After almost a year of searching, Unalaska has a new finance director. Patricia Soule will fill the position starting in January.

Unalaska Human Resources director Kelly Stiles says Soule was one of two finalists for the job, out of about 10 applicants total.

"We didn’t have a lot of applications at first when we first posted the job, which we kind of assumed we wouldn’t," Stiles says. "Governmental accounting is kind of a niche field, and we were looking for someone very particular."

The search began in February, and Stiles says they’re happy to have finished it in less than a year. She says higher-level jobs like this one tend to garner interest from people who aren’t always a good fit -- like applicants with corporate backgrounds.

"There’s just no comparison typically with the salary between corporate and municipal government," Stiles says. "That’s not just unique to Unalaska or even Alaska if you want to take the leap from corporate to basically being a public servant."

Soule comes to Unalaska from a nonprofit community action partnership in Idaho. Stiles says nonprofit finance is closer to government work in salary and in skill set. The other finalist for the job worked in higher education.

Stiles says Soule found out about the position through an acquaintance who works for the city, though she says that didn’t have an impact on the hiring process saw the city's job posting on a professional site and applied online.

Soule doesn’t have the experience with Alaska that the city looks for in new hires. Stiles says she’ll train for at least a couple of weeks under current interim finance director Karl Swanson. He’s headed up the office since former director Tonya Miller left last February.

"There is a steep learning curve for this job, particularly because of the capital projects we have going on," Stiles says. "That area alone is a lot to digest, so that’s going to be one of the key areas I know that Karl and Patricia are going to work on together."

Stiles says that area can be especially tricky because projects like the wastewater treatment facility are ongoing, meaning they won’t end with the fiscal year.

Soule’s first day will be January 27th.

CORRECTION: Stiles says Soule found out about the finance director job online. She did not learn of the position through an acquaintance who works for the city.