DEERFIELD — The search for a new town administrator began Thursday, as Deerfield posted its vacancy notice following the retirement of its longtime town administrator last week.

In a brief Wednesday afternoon meeting, the Selectboard approved the posting of the position with a salary range of $110,000 to $130,000 and tapped Planning and Economic Development Coordinator Christopher Dunne as what Selectboard Chair Tim Hilchey described as a “de facto” interim town administrator in the meantime.

Dunne was brought into Town Hall last year to help guide numerous improvement projects after serving as Blandford’s town administrator for a year and a half. He will work alongside Assistant Town Administrator Greg Snedeker, who began working for the town on Monday. Deerfield will provide Dunne with a $1,000 monthly stipend to take over some duties from Kayce Warren, who retired for health reasons on Sept. 6.

“That’s perfectly fine and I appreciate Tim stepping up and making an offer,” Dunne said at the meeting, adding that he was happy to help out “for the time being.”

Dunne was also tasked with reaching out to local, state and New England peers and organizations to see what candidates are out there and if there are any municipal job boards the position could be posted to. He said he reached out to some potential local candidates and Sunderland interim Town Administrator Margaret Nartowicz, who is a Deerfield resident, provided some names for the town to look into.

In posting a salary range of $110,000 to $130,000, Selectboard members said they are hopeful they can attract a strong candidate to Deerfield. The high end of the pay scale is among the highest, with towns like Orange, Northfield and Montague posting similar positions at $100,000, $115,000 and $124,000, respectively, according to Dunne.

“I want to see somebody good coming into this office,” said Selectboard member Blake Gilmore. “[The pay range] would be an attraction for someone who has the quality, who has the experience.”

“We want to make sure we’re attractive to high-quality candidates because there are others towns in the neighborhood looking for town administrators,” Hilchey added.

Neighboring Sunderland is also currently searching for a town administrator, with Nartowicz serving in a part-time, interim capacity. Whately also recently dealt with an administrator vacancy and brought on Peter Kane as a permanent town administrator in June.

With the job posted, the Deerfield Selectboard set a deadline of Oct. 4 for applications, although members said they’d likely consider applications past that date if necessary. The board will also convene a search committee at its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 18.

Hilchey said the last two searches for administrative staff in town have been successful, as they brought both Dunne and Snedeker to Deerfield.

“We’ve been fortunate in our last two searches,” Hilchey said. “We’ve gotten great people.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.

Correction: A previous version of t his story incorrectly  stated Sunderland interim Town Administrator Margaret Nartowicz’s recommendations for helping Deerfield find a new town administrator. She recommended local candidates, as well as those in eastern and central Massachusetts, and is not involved in the search.