Ireland assistant coach Declan Kidney is understood to have applied for the Ulster vacancy.
The former Munster boss is due to leave his current role when his contract expires at the end of the current Six Nations campaign.
Ulster officials are set to start interviewing candidates to take over from Alan Solomons this week with Mark McCall and Willie Anderson among the frontrunners.
Kidney had been offered a different job within the IRFU as performance manager handling age-grade rugby, but he turned that down to pursue a hands-on coaching position.
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His credentials can hardly be questioned after hie success with Munster but whether he will be content to continue working with the IRFU, albeit at a provincial level, remains to be seen.