Kristen Benoit, who’s been working in EG since 2006, is the town’s new finance director.

The Town Council voted to approve hiring Kristen Benoit as East Greenwich’s new finance director, a job she’d been doing since former Finance Director Cathy Raposa left in December. The vote took place April 28.

Benoit was named the interim at a particularly challenging time to step into the role of finance director, even though she had been working under Raposa for many years. That’s because Raposa left at the beginning of the budget process, one be handled by Town Manager Tom Coyle for the first time. Coyle was hired in August to replace 25-year veteran Bill Sequino in the position.

So, new town manager and an acting finance director. If the last few months have been trial by fire, Benoit has emerged without getting burned.

“It was a nice plug and play,” said Coyle about Benoit’s ability to step into the finance director role. She enjoys her work, he said, and it helped, too, that she is familiar with the town’s accounting software.

Benoit is a graduate of URI, with an accounting degree. She worked at Met Life while pursuing her degree, taking courses at night. After she graduated, Benoit took a job at a private accounting firm, then moved to the state Auditor General’s office, where she stayed for six years. She came to work in East Greenwich in 2006 as budget and accounting manager.

A Rhode Island native, Benoit lives in Coventry. She is the mother of two daughters, ages 5 and 10.