Strategy · Operations · Transformation

I help complex institutions deliver by building the systems behind them.

An operations leader who builds the system and drives the growth in large, complex institutions.

Fifteen years across Monash and RMIT. Director / General Manager, with a Chief Operating Officer trajectory. Focused on higher education and government.

CJ
Courtney Johnson
Melbourne, Australia

I have spent my career in public institutions because they matter. Universities, health services and government shape people's lives, and what drives me is making them work better, turning good intentions into systems that actually deliver for the communities they serve. I lead with rigour and calm, and I care as much about how a team feels as about what it delivers.

$372M
Earned media value
+16%
Int'l growth
55.5%
Accept-to-enrol
$300M
Portfolio influence
64k
Open Day attendees
62+
Team led
The approach
Most leaders grow the numbers or run the operation. I do both.

Growth & reputation

$372M earned-media value and 1.355 billion reach in a single year. 16% international growth and 55.5% accept-to-enrol conversion in a softening market.

The operating system

Planning frameworks, governance, workforce dashboards and the executive cadence that make institutions decide and deliver. Mine become the standing operating rhythm.

Leadership through complexity

Calm and clear through restructures, crises and competing agendas. A trusted adviser to Deans and executives, and the person who keeps people informed and moving when it matters most.

Selected engagements
A measured record of outcomes.
Monash · Information Technology

Demand & conversion in a declining market

Led marketing, communications and engagement through persona design, segmentation and international diversification (UAE +94%, Taiwan +47%, Vietnam +36%).

55.5% accept-to-enrol conversion · demand +4.3% year on year
Monash · Health Sciences

The faculty operating system

Lead the Faculty Plan 2026: executive roadmaps, planning cadence, workforce dashboards, RACI and governance for a large, complex faculty.

Adopted as the faculty's standing operating rhythm
Monash · Engagement Services

Growth and governance at scale

Led 22 staff plus 40 dotted-line on a $2M+ budget; built the planning and reporting cadence across a $300M portfolio.

+16% international to 1,285 · South Korea +200% · $372M earned media
Leadership · Culture

Project Lightbulb

Designed and led a staff-driven continuous-improvement programme embedding innovation into everyday work.

+20% staff engagement · 10 internal promotions
How I lead
The metrics matter. So does how they get made.

People first, always

I care as much about how a team feels as about what it delivers. Ten of my people earned promotions on my watch, because growing others is the work, not a by-product of it.

Calm in the hard moments

Restructures, crises, competing agendas. I bring steadiness and a clear plan when it matters most, and I keep people informed and moving through it.

Curious and hands-on

I would rather build the dashboard, test the AI agent and learn the system than delegate the understanding. It is how I know what actually works.

Recognition
Backed by those I've worked for.
2024
Leader of the Year, Monash Engagement Awards
2023
Dean's Award for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
2022
Exceptional Achievement Award
2017
Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Leadership
MBA
Global Executive MBA, Future Executive Leader Scholar

Open to what comes next.

I am looking for the next place to do work that matters, senior leadership roles where strategy, operations and growth come together, at Director, General Manager and Chief level.