Rebecca Murray is an experienced executive, strategy specialist, and board director and chair of Australian and international companies.

With 25 years’ experience in designing and leading institution-wide strategy, new commercial ventures and business development opportunities in the higher education sector, Rebecca was the University of Sydney’s Vice-President (Strategy) from 2016 to 2023; a globally recognised Australian research-intensive university.

She has served as principal advisor to three Vice-Chancellors on matters of organisational strategy, performance, transformation and change; and established the University of Sydney’s first Strategy, Planning and Analytics Portfolio to support the complete life cycle of strategy design and execution.

Rebecca has spent her career working in the higher education, research and international development sectors, collaborating with colleagues across the most comprehensive range of academic disciplines to translate their work into strategies, project proposals, and commercial opportunities. She has written and led bids and commercial business cases valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, and has a very strong record of success, whether for significant new research infrastructure or international humanitarian aid programs.

Highly skilled in planning and executing complex strategic programs, organisational design and the building of team capabilities, systems and technologies, she is a creative leader with strong collaborative, negotiation and relationship-building skills. Rebecca is comfortable
working in a wide range of settings, with diverse teams and groups, and together with government, industry and community organisations. She is an active mentor and enjoys supporting others to succeed in their work.

Rebecca is an experienced board director and chair of Australian and international companies, with an appreciation of the role of strategy from both a management and board perspective.