The Saints' football boss has quit the club after a lengthy review of the club's off-field operation. The Saints could look internally for a replacement.

"I will look at what develops in the foreseeable future, both in and outside of the AFL," Pelchen told Fairfax Media on Tuesday.

"I still have high regard for the Saints and wish them every success for the future."

The football department review was overseen by club chief Matt Finnis and involved Pelchen. His departure is understood to have been amicable despite rumours for some weeks that he was searching for a new role in the knowledge he would leave the Saints before the end of the year.

The club is expected to focus its search for a new football boss based more on performance and less on list management and strategy.

Pelchen, who joined St Kilda from Hawthorn three-and-a-half years ago, raised eyebrows internally last week when he outlined the club's long-term strategy in a media report which came so soon before his impending departure and without the club's full knowledge.

He departs the Saints almost 12 months after the sacking of coach Scott Watters, with whom Pelchen had fallen out.

Pelchen had been linked to a role at Carlton but the Blues have denied any interest.

Finnis, who only joined the Saints during the past season, said Pelchen had played a key role in beginning to revamp the playing list.

"Chris has professionally led our football department since August 2011 and in that time introduced a strategic focus to the club's list management activities and helped turn around our total player payments position," Finnis said.

The Saints had been under enormous salary-cap pressure as a result of the bonuses paid through the team's 2009-10 grand final appearances.

"Amongst other initiatives, Chris was instrumental in the club entering a new market in New Zealand and the establishment of the Saints player academy while the strategy to recontract a significant number of our young players in a single campaign throughout 2014 can also be attributed to Chris' expertise," Finnis said.

"However, following our end-of-season review, we agreed to make some changes to drive further development in our high-performance programs across our football department."

As the Saints continue their rebuilding plan, as part of the club's Road to 2018 blueprint, the Saints will have three selections in the top 22 in next month's national draft.

"This upcoming national draft is an exciting period for the club and Ameet Bains, Tony Elshaug and their team are a long way down the path in determining which talented young players will be recruited into the club," Finnis said.

In another move, Saints list manager Bains will soon leave that position to become the club's chief operations officer.