[1][2] With a wealth of experience in his field, he previously held the position of professor and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Big Data and Informatics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).

[5][6] In 2004, he became a professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal[7] and was awarded an Innovation Fund grant the following year to establish a Centre for Quantum Technology.

Petruccione went on to hold the position of South African Research Chair for Quantum Information Processing and Communication Technology in 2007.

In 2018, he was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor of Big Data and Informatics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) before moving to Stellenbosch University in 2022 as a professor of Physics and Quantum Computing as part of the Physics Department and the School of Data Science and Computational Thinking.

[8][9][3][2] In 2023 Petruccione was honored with the title of Cavaliere della Stella d'Italia, Order of the Star of Italy, at a function at the Italian Embassy in Cape Town, South Africa.