Rick Roper is the Executive Vice President of Business Solutions for HigherEchelon (HE). In this capacity, he oversees the business development and proposal efforts across HE’s six business segments including: Human Capital Services, Salesforce, Gaming and Simulations, Cyber Training, Engineering Services, and Enterprise Technology. As a seasoned member of the HigherEchelon team, Rick previously stood up HE’s first business segment—Human Capital Services (HCS), where he was responsible for sales, operations, and marketing to government and commercial clients across the country. Under his supervision, the segment secured several of HE’s first multi-million dollar government prime contracts, nearly doubled the segment’s year over year growth in the government sector, and revitalized the HCS commercial practice resulting in the largest commercial growth in the company’s history. Operationally, the HCS segment expanded its complement of services and capabilities in support of a broad portfolio of government and commercial clients nation-wide. While doing so, his team consistently averaged exceptional customer ratings, managed innovative, award winning programs, and demonstrated value and effectiveness as a trusted partner in organizational excellence. Additionally, Rick was instrumental in designing the company’s approach to organizational performance, which ultimately provided a cohesive identity integrating HigherEchelon’s six business segments.
In addition to his time with HigherEchelon, Rick has a diverse background with more than 20 years of applied leadership and operational experience as an officer in the U.S. Army. As a former college athlete, he was an early student in West Point’s Center for Enhanced Performance, which oriented on mental skills and high performance training, which currently forms the foundation of HigherEchelon’s Human Capital Services segment. He taught undergraduate studies at West Point—one of the nation’s most renowned leadership institutions. Subsequently, while serving as Director of Operations and later as Chief of Staff, he established leader development programs and oversaw the strategic planning, training management, process improvement, and program/project management for organizations consisting of several hundred to several thousand people.
Rick has also served in advisory positions helping leaders overcome systemic organizational problems related to human resources, supply chain management, and operations. Later, he was an assistant professor at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College, which is a graduate-level institution focused on leader development and education. There, he developed curriculum and learning solutions focused on design, critical thinking, training management, and problem solving for students who have gone on to serve in executive positions world-wide.
Rick is a 1995 graduate of West Point and earned a master’s degree from Central Michigan University.