2010 for his part in a payroll system controversy which became the subject of a commission of inquiry.

But, inquiry commissioner Richard Chesterman singled out Mr Kalimnios for being one of the few involved to accept any responsibility for the system failure and acknowledged, in his final report, concerns raised by Mr Kalmnios weren't acted upon.

Mr Kalimnios starts in the AWH chief executive job on September 23 and has been appointed on a five-year contract.

The Top End Health Service employs 4500 staff and has an annual operating budget of $1 billion.

Acting AWH chairman Phil Williams announced his appointment.

"Michael's extensive expertise and experience are a welcomed asset to the health service," Mr Williams said.

"The AWH board is looking forward to working with Michael and his executive team to deliver our strategic and master-plans over the next five years.

"The board has been fortunate to have had the support and leadership of interim chief executive, Janet Chapman, who will continue in the role until Michael commences, at which time Janet will resume her role as executive director regional partnerships and planning."

In the past year, Mr Kalimnios has been working with the Vision Eye Institute.

Mr McJames resigned in April this year after completing three years of his initial five-year contract.

He worked for AWH when it was initially founded in 2009.