But the coaching bug was always nagging at the former Melbourne Rebels mentor, prompting Hill to step down from his Brumbies position to reignite his coaching career.

Hill has been the Brumbies general manager of professional rugby and pathways for the past 18 months, but says he's ready to return to coaching and will start looking for a job after finishing on Friday.

Hill has worked with Brumbies coaches Stephen Larkham and Dan McKellar to build strong rosters and managing recruitment, as well as ushering in the next generation via a new academy system.

"The coaching bug is still very strong. But I've enjoyed the management side of this role as well," Hill said.

"Being in this role gives you a greater appreciation of the commercial side of a rugby business. It gives you a more holistic view of the place rather than just focusing on the team and performance.

"You get a better appreciation of all the other cogs in the business and how they contribute to actually getting the team on the paddock and ready to play.

"When I started I was curious to see what would happen [with the coaching bug]. I didn't step into the role knowing it was going to be the career path from now on.

"It was an opportunity to view a different facet of rugby, broaden the skill set and as it's turned out, the coaching bug is still strong."

The Brumbies have already started searching for Hill's successor and hope to have a replacement finalised in time for the start of pre-season training in November.

The new general manager will face a major challenge of player recruitment and retention in a World Cup year, with a host of key players, including David Pocock, Christian Lealiifano and Tevita Kuridrani, about to enter the final year of their respective contracts.

But Hill's role wasn't just focused on top-end talent and helping lure players to Canberra. He played a key part in relaunching the academy for the first time in six years, identifying a group of talented teens to train.

"Guys like Will Goddard, Noah Lolesio ... the stronger the link to schools, community and the academy, the better Australian rugby will be," Hill said.

"It will take time, but we've already started to see some of the benefits of it at the Brumbies. The way forward is definitely a robust academy and schools pathway program."

Brumbies chief executive Michael Thomson is working through a list of candidates to fill the position, which was created at the start of last year.

"Historically recruitment and management of lists have been done by the head coach and chief executive. We were keen to have someone who had that role in a separate position," Thomson said.

"We've got 32 or 33 of our players contracted for next year. That allows the head coach to start planning for who's he's got. On top of that, Hilly's work in the academy space has been great.

"We've had players come through [the academy] already. Five of the Tuggeranong guys who won the John I Dent Cup were 20 years old or under. When you look at that, it suggest Hilly and everyone involved in that has moved it forward significantly.

"He'll be a loss to the organisation, but he leaves it in a better spot than when he got here."

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar added: "Hilly's been good to work with. He's a coach first and foremost and I think we worked well together with identifying areas in the squad we need to improve. It helps lessen the work load in and around the negotiation process.

"When he first came to the club we had 25 or 26 players off contract. In the past it was always left up to the coach and CEO. So it was definitely a step forward for us."