Van 't Schip will take over as Heart coach for the remainder of the A-League season after John Aloisi's sacking at the weekend.
The Dutchman, who coached the Heart in their first two seasons and took the club to their only finals appearance, will arrive in Australia later this week.
He will assume coaching duties ahead of Sunday's away clash with Central Coast Mariners.
He had been working in a backroom role at the club this season.
"We made contact with John on Sunday and he was immediately receptive to the proposal of returning as interim coach," Melbourne Heart chief executive Scott Munn said in a statement.
"John knows our players, understands the club and has been following the team very closely this season, given his role as technical manager.
"We have no doubt he is the best person to take assume the day-to-day coaching of the team and take the club forward.''
Under Aloisi, the Heart were winless in their past 17 matches, becoming one of the worst sides in A-League history.
Only season one's dire New Zealand Knights could claim to be statistically worse than the Heart, who have not won a match since February last year and are six points adrift of the second-last placed team in this season's A-League.
Former Ajax player and Dutch international van 't Schip says he is excited by the prospect of reviving the Heart's form.
"Melbourne Heart is a club that means a lot to me and deserves to be challenging for the finals," van ’t Schip said.
The Heart is also currently in negotiations for a multi-million dollar ownership change.
