Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton is to retire after 30 years of service, with recruitment for a replacement to begin immediately.
In a statement, the Policing Board said his departure was “in line with contractual entitlements”.
Mr Hamilton was appointed in 2020 and has specific responsibility for operational policing matters including crime and local policing, and also has overall responsibility for professional standards within the PSNI.
He has been absent from work since last year when he underwent an unplanned medical procedure.
He was due to take up a secondment with Stormont’s Department of Justice and the National Police Chiefs’ Council, but the move never happened.
In September last year, the Police Federation, the representative body for officers, passed a vote of no confidence in Mr Hamilton for his handling of a high-profile incident on Belfast’s Ormeau Road that led to two officers being disciplined.
The officers faced action in 2021 following the arrest of Mark Sykes. He was detained during a service marking the anniversary of the 1992 Sean Graham bookmakers attack, in which his brother-in-law, Peter Magee (18), was one of five people killed.
A High Court judge later found that actions taken against the two junior police officers over the incident were unlawful.
The ruling was one of a series of controversies within the PSNI last year that led to the resignation of Chief Constable Simon Byrne.
The PSNI added it would be advertising on Thursday for a permanent replacement.
The Chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, Liam Kelly, said: “We note this announcement by the Northern Ireland Policing Board. Clearly, we had our differences over the handling of the Ormeau Road controversy, but I think it important to recognise Mr Hamilton’s 30 years of policing service and his significant contribution to our communities.
“On behalf of the PFNI I wish him and his family well for the future.”
The Policing Board said there was no disparity between its approach to Mr Hamilton’s retirement “and that taken in relation to other officers who have retired from the service, regardless of rank”.
“The board respects the confidentiality of personal information in relation to the DCC, as it does with all of its employees.”
The statement also thanked Mr Hamilton for his “dedicated service and significant contribution to policing” and “leading police reform in Northern Ireland”.
