The 45-year-old takes over for Steven Naismith, who was fired last month following an eight-game losing streak and a dismal start to the Scottish Premiership season.
Critchley has agreed to a contract that will expire at the conclusion of the 2026–2027 campaign, and a press conference is scheduled for Tuesday.
Mike Garrity, a former coach at the Liverpool academy, Blackpool, Lincoln City, and QPR, will help him.
After three months in charge of QPR, the Englishman rejoined Blackpool in 2023 after managing the Lancashire team from 2020 to 2022.
In his 185 games as manager, Critchley has won 77 and drawn 47. In 2021, he led the Seasiders to the Championship in England through the play-offs.
He briefly served as Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Aston Villa in 2022 and coached Liverpool’s youth team.
Chief executive officer Andrew McKinlay told the Hearts website, “We’ve made no secret of the fact analytics have guided our search and that data presented us with many top-quality options.”
“With the use of analytics for hiring, we were able to determine who would best fit into our new model moving ahead.
