The new head coach indicated he would quickly address the situation with captain Lawrence Shankland, who has scored 67 goals in three years at Hearts, and goalkeeper Craig Gordon, both of whom are out of contract this summer, saying “these conversations will be had”.
The club have been working with Jamestown Analytics for their recruitment and he believes the relationship can give Hearts an “added advantage”.
“Clearly, there’s work needing done,” McInnes said. “There’s a lot of good players here and we need to find a better way of working.
“With the right additions and the right tweaking of the squad, we can look forward with a lot more optimism.”
McInnes had been in charge at Kilmarnock since 2022 and last season guided the Ayrshire side into Europe by finishing fourth.
His managerial career began when he took St Johnstone into the top flight in 2009 and, after a brief stint at Bristol City, he had eight years in Aberdeen, with whom he never finished lower than fourth and won the League Cup in 2014.
McInnes left Pittodrie in 2021 and took charge of Kilmarnock the following January, leading them to promotion to the Premiership.
His spell in Ayrshire ended with his side finishing in ninth, two places below Hearts.
Kilmarnock lost 1-0 to Hearts at Rugby Park on Sunday, with McInnes absent from the home dugout after a compensation deal was agreed between the clubs.
He said being linked with Hearts in the closing weeks of the season had been “a bit problematic” but insisted he had “nothing to apologise for”.
“I loved my time at Kilmarnock,” he explained. “Ideally, it would’ve been done at the end of the season.
“It’s never easy, these things. For me, it’s all about the new start. For me and my family, this is what I wanted. In football, things change pretty quickly.”
Sporting director Graeme Jones said of McInnes: “He was the standout candidate from the process we went through. It’s really satisfying to get to today and have Derek sitting alongside me.”
