Culture. Purpose. Impact.

Good ideas.
Good people.
Things happen.

I bring cultural ideas to life. Connecting the vision, the people and the practical detail to make something that matters.

Based in Oxfordshire · Open to contract & permanent roles

Amanda Johnson smiling, wearing a dark pinstripe jacket with yellow accents
Creative thinking. Calm delivery.
Amanda JohnsonCultural strategy & leadership
Selected experience
in culture & storytelling
Nero Book Awards
Costa Book Awards
Women’s Prize for Fiction

The vision to shape it.
The experience to deliver it.

I work at the meeting point of culture, purpose and profile. As a senior cultural operator, I bring strategic direction, creative judgement and hands-on leadership to ambitious projects and organisations.

From the first conversation to the final detail, I hold the centre: aligning people, keeping momentum and turning ideas into reality.

01 / DIRECTION

Cultural strategy
& creative development

Finding the idea, shaping its purpose and building a clear route forward. Bringing focus to what an organisation wants to achieve, who it wants to reach and why it matters.

02 / DELIVERY

Project &
programme leadership

Leading awards, campaigns, programmes and live moments from concept to delivery. Bringing the structure, judgement and attention to detail that keep complex work moving.

03 / CONNECTION

People, partnerships
& shared purpose

Bringing talent, partners, stakeholders and teams together. Building trust, aligning expectations and creating the conditions for people to do their best work.

Behind the moments
that bring people together.

Leadership experience across some of the UK’s best-known literary awards, with skills that travel across arts, culture, entertainment and purpose-led work.

Nero Book Awards

Founding Director

Created and launched a new literary prize, bringing its vision, stakeholders and inaugural awards ceremony together.

Costa Book Awards

Director
Previously Publicity Director

Led the awards following 14 years as Publicity Director, combining cultural judgement, profile-building and programme delivery.

Women’s Prize for Fiction

Publicity & Project Director

Long-standing leadership spanning publicity, projects and events, connecting books, authors and audiences.

Keep a concise summary of my experience and what I bring.

Download my profile

Helping good people
do good things.

I’m a collaborator by instinct: someone who sees the bigger picture, asks the right questions and understands that a good idea needs people behind it.

I bring a calm, trusted presence to busy teams and complex projects. Comfortable with both strategy and the detail, I help people find clarity, make decisions and get things done.

My next chapter is about bringing that experience to cultural institutions, entertainment businesses, talent-led initiatives and organisations with a clear purpose.

Let’s talk

Working on something
that matters?

I welcome conversations about contract projects and permanent leadership roles across culture, entertainment and purpose-led organisations.

Good conversations
are a good place to start.

Based in Oxfordshire.

Download my profile
Direct contact details coming soon