Sharples, who joins the organisation from her current role of trampolining programme director at British Gymnastics, previously worked for ParalympicsGB in the build-up to the 2008 in Beijing as camps director.

"I am looking forward to returning to ParalympicsGB in this new position," she said.

"I have spent the last two years working within a successful Olympic national governing body and it has been a very positive experience.

"But I am passionate about Paralympic sport and am excited about this new role and delivering for ParalympicsGB."

Penny Briscoe, performance director at ParalympicsGB, said: "I am delighted that Georgina will be joining us.

"She added significantly to our capability to deliver the best performance environment for sports in the Beijing cycle and will help us build on this for London.

"Working with our partners and the sports, we are also looking to maximise the opportunities that a home Games brings in terms of athlete recruitment and development.

"Georgina is experienced and capable, and is the best person to help us achieve this."

Sharples will be in charge of the delivery of several major projects including the successful Paralympic Potential programme - designed to identify new talent through multi-sport days - and the Talent Transition Programme, which will support newly-identified talented athletes across a number of Paralympic sports in an intensive and highly demanding fast-track process.

British Gymnastics Olympic performance director Tim Jones said: "While we are disappointed to see Georgina leave, we acknowledge the significant strides trampoline has taken under her stewardship.

"We now feel we are in a strong position to challenge some of the world leaders in the coming 18 months, and we will be working hard to find a timely replacement to continue this good work."

In the best interests of both organisations, there will be a managed transition through the course of April.

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