Mr Dixon yesterday revealed his decision to leave the job, which pays a salary of between $220,000 and $240,000 a year, to take up a senior position on the Maroondah City Council in Victoria.

The move would allow him to be closer to his wife of 24 years, Jennie, a magistrate in the Victorian Children's Court.

Asked several weeks ago about rumours that his departure was imminent, Mr Dixon said that "at this time" he was committed to his role in Launceston, and had signed a new three-year contract with the council in April.

Yesterday, Mr Dixon said he had only been offered the role with the Maroondah City Council in recent weeks.

While he had signed the new employment contract with the Launceston City Council six months ago, Mr Dixon said its terms allowed him to leave as long as "appropriate notice" was given.

"It has been a question of if the right job came up in Melbourne, I would certainly be seeking to go for it, because that is where my family is and most importantly that is where my wife is," Mr Dixon, 54, said.

"But it is really with mixed feelings that I resign from here, because while it has been very challenging it has also been very rewarding."

Mr Dixon came to Launceston from Victoria's Hume City Council in 2006.

Since that time he has spent his working weeks in Launceston, before flying home to be with his family on weekends.

Mr Dixon said he was still hopeful of securing the $20 million in funding required for the council's $59 million flood levee project before he officially leaves the role on January 29.

"There are still plenty of challenges ahead," he said.

"I am certainly very hopeful we can get commitments, ideally from all sides of politics, to provide the total amount of funding we need for the flood levees.

"That is one of my key priorities.

"Before I leave, I want to be able to work with Mayor Albert van Zetten to be able to confirm that."

Mr Dixon said being the general manager of a council like Launceston was "enormously challenging".

"You need to be a particular type of person - you need to have resilience, there's no doubt about that," he said.

"You are there to serve absolutely everyone. You are accountable to 500 employees, to the 12 elected aldermen, all the residents and community organisations, and you are also accountable to the State and Federal governments.

"You need resilience because you will never, ever please everyone.

"You need to have the strength of your convictions."

While he had been criticised over his handling of some issues, Mr Dixon said he had never set out to become popular.

"It is not the role of a general manager to be liked," he said.

"If you can be respected then that probably gives you the best level of satisfaction you can have, and I hope I have earned people's respect.

"Your job is not to please everyone - it's to be able to recommend a course of action and come up with something you think is in the long-term best interests of the community."

Mr Dixon said his proudest achievements in his time with the Launceston City Council were:

•Driving cultural change and consolidating the council's 500-strong workforce.

•The development of the council's 10-year plan for maintaining its assets.

•Overseeing a review of operations to ensure the council's financial sustainability.

•The delivery on time and on budget of the $26.3 million Launceston Aquatic facility.

•The work done on flood protection for the city.

Alderman van Zetten said the council would move quickly to recruit a new general manager.

The role will be advertised this weekend.

"Frank has been fantastic not only for the council, but for the entire region," Alderman van Zetten said.

"It has been a pleasure working with him.

"I will be very sad to see him go, but wish him the very best."