Jean-François is Chair and Nominations and Governance Committee Chair of Vodafone Group plc. He is a Non-Executive Director of Heineken Holding NV and a member of the Shareholders Committee of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA. He is also Chair of the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) and Division Chair Designate of Unilever plc.

In 2005, Jean-François was appointed CEO of Heineken NV and oversaw a 15-year period of significant growth, during which the company consolidated its position as the most geographically diverse brewer in the world, the largest in Europe and the second largest globally.

Starting at Heineken in 1984, Jean-François held a number of senior roles in Africa and Europe before joining the Executive Board in 2001, with worldwide responsibility for supply chain and technical services, as well as regional responsibility for the operating business in North West Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.

He was Non-Executive Director of Mondelez Inc. from 2010 till 2022 and its Lead Independent Director from 2020.

Jean-François also served on the Supervisory Board of the Dutch National Opera and Ballet from 2009 and as Chair from 2016 to 2021.