FRANKLIN—After being on the job for exactly eight months, Brian Stump, Franklin’s finance director, stepped down Friday.

Stump said that he left to take a job closer to home and his family.

“I’m a Newport News native, and that’s where all of my family and friends are,” he said Friday. He said that there was a requirement that he move to Franklin, but he was unable to sell his home in Newport News. City Manager June Fleming said that there has been a long-standing requirement that department heads reside in the city.

The decision to leave his job as the city’s finance director didn’t have anything to do with being unhappy in the position, Stump said.

“I love the position,” he said. “It’s nothing about the position and it’s nothing about the city.”

Fleming said that the city is wasting no time starting the search for Stump’s replacement.

“It’s a key position in the city,” she said. “We will begin the search immediately.”

She added that it may take a few days to work out how the office will run until a replacement is hired, but she has confidence in the department’s staff.

Councilman Benny Burgess said that Stump had done a good job.

“I was surprised about his resignation and disappointed that he left so quickly,” Burgess said.

Vice Mayor Raystine Johnson said that she was also surprised to hear the news on Friday, especially since Stump had only been with the city for a short amount of time.

“I wish him well,” she said. “And I’m sure that Mrs. Fleming will make sure that the Finance Department runs smoothly in the interim.”

Councilman Barry Cheatham said that Stump was doing a good job for the city.

“I and those that I have talked to in the city are saddened by his leaving,” Cheatham wrote in an e-mail.

In February, Stump was hired to replace Andy Rose, who moved to Georgia last fall.

Stump declined to say what his new position is because his new employer hasn’t made an announcement.