Photo: Geoff Lubien

Geoff Lubien, the former chair of the Warrant Committee, has been hired to be Belmont’s new Chief Financial Officer, according to Town Administrator Patrice Garvin.

The announcement, made at the start of the Monday, April 6 Select Board meeting, comes after the town spent seven months filling the post held by Jennifer Hewitt, the town’s financial director and assistant town administrator, who left in September. 

The CFO office is a new position in the town’s administrative office. 

“While we poached him from the private sector, [Lubien] has been … instrumental in the past 10 years of municipal finance in the town, while his private sector experience truly made him the outstanding candidate,” said Garvin.

Lubien will start Monday, April 27, just before the start of the annual Belmont Town Meeting. 

Garvin said the process started with 30 applicants, which was then pared down to six.

“We had a lot of good, strong applicants, which is very nice, considering there were some years that we saw the applicant pool decrease a little bit,” said Garvin.

Assisted by the town’s Human Resources Director Kelli King, and with the help of current members of the Warrant Committee, the Board of Trustees for the Library, and a former member of the Select Board, the finalists were interviewed, and three finalists were chosen from whom Lubien was selected.

Lubien comes to the job from his position as a marketing analyst with Bedford-based iRobot. His experience in town government includes serving on the Warrant Committee, the Financial Task Force, and his current post on the Senior Tax Relief Working Group. 

Select Board members were overwhelmingly positive about Lubien’s hiring.

“[Lubien] is the kind of the person who knows Belmont and municipal government really well, [while] also having the background in analytic experience. I’m thrilled,” said Select Board Chair Matt Taylor.

“Geoff’s awesome. I’ve worked with him for 10 years. Nobody knows the talent, finances, and budget better than [Lubien]” said member Elizabeth Dionne.

Speaking to the Belmontonian while working the polls at the Belmont Public Library on Tuesday, April 7, Lubien said taking his talents to the municipal government “is something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

“I actually talked with Jennifer Hewitt about getting into the municipal government side about a year ago, and started to do some research. And then this opportunity came up.” He reached out to Garvin who encouraged him to apply.

“I’m looking forward to bringing my background with statistics and econometrics to the position. I really like the idea of a job that actually contributes to the greater good and uses everything I’ve learned on the job and works with the town,” he said.

While well versed in the town’s finances, “there’s a learning curve as there are details that I was never privy to because the town folks were working on that. There’s going to be a lot of learning, and I recognize that, and it’s exciting too,” said Lubien.

Lubien already knows there’s one big change with the new job. “Like many people, I’ve worked from home for a while, so I’ll be in the office every day of the week, which is good because I’m ready to get out of the house.”

And it also means a trip to the shops. “I don’t have any work clothes that fit anymore,” Lubien said.