A soldier in his youth, Jiang rose through the ranks through his work in the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party.
In July 1995 he was elevated to deputy director of the General Office (vice-minister rank), and the head of the department of administration for organizations directly subordinate to the Central Committee.
In June 2006, he was again transferred to Beijing to serve as the executive vice president and Party Group Secretary of the National School of Administration (minister-level).
[1] In the lead-up to the 18th Party Congress, there was initial speculation that Jiang would be named head of the Organization Department and enter the Politburo; however he ultimately remained in Shandong.
He left the post in April 2017 and became a vice-chair on the National People's Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee; at the time, Jiang was the longest serving provincial-level party chief in the country, and one of the few provincial party chiefs to be serving in their native province (see also Han Zheng).