Mr Bird has been promoted from a director position with the council to the temporary post due to the recent departure of David Barry.

After almost four years in the top job at Alpine, Mr Barry has been appointed the Deputy Auditor General of Victoria based in Melbourne.

Alpine mayor Ron Janas said he was confident a smooth transition plan was in place for the shire.

“I’d like to thank Dave for his positive contribution to our shire over the past three and a half years and for his tireless efforts in steering us through a period of change," Cr Janas said.

"I wish him all the best in his new position. We are fortunate to have built a strong management team under Dave’s leadership and I’m pleased to have a director of Charlie’s calibre ready to step into the role of acting CEO to oversee our operations during the recruitment period.”

Alpine Shire has started recruiting for a replacement chief executive and hoped a successor for Mr Barry would be in the job before the end of the year.

Mr Bird has been a part of the management team since February 2015 after leading a management consultancy in the local government, natural resources and water industry sectors.

Mr Bird said he had worked closely with Mr Barry in recent months in preparation for the acting chief executive role.

“It’s a great opportunity and I look forward to working with the mayor, our councillors and team over the coming months to ensure we maintain our high standard of service delivery to the community,” he said.

Mr Barry is a former Albury Council economic development team leader and was a Towong Shire director before landing the senior job at Alpine.

One of his final tasks was handing down the 2017-18 draft budget which proposed the lowest rate rise in the shire's history of 1.9 per cent.

A $8.5 million works budget includes $1.7 million for the Alpine Events Park at Bright and $700,000 for improvements to Myrtleford's Myrtle Street.

Mr Barry's tenure at Alpine included a $1.5 million saving in staff cuts in 2015.

Among Mr Bird's appointments during his term as acting chief executive will be as director of a program titled MomentumOne.

The partnership with Towong Shire aims to deliver shared services benefits.