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 (2025)
+16%
Int'l growth
55.5%
Accept-to-enrol
$300M
Portfolio influence
64k
Open Day attendees
62+
Team led (22 direct / 40 dotted-line)
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
Faculty of IT ↗
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
More on LinkedIn ↗
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 · $1M philanthropy · $300K+ new revenue
See a site I delivered ↗
Leadership · Culture

Project Lightbulb

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

+20% staff engagement · 10 internal promotions
More on LinkedIn ↗
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.

In their words
What the people I have worked with say.

“Courtney is a great communicator: positive, enthusiastic and clear. She is willing to take on challenges. She developed a strategy and a robust business case to grow our pipeline. It was brave, but well thought through, and showed the impact of investment in the right areas.”

General Manager, Faculty of IT, Monash University

“Courtney is at her best doing transformation and strategic change. She has evolved our team to be collaborative, and introduced new ways of working that put us ahead of other faculties.”

Senior team member, Monash University

“You support, challenge and push us to be our best by being so inclusive. There is no micro-managing; you foster growth and genuine camaraderie. You are certainly the best manager I have had.”

Direct report, Monash University
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.