OXFORD – Oxford selectmen have chosen Michael Chammings, a finance director and administrator for the town of Mount Desert, as the new town manager.

They are expected to announce their decision at tonight’s selectmen’s meeting, interim Town Manager Sharon Jackson said Tuesday.

Michael Chammings, 39, confirmed Wednesday that he has accepted the job. He said he looks forward to returning to Western Maine to be closer to his daughter, Amanda, and the rest of his family.

“Oxford has grown a lot since I was a kid,” said Chammings, who graduated from Gray-New Gloucester High School in 1983.

Jackson, who has served as an interim manager since former Town Manager Michael Huston left July 31, had also applied for the permanent position. She said selectmen Chairman Floyd Thayer told her Tuesday that selectmen had chosen Chammings for the job.

Thayer was out of town and could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Chammings has been director of finance and administration for Mount Desert, one of four townships on Mount Desert Island, for about a year. Before that he served for about six years as town manager of Tremont, another township on the island.

He also served as town manager of Milbridge for about two years, he said. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public management and public administration from the University of Maine at Orono.

Selectmen received about 30 applications for the position and interviewed six finalists, including Jackson and Chammings. The board conducted the search on its own, a departure from the search committee process used when Huston was hired.