Kiss' most recent stint was with London Irish, who finished fifth in England's Premiership last season, their best effort in 15 years.
Kiss, 58, had eight years as an assistant coach with Ireland, seeing them to three Six Nations titles and the 2009 Grand Slam. Before taking up his rugby position, he played 100 games for the North Sydney Bears in the NRL, four State of Origin games for Queensland and four Tests for Australia.
He was an assistant coach with the Springboks in 2001-02 and for the Waratahs from 2002-08. He then worked with Ireland from 2009-15 before taking on the director of rugby role with Ulster from 2015-18.
Kiss said after his appointment until 2026, "Queensland Rugby has a proud history of 140 years, and I am honoured to soon be a part of that as I begin this next chapter of my coaching career at the Reds.
"It was an attractive option. The opportunity to return home to Queensland and coach at a successful club in a new world-class facility at Ballymore appealed to me.
"The Reds have an exciting roster with which I look forward to working. There's a pathway to the Wallabies with high-quality players boasting skill, ambition and endeavour.
"With anything in life, you need meaning and purpose. That's already clear to see here. Brad Thorn laid a culture of fight, spirit and hard work, plus a love for the jersey – as Queenslanders, we get that.
"I am committed to building on these strong foundations to help the Reds achieve their full potential in Super Rugby Pacific."
Reds captain Liam Wright, who was involved in the latter stages of the selection process, along with co-captain Tate McDermott, said the playing group wanted a man manager who could provide a vision of how the team should play.
"Les has spoken about wanting to be a strong attacking team, but based on a good forward pack who can touch the ball and be effective.
"We've got all the components of that here. We'll keep the details to ourselves, but there's a clear path.
"We saw through Thorny's period we really grew as a team – we went from a team that didn't win games to six games in our first season and building those blocks of resilience and fight and spirit. What we're looking for now is to grow those finer details of our game."
Queensland Rugby chief executive David Hanham said an extensive selection process was involved in the coaching appointment.
"Throughout an extensive three-stage selection process, Les was a stand-out candidate in front of an independent panel and provided us with clarity and confidence in his ability to be successful as head coach.
"As a Queenslander [he is from Bundaberg], and having previously coached in Australia, combined with his wealth of experience and success, Les is an excellent fit for the Reds, and we believe he has the right formula to take Queensland to the next level in Super Rugby."