Sam Johnson OAM will step into the high-level role at the council in July, with a career in local government spanning more than a decade.

Mr Johnson said he had noticed a "happy, positive, vibrant" energy to Launceston, something he felt he could match from day one.

"There's no secret that I am rather energetic as a human being in my personal life and my professional life," he said.

"I like to be where I can add value and actually get things done and Launceston certainly stood out to me as somewhere that's going places.

"I'd love to be part of that journey, and help lead part of that journey for both the organization and the community, as well as supporting the mayor and the elected members to make it happen."

Mayor Matthew Garwood said nearly 40 people had applied for the position, however Mr Johnson had a certain quality to him that put him head and shoulders above the rest - with councillors unanimously endorsing his appointment.

The mayor said the city was at a "teetering point", with several large-scale projects in the works, and Mr Johnson's appointment would bring the city to its "next best self".

"Something that stood out with Sam in particular was the way in which he will resonate with our Launceston community," Cr Garwood said.

"It's the way that his energy will feed into the energy, the want and the need for outcomes, for proactiveness around a council that, as all local governments are, is being stretched further than it's ever been stretched before.

"The gaps in governance are becoming wider and wider."

Mr Johnson has had a long career on both sides of local government, and previously worked in finance.

He was elected to the City of Port Augusta council in 2010, and was elected mayor in 2013 after the death of his predecessor.

He had an unsuccessful tilt at the South Australian Legislative Council in 2018, contesting the election on behalf of former Senator Nick Xenophon's SA-Best party.

Although the party won two upper house seats that election, Mr Johnson was third on the ticket and missed out.

He then lost his mayoral seat at the 2018 local government elections by a slim margin.

He was appointed chief executive officer at the District Council of Mount Remarkable in 2020, and in 2021 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the local government sector.

Mr Johnson said this experience as elected representative and administrator gave him a solid foundation to work from, and he would not necessarily be a "traditional public servant".

"It helps me to understand elected members," he said.

"Where they're sitting within the chamber, their decision-making process and maybe some of the information they feel they might need."

He said he would offer nothing but "frank and fearless advice" to councillors, and he felt his role was to help the elected representatives achieve what they believed the public had elected them to do.

This included - once he had found his feet - further fleshing out the council's priorities and strategic direction for the future.

"I fully respect and appreciate that the chamber needs to set its strategy and its strategic direction," Mr Johnson said.

"There's some great work we can do in the immediate future around really cementing in what that strategic direction would look like for Launceston moving forward.

"Once the chamber's landed on where it feels it wants to move Launceston in the coming few years, then I can mobilize the organization to help execute and deliver on that plan."