He replaces Peter Fulton who left the post in July.
Ronchi has been working with the Black Caps during the past two years, including at last year’s World Cup where the Black Caps were denied a share of glory with England due to an obscure boundary-countback rule.
The 39-year-old said he could not wait to get started when he assumes the role in a fortnight.
"I’m absolutely pumped," he said.
"I’ve really enjoyed being back with the team in recent seasons and it’s exciting to be given the opportunity fulltime this summer."
"Getting the chance to continue working with our batsmen is a great honour and I’m looking forward to seeing how I can help improve their games and best prepare them to perform at the highest level.
"It’ll be great to sit down with Gary [Stead] and the other coaches to begin planning for what will be a busy summer with four touring teams who will all bring different challenges."
Ronchi fashioned a relatively modest batting record in international cricket.
The New Zealand-born gloveman played four one-day games and three twenty20 matches for Australia in 2008-09 before returning to his native country in 2012 and enjoying a four-year stint in the Black Caps.
He played 85 career one-day internationals for a haul of 1397 runs at an average of 23.67.
The hard-hitting right-hander clubbed 359 runs in 33 international T20 games, maintaining an impressive strike rate of 140.23. And in four tests he scored 319 runs at an average of 39.87.
While Ronchi arguably underachieved in one-day internationals, those that were in Dunedin the day he tonked 170 not out against Sri Lanka in January 2015 will fondly remember a player who could be utterly, utterly devastating.
New Zealand Cricket general manager performance cricket Bryan Stronach said Ronchi’s broad skill-set and past experiences with the team helped secure the job.
"Luke’s got a very good cricket brain and is especially strong tactically," he said.
"He has a positive mindset and is good at building relationships but he’s also not afraid to challenge people which is a really important aspect of coaching.
"The feedback we got from the players and team support staff at last year’s World Cup in particular was very positive and I know he’s looking forward to continuing his work with the team this summer.
"There’s no doubt that, alongside the batsmen, our wicketkeepers will also benefit from having Luke around."
New Zealand’s all time leading runs-scorer Ross Taylor welcomed the appointment.
"It’s been great to have Luke back with the group in recent years and I’m personally really looking forward to working with him as batting coach," Taylor said.
"He’s obviously got great experience from playing and coaching around the world and I know he will bring plenty of his own ideas to the table.
"He’s got a calm demeanour and already possesses many strong relationships within the group."
Since finishing his playing career, Ronchi has been involved with Cricket Wellington’s development programmes and was also a player-coach with Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League earlier this year.
