The 38-year-old on Wednesday replaces former Manchester City midfielder Elano, who took charge of Santos on an interim basis in October after the sacking of Levir Culpi, reports Xinhua news agency.
Ventura had been in talks with Santos since December, when he parted ways with Botafogo after guiding the Rio de Janeiro club to the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals.
Santos and Brazil legend Pele took to Twitter to wish Ventura well.
"Jair, I hope that you have as much success at Santos as I had with your dad with the national team," said Pele, who played alongside Jairzinho at the 1970 World Cup, which Brazil won.
Jairzinho scored in each of Brazil's six matches in Mexico, making him one of only two players - the other being Uruguay's Alcides Ghiggia - in the history of the World Cup to achieve the feat.
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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