Senior vice president of business performance will lead enterprise strategy efforts and organizational alignment across the national office
The NCAA has named Brian Higgins chief of staff, effective immediately. Higgins, who has served as NCAA senior vice president of business performance since September 2023, will help lead enterprise-wide strategic planning, organizational alignment and execution of national office priorities.
In his new role, Higgins will oversee development of the Association’s fiscal year 2027 business plan, as well as lead the executive affairs and research teams.
As chief of staff, Higgins will work closely with NCAA President Charlie Baker and senior leaders to strengthen organizational planning, connect departmental priorities to Association-wide goals and support execution of strategic initiatives across the national office.
“Brian has played a central role in helping us evaluate how we work, where we’re headed and how we can better serve our members,” Baker said. “His ability to connect strategy, operations and execution makes him exceptionally well suited for this position. As we develop our next business plan and continue to evolve as an organization, Brian will help ensure that our priorities are clear, aligned and actionable.”
Higgins brings more than 20 years of leadership, management and consulting experience across the public, private and nonprofit sectors.
Before joining the NCAA, Higgins worked at McKinsey & Co., where he helped organizations use data and analytics to improve decision-making and operational performance. His work included helping the state of Massachusetts manage its COVID-19 response, supporting recovery efforts following a major natural gas pipeline explosion and streamlining administrative processes for a large engineering firm.
Higgins first joined the NCAA as an independent contractor overseeing the national office business review before being named senior vice president of business performance. During his tenure, he has led initiatives focused on organizational effectiveness, operational performance and cross-functional collaboration across the national office.
Before his consulting career, Higgins served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for nearly 10 years, including three years aboard the USS Virginia attack submarine. He managed nuclear research and waste projects, served as a congressional and budget analyst for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and later oversaw ceremonial events at the White House as the Navy’s senior program manager for the White House Social Aide Program.
A former Division III student-athlete, Higgins played baseball at Washington and Lee, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in politics and Spanish. He also holds a master’s degree in political communications from Johns Hopkins and an MBA in finance and operations from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
