[3][4][5] Prior to her work with Harris during the 2020 election and with the Biden–Harris administration, Jean-Pierre was the senior advisor and national spokeswoman for the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org.

She was also previously a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and a lecturer in international and public affairs at Columbia University.

[10] Her mother worked as a home health aide and was active in her Pentecostal church,[11] while her father was a taxi driver,[10] who had trained as an engineer.

Jean-Pierre was often responsible for caring for her siblings, eight and ten years younger, because both parents worked six or seven days per week.

[10] Following graduate school, Jean-Pierre worked as the director of legislative and budget affairs for New York City councilor James F. Gennaro.

[17][4] In 2006, she was hired as the outreach coordinator for Walmart Watch in Washington, D.C.[10] She joined the Columbia University faculty in 2014, where she is a lecturer in international and public affairs.

She joined the Biden team in May 2020, and explained to The Haitian Times that a desire to shape the future was especially motivating; she said that when she was approached by the campaign, she looked at her daughter and thought, "There is no way I can not get involved in this election.

[2] During her tenure, Jean-Pierre often responded to press questions by citing the Hatch Act, a law which forbids civil-service employees from engaging in political action while on the job.

[33][34] In June 2023, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the government agency that enforces the Hatch Act, stated in a letter that Jean-Pierre had violated the act in briefings before the 2022 midterm election, in which she repeatedly made references to "MAGA Republicans",[33][34] and referred to candidates as "mega MAGA Republican officials who don't believe in the rule of law".

Jean-Pierre continued to run the joint press conferences with Kirby and select the reporters who would question him instead of letting him choose.

[43] On October 7, 2024, Jean-Pierre was promoted to a Senior Advisor position in the Biden administration, concurrent to her role as Press Secretary.

[44] After Hurricane Helene, Jean-Pierre suddenly ended a press conference, accusing journalists in spreading misinformation about FEMA funding through their questions.

Reporters described Jean-Pierre as lacking transparency and being evasive on the issue, and negatively compared her skill in handling such questions with her predecessor, Jen Psaki.