Born in Casablanca, Morocco to Portuguese parents, Jacques arrived in the Primeira Liga with S.C. Farense.
Famalicão, he returned to the top flight with S.C. Braga ahead of the 1979–80 campaign; his performances there attracted the attention of FC Porto, still without Fernando Gomes who had left for a two-year "exile" at Sporting de Gijón in Spain.
Jacques topped the scoring charts at 27 goals in his first season at the Estádio das Antas, although the team came out empty in silverware.
[1] Such performances earned him his sole cap for Portugal, which consisted of 45 minutes in a 5–2 friendly loss to Bulgaria in Haskovo.
Jacques died on 3 November 2020 in his home of Vila Real de Santo António, from heart failure.