James Cook University
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    James Cook University
    (64 reviews)
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    Company Reviews

    Working at James Cook University

    3.064 ratings in total
    5
    13
    4
    13
    3
    13
    2
    13
    1
    12
    90%
    Rate salary as high or average
    58%
    Employees recommend this employer to friends
    Work/Life balance
    3.5(64 ratings)
    Career development
    2.7(64 ratings)
    Benefits & perks
    3.2(64 ratings)
    Management
    2.4(64 ratings)
    Working environment
    3.1(64 ratings)
    Diversity & equal opportunity
    3.5(64 ratings)
    Ratings for James Cook University are shared as-is from employees in line with our community guidelines

    Reviews

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    5.0
    Manager
    Feb 2026
    Townsville QLD 48108 to 9 years in the role, current employee
    I've not only grown personally but professionally and JCU acknowledges staff contribution.
    The good thingsGreat to be part of an amazing community that drives positive change through innovation and research and helps develop our future leaders.
    The challengesAll workplaces have their challenges though being part of a great community helps you ride the waves.
    1 person found this helpful
    1.0
    ESTAE
    Feb 2026
    Townsville QLD 48109 to 10 years in the role, current employee
    Old friends are running the show
    The good thingssome staff members ok
    The challenges“Management has no idea how to run facility maintenance. Old friends are running the show—if you are not part of the pack, the wolves will destroy you.”
    3 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Senior Scientific Officer
    Feb 2025
    Townsville QLD 48101 to 2 years in the role, current employee
    Great with nice and supportive colleagues
    The good thingsThe flexibility of working hours
    The challengesConstant search of funds in contracted research
    1.0
    Administration Officer
    Sep 2024
    Douglas QLD 48145 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    Woeful treatment by senior management and HR. Avoid.
    The good thingsThey're a big employer with many vacant positions. Getting into a position isn't that hard.
    The challengesThe toxic senior management and HR staff. It's run as a "boy's club" mentality. Senior management really are not in touch with regular staff, with HR being woeful and unethical in their dealing with staff issues caused directly by poor management. Outcomes are determined before "investigations" even begin, creating a hostile and tense culture amongst staff.
    6 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Academic
    Apr 2024
    Townsville QLD 48109 to 10 years in the role, former employee
    Good to work with students but dealing with toxic staff an ongoing issue.
    The good thingsWorking with students and teaching them
    The challengesPoor management Toxic staff rewarded at the expense of good staff. Gossiping and undermining of staff by others a common occurrence Constant changes and fear of redundancy Policies adhered to in an ad hoc manner
    5 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Administration Role
    Mar 2024
    Cairns QLD 48705 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    Some real highs and lows.
    The good thingsGreat physical location and meaningful work.
    The challengesWeak senior leadership, decision making is poor, best people have left - the others remain.
    5 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Tutor Qualified
    Jan 2024
    Cairns QLD 48705 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    Worthwhile experience, but lacks certainty
    The good thingsWorking with students is great. Staff were typically nice, but often political
    The challengesUncertainty, little confidence that changes would be beneficial. Embedded management culture self-perpetuating, unlikely to change.
    2 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Academic
    Feb 2023
    former employee
    Keep your work-life balance boundaries strong
    The good thingsTeam members were great to work with, work-life balance was what you made it and was good when your team members were helping keep you accountable. Felt freedom in what I was doing as part of my role, and learned to advocate for myself and others
    The challengesManagement was not great most of the time and kept forgetting what my role was. They were unprofessional and pushed your work-life balance boundaries a lot so that more could get done. Limited development opportunities outside of free courses. I was getting paid less than the rest of the team but doing the same amount of work, and the only way I could get a pay rise was to do extra post-grad study on top of my already large workload.
    5 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Education Manager
    Mar 2021
    5 to 6 years in the role
    JCU is a great place to work.
    The good thingsPay rate, work flexibility, security and most colleagues are wonderful people to work with.
    The challengesOvertime and HR changes being acknowledged and formalised quickly.
    1 person found this helpful
    2.0
    Human Resources Adviser
    Mar 2020
    Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Tightly run ship
    The good thingsExcellent use of technology.
    The challengesGossip and despair from others of being overlooked for promotions.
    5 people found this helpful
    5.0
    Examination Supervisor
    Mar 2020
    3 to 4 years in the role, current employee
    Respecting of diversity. Great team environment
    The good thingsHighly experienced supportive team who are willing to share knowledge and experiences.
    The challengesAlways expect the unexpected
    1 person found this helpful
    3.0
    Supervisor
    Mar 2020
    3 to 4 years in the role, current employee
    Love the job and people I work with, but the laid back work style of some workers can produce challenges.
    The good thingsWork life balance and 21% superannuation
    The challengesGetting anyone to act in a timely manner.
    1 person found this helpful
    2.0
    Training Officer
    Mar 2020
    3 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    Bad taste in my mouth
    The good thingsGood % super for employees
    The challengesThey make it very difficult if you want flexibility
    2 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Student Services
    Mar 2020
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    I was grateful for the opportunity but leaving from my temp contract wasn't very pleasant.
    The good thingsI had a great associate director while I was there which made my experience very rewarding
    The challengesMy team had gone through a lot of change and they werent very settled or working as a team and a very high pressured environment. Some of my peers werent very nice or supportive. It can be a very toxic environment.
    5 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Finance Role
    Mar 2020
    Not pleasant environment.
    The good thingsLearning the systems and using them for other jobs, which you can't do because none uses their systems.
    The challengesPeople are very political and motivation is for furthering their own self above others.
    4 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Human Resources Manager
    Mar 2020
    5 to 6 years in the role, current employee
    JCU is a great place to work and I consider myself lucky to be part of the community.
    The good thingsWorking at JCU Townsville is beautiful - we are surrounded by native fauna and flora with so many lovely outdoor spaces to collaborate and work...there is always something happening on campus and it's great being surrounded by some very talented professionals who are leaders in their fields
    The challengesAs with any large and complex organisation there are bureaucratic challenges to navigate and in an environment of reduced funding change is slow and often difficult.
    5.0
    Marketing Role
    Feb 2020
    Great place to work, a beautiful campus and flexible working opportunities.
    The good thingsI love working for JCU. I've been able to progress my career through learning opportunities that I haven't had anywhere else. I've benefited from professional development offered through the university and my department. The support is accessible for employees who need it. I think it's great that JCU promote inclusivity and diversity through online modules which are engaging and easy to use.
    The challengesBeing a large organisation will always have its challenges however I find that being in the right team with management who are proactive helps break down the barriers and silos that many universities experience.
    5.0
    Communications and Engagement Officer
    Dec 2019
    Less than 1 year in the role, current employee
    I thoroughly enjoy my role at JCU and leave every day with a sense of accomplishment.
    The good thingsThe team is incredibly intelligent and talented. They have a wealth of knowledge that encourages me to continue striving for excellence in my everyday activities. Management are very welcoming and easy to talk to. The benefits are fantastic!
    The challengesI will never get bored in this role. It is fast paced and demanding and keeps me on my toes at all times, offering me more than enough opportunities to challenge my own skills progression.
    1 person found this helpful
    3.0
    Financial Officer
    Nov 2019
    You can do worse
    The good thingsWork life balance is great for people who want to start and finish early
    The challengesLack of support in career progression
    1 person found this helpful
    3.0
    N/A
    Nov 2019
    7 to 8 years in the role, current employee
    good perks but you won't go anywhere
    The good thingsGood leave and superannuation percentage
    The challengesNo career progression. People in management who shouldn't be.
    2 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Research Officer
    Nov 2019
    1 to 2 years in the role
    Part of team
    The good thingsTeam work scheduled work
    The challengesTight work New things
    2.0
    Administration Role
    Nov 2019
    Suppressive and exclusion if have different views than those that make or influence the decisions.
    The good thingsSome colleagues are great to work with and are hard working towards common goal
    The challengesLack of belief/faith/trust in management and decisions. Goalposts constantly being changed. Over promotion of toxic staff. Lack of empowering leaders.
    4 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Technical Officer
    Nov 2019
    3 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    The best job of my life, coupled with one of the worst working experiences of my life.
    The good thingsBig organisation with lots going on.
    The challengesThe people management and lack of follow-through by senior management.
    1 person found this helpful
    1.0
    Coordinator
    Sep 2019
    Disappointing
    The good thingsSuperannuation, some great people
    The challengesPoor leadership, managers with no management experience making decisions based on personal and not strategic outcomes, complete disregard for staff, no opportunities for career growth.
    4 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Academic Staff Member
    Aug 2019
    All Australia
    No work-life balance
    The good thingsHome to some amazingly dedicated and talented academics and researchers
    The challengesEver rising workload with no genuine consideration of work-life balance. Diminished productivity resulting from excessive number of meetings, growing administrative responsibilities and most notably, the tendency of newer inexperienced managers to micromanage staff, exhibit poor communication skills and show little support for experienced academic staff.
    3 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Research Assistant
    May 2019
    Enjoyed while there, but wouldn’t go back
    The good thingsWork life balance Working environment
    The challengesFunding Management
    1 person found this helpful
    3.0
    Administration Role
    Nov 2018
    1 to 2 years in the role, current employee
    Good pay, but that's the only perk
    The good thingsSalary levels are above average, super contribution is good
    The challengesThe management is poor, the working conditions are less than ideal - not very safe and nobody seems to care about their employees.
    2 people found this helpful
    5.0
    JCU Marketing
    Nov 2018
    Less than 1 year in the role, current employee
    Enjoyable, challenging and educational.
    The good thingsHuge variety of work means I get to learn something new very frequently. I have also undertaken a lot of training and been encouraged to further develop my skills.
    The challengesWorking in a large organisation can mean a lot of communication is needed between different departments, and sometimes this breaks down from one end or the other.
    2.0
    Researcher
    Aug 2018
    5 to 6 years in the role, current employee
    Great work life balance, very poor management
    The good thingsWork life balance is great!
    The challengesVery poor management, bad decisions made that impact the lower levels of staff and management don't seem to care
    1 person found this helpful
    5.0
    Human Resources
    Jun 2018
    current employee
    A diverse and equal opportunity for all to apply to work for a well established University in beauitful, sunny North Queensland
    The good thingsFlexible working arrangements, exceptional annual and parental leave benefits, generous superannuation employer contribution, perfect span of hours and days of week/ recognition for overtime, career progression
    The challengesAbility to be open to new ideas, changes and very slow to move forward in terms of process improvements, fixed term positions are heavily reliant on government funding and student number, car parking.
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