Pothas will be in charge during the tour of Bangladesh where the Caribbean side will play two tests, three one-day internationals and an equal number of Twenty20 matches.
The first test starts in Chittagong from Thursday.
"Having Nic lead the team at this juncture is important for continuity and we look forward to strong and positive performances from the squad under his leadership," West Indies' director of Cricket Jimmy Adams said in a statement.
Last April Pothas stepped down as the fielding consultant of Sri Lanka after briefly coaching them until the appointment of head coach Chandika Hathurusingha. The South African then took the role with the Caribbean side.
"It is an honour to be asked to be the head coach of the West Indies cricket team for the immediate future," Pothas said. "The Bangladesh series will be a tough challenge which we look forward to embracing."
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
