The International Monetary Fund plans to appoint a new deputy managing director who will for the first time focus on the day to day running of the global financial institution.

Carla Grasso, who used to work at Brazil's Vale SA, the world's largest iron ore producer, will become a deputy managing director and the newly created Chief Administrative Officer, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in statement on Wednesday.

Grasso replaces Nemat Shafik, who left the IMF last spring to become deputy governor at the Bank of England.

Lagarde said the IMF conducted an "extensive global search" for the new position. Two sources close to the IMF said it was difficult to find a replacement for Shafik because the new role is not focused on policymaking.

In a separate announcement on Wednesday, another deputy managing director, Naoyuki Shinohara, said he would be leaving the IMF and returning to Japan after February.

The IMF also has a third deputy managing director, Min Zhu, and a first deputy managing director, David Lipton.

Grasso, who takes up her post on Feb. 2, will coordinate administrative functions such as the budget, human resources and technology. She will also oversee the Fund's increasingly popular work training and assisting governments around the world on issues such as budgets and monetary policy.

"Carla brings outstanding leadership, a strategic mindset, and strong operational management expertise to her new appointment," Lagarde said. "I am fully confident that we have found a terrific manager and leader to be part of our team."

Grasso, a national of Brazil and Italy, worked at Vale for 14 years until 2011. She has also worked for the government of Brazil and as a consultant for the World Bank.