Rick Higley is a Managing Director at The High Center. Rick has over 27 years of successful experience at a large multinational company, having held assignments in the US and Switzerland with responsibilities in North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. Rick is a proven professional with the rare combination of global experience in operations, supply chain, current Good Manufacturing Practices, technical supply, and team development within a highly regulated environment.
In his various roles, Rick continuously accepted new challenges and developed efficient processes. He and his team have identified and implemented efficiency improvements and cost-saving opportunities that have consistently delivered hard savings. His organization went through multiple, highly scrutinizing, internal audits and successfully passed each one. He also actively participated in the due diligence process associated with potential acquisition partners. Rick is a leader who is focused on results with the demonstrated ability to manage change while establishing functional excellence aligned to key business objectives.
Rick was responsible for directing the implementation of new product developments and product technical transfers for global products supplied to the affiliates within the Asia Pacific region. He led the Asia Pacific product supply organization through a major acquisition ($14 billion globally) by providing expertise in all areas of supply and fully integrating the two businesses.
Rick was positioned as both the primary escalation point for issues within his organization and the key resource for Country Division Heads and Global Category Business Units for topics related to supply. In his most recent role, he worked closely with approximately 200 global sites including privately held and family-owned businesses to ensure a robust, compliant, and reliable external supply network.
Rick initially started as a contract employee working as a material handler on the packaging lines. He recognized the importance of developing himself, exhibiting the initiative that resulted in significant professional advancement. Rick quickly realized the value of translating that same drive to developing others. He is skilled at identifying, attracting, and developing talent to create a strong organization. Rick is highly motivated to lift family owned and privately held businesses to new heights by sharing his knowledge and expertise.
