The former Falmouth town manager was selected for the top administrative post in Oak Bluffs in a unanimous vote by the town selectmen Tuesday.

Robert Whritenour, who served as Falmouth town manager for 10 years, and the Mashpee town administrator for a decade before that, will be offered the job of interim town administrator. He was the only final candidate for the position after a second finalist dropped out last week.

Selectmen cited Mr. Whritenour’s strong financial background and managerial experience as pluses.

“We need a strong town administrator as well as an accountant and that’s why I really thought he fit all of our qualifications,” said board chairman Kathy Burton.

“He’s very goal-oriented,” said selectman Mike Santoro.

Mr. Whritenour will replace former Oak Bluffs town administrator Michael Dutton who resigned last month. A start date has not been set and on Thursday Ms. Burton said that town labor counsel Jack Collins was still drafting a contract for Mr. Whritenhour.

As of Thursday Mr. Whritenhour had not spoken with the Oak Bluffs selectmen and was still a candidate for the position of town administrator in Truro — but he said he was excited by the news of his selection.

“The only thing I can say is I’m very delighted to have been selected and I look forward very much to working with the board of selectmen,” he said. “I think it would be a great opportunity and I really think that I can help out. The issue is I haven’t really had a chance to talk to anybody yet, everything’s sort of just happening right now. Where things stand is I’m very, very delighted with the vote of the board of selectmen and I’m just looking forward to talking with them and working with them.”

Mr. Whritenour was also recently a finalist for the position of Chatham town administrator and finance director of Quincy.

If he accepts the position, Ms. Burton said that Mr. Whritenour would also be considered for the permanent post of town administrator down the road. She said she anticipates the search for a permanent replacement for Mr. Dutton will take between three to four months. Mr. Whritenour said he would be interested in pursuing the position.

“That’s one of the things I talked with the board of selectmen about,” he said. “We’ve got some very, very serious short-term goals we need to achieve, but if things work out I’m definitely interested in staying in this area and I’d love to be a part of the community out there. It’s just a matter of taking things one step at a time. The folks in Oak Bluffs can be completely confident that all of the decisions that will be made are going to be with an eye toward the long-term sustainability of the town government.”

In interviews with selectmen, Mr. Whritenour indicated that he would commute to the Vineyard from Falmouth and search for longer-term housing if he were considered for the permanent position.

Mr. Whritenour’s track record in Falmouth was uneven. While he managed Falmouth’s $100 million budget and oversaw alternative energy and redevelopment projects in town, he also publicly clashed with town officials and resigned under pressure last November.

On Tuesday selectman Walter Vail acknowledged that history.

“Like any candidate you will find some criticisms, and without getting into the details, there are criticisms about Mr. Whritenour,” he said. “He has the strong financial background that we need right now. We need somebody that can step into the interim role right now with the kind of skills that he has. . . Despite anything anybody might want to say about his background this will be something good for us.”

In his time in Falmouth Mr. Whritenour was also accused of sexual harassment by a town employee, a charge that was later dropped by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and was accused of revealing the criminal history of a candidate for town constable and sharing it with the board of selectmen, but was again cleared of any wrongdoing. On Thursday Ms. Burton was upset that those incidents were being used to criticize the town’s decision.

“All of the references that we spoke to said that [those two accusations] were not well-founded and they were dismissed,” she said. “So it bothers me that people would make accusations based on presumed guilt when a person is innocent, and I don’t understand how you could have someone as a town administrator who is experienced and who didn’t have some stories from the past. You’d have to hire somebody right out of college and we need experience.”

Rather than focus on the more turbulent episodes in his career, on Thursday Mr. Whritenour implored Oak Bluffs residents to study his long-term managerial performance.

“Just take a look at my record,” he said. “Ten years in Mashpee, 10 years in Falmouth. I’m a very stable person with a lot of experience and skills.”