News Release
January 25, 2022
BOWEN ISLAND – Bowen Island Municipality (BIM) is pleased to announce the hiring of a new Chief Financial Officer, Kristen Watson.
Kristen has lived on Bowen for more than twenty years, and is returning to BIM after five years as the Director of Finance for the North Vancouver School District where she led the finance department, providing financial oversight of the development of the annual budget, procurement services, monitoring of capital project expenditures and risk management. Prior to this experience, she was Manager of Finance at Bowen Island Municipality for ten years, overseeing all aspects of municipal financial administration. Kristen’s years of experience as a senior public sector finance professional, direct knowledge of BIM’s financial systems, and personal connection to the community will add a valuable skillset to a strong professional leadership team.
“I am very excited to return to Bowen Island Municipality, and the chance to work closely with staff and Council. This Council is committed to maintaining a high degree of financial accountability and transparency, and I look forward to supporting them in their decision-making by providing relevant and timely financial information. I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to once again serve the community in this role.”
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is a key member of the municipality’s senior management team, overseeing budget development, financial reporting, long term financial planning, asset and risk management. The CFO works closely with the Chief Administrative Officer to provide advice and guidance to Council to make financially sound decisions, and provides operational management to finance staff.
Kristen will begin work on February 16, 2022.
“We are thrilled that Kristen is coming back to work with BIM,” said Liam Edwards, Chief Administrative Officer, “Kristen possesses important corporate knowledge about the Municipality’s financial history, plus she has experience managing multiple large complex financial portfolios which include capital infrastructure investments – a valuable asset as the municipality is taking on various capital improvement projects at this time.”