In January 2015, Collier was appointed as Senior Advisor to VA Secretary Bob McDonald at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs where he led public-private partnerships for the agency.

Collier attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he played hockey and earned a BS in general engineering in 1979.

As a captain, in his final military assignment at the High Technology Test Bed in Fort Lewis, Washington, Collier became the youngest program manager in the Army.

Collier received word of a major oil spill on the Flint River; attended a previously planned (by the previous administration) press conference with the then-Governor of Michigan, James Blanchard; discovered that the news media had received the first "news leak" of his administration; and attended a dinner party with the private knowledge of a death-threat phoned into his office against him.

At the end of his eventful first day, Collier watched the local evening news and learned of a politically motivated recall effort initiated against him.

Collier negotiated a new contract in conjunction with Genesee County officials to reduce water costs and increase efficiency for Flint residents.

In 1989, midway through Collier's four-year term in office, Roger & Me, a film directed by Flint native Michael Moore, premiered nationally.

Prior to his stint at Sensors, Collier worked as the US Distributor Sales Manager for a UK-based labeling and coding equipment manufacturer, Willett America, with its US base of operations in Atlanta, Georgia.

[9] In 1997, Collier became the president (and later, part owner) of SAFER Systems, a Camarillo, California–based software company that graphically depicts 3D gas plumes in the aftermath of a hazardous material spill.