Appointed to the Treasury in the Ministry of the Economy and Finance in 1976, Noyer subsequently spent two years in Brussels from 1980 to 1982 at France's permanent representation to the European Communities.

Back at the Treasury, he held a range of posts dealing with both domestic issues (government cash and debt management, banking affairs, financing of industry and state-owned enterprises) and international affairs (multilateral issues, export financing).

Noyer was appointed Governor of the Bank of France in 2003 by then-President Jacques Chirac and confirmed for a second term by his successor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

In 2014, the daily newspaper Le Monde reported that Noyer had been considered to succeed Baudouin Prot as chairman of private bank BNP Paribas; the post instead went to Jean Lemierre.

[4][5] He also led France's successful bid to relocate the European Banking Authority to Paris in 2017.