When applications closed last Friday there were 30 candidates for the the general manager's job that became available when Richard Reid resigned this month.
ORFU chairman Wayne Graham said two of the applicants were from overseas and that Rugby Southland's Craig Morton was not on the list.
Graham said the board did not intend to rush into making an early appointment.
"I don't know if it will be this side of Christmas or not," he said. "We have got a bit of time on our side. It depends how the interviews go."
The ORFU board is studying the applications in detail before it decides on a shortlist for interviews.
"It is very important to get the decision right," Graham said.
"We want to make sure we get the right person.
"We will probably make an announcement about our plans in the next day or two.
"Our preferred option is someone who is locally known and has the blue and gold in their veins. We would prefer to get a person who knows the province.
"If we can't find the right person locally we might have to spread our net a bit wider."
Graham said the union was also advertising for a person to work in a sales and marketing position. There were also two other positions to fill in finance and sales administration.
The rugby manager would oversee the game from the senior Otago side down to children.
He would not coach teams but would liaise with coaches, and be a part of player recruitment.
His job would be to look at the staffing levels of rugby-related positions when he starts. The union is expected to reduce its staff to 14 compared to the 36 fulltime staff it had at its peak in 2006.
