Karen Hambleton will take the reins as Hopkinton’s new town administrator next month, bringing with her nearly a decade of local leadership experience.

She will step into the role vacated by Neal Cass, a fixture of Hopkinton’s government for the past 15 years, on June 23.

After nine years as town administrator in Bradford — a small town of about 1,700 residents — Hambleton said she based her decision to take the administrator role in Hopkinton on her desire to seek new challenges and further her professional growth.

“Hopkinton’s a larger town, I want to say it has more going on,” she said. “It's got some village districts, it's got some significant environmental challenges that it's facing. Just new challenges.”

Hambleton believes her time in Bradford, where she learned the different facets of running a functioning town, will help her to succeed in Hopkinton.

That hands-on experience, she said, extended beyond daily operations to projects that connected the town’s past and future. There, she was involved in the restoration of a historic covered bridge and the preservation of a portion of Bradford town hall that dates back to the 1790s.

“While I may not be doing some of the nitty gritty stuff in Hopkinton that I might have done in Bradford, I understand how it all fits together,” she said.

Hambleton said she has always maintained an “open door policy” in Bradford and plans to continue that approach in Hopkinton as well.

“Customer service is my top priority,” said Hambleton. “I'm here for the residents of the community, and I will do what I can to find you answers or solve your problems.”

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be reached at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com