In the 1980s he held various posts within the French Tax Administration, including Head of Tax Legislation and Director General of Taxes. In May 1995, he was appointed Chief of Cabinet of the French Ministry of Economy and Finances and become Head of Treasury in October later that year. Before being appointed at the helm of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 2000, he was a member of the European Monetary Committee (1995-1998), President of the European Economic and Financial Committee (1999-2000) and Chairman of the Paris Club (1999-2000). He served as President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development until 2008. He is member of the International Advisory Panel (IAP) for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). He was Senior Advisor to the Chairman of BNP Paribas between 1 September 2008 and 30 November 2014. On 1 December 2014, Jean Lemierre became Chairman of BNP Paribas. He is also Chairman of the main French institute for research into international economics (CEPII), a member of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and in May 2016, he was elected Member of the Board of Directors of TOTAL Energies.