Watson left Swansea just over two years ago after a turbulent spell at the Welsh club.

The former Luton Town chief operating officer has since worked at Brentford but has now returned to the Championship as chief technical officer at high-flying Boro.

The Teesside club have also announced that head of football Kieran Scott and head of recruitment Chris Jones have signed new contracts.

"Bringing Paul in is a real coup for us. His focus is on the technical and data side of things, and he comes here with a successful background at Luton, Swansea and Brentford," said Scott.