[6] After starting her career as a local government administrator (1976-1980), Pénicaud held a number of management positions in non-profit organisations dedicated to young people (1981-1985).

[4] In this capacity, her responsibilities included prospecting international investments and helping French companies grow their exports in order to spur economic growth and create jobs.

[12] As Minister of Labour, she led several structural reforms that lead to a significant decrease of unemployment and inequality : the reform of the Labour law "For strengthening social dialogue" in 2017 and the law "For freedom to choose one's professional future" in 2018, which fostered apprenticeship, created a right for life-long learning for all workers through a personal training account,[13] and enhanced equal pay between men and women through the creation of the Gender Equality Index.

[3] That same year, she conducted discussions leading to the adoption of an unprecedented joint statement signed by the heads of the IMF, the OECD and the ILO on the reduction of inequalities for sustainable development.

[17] As Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the OECD from September 2020, Pénicaud carried the French initiative IPAC (International Program for Action on Climate) to support countries in measuring and implementing their commitments while taking into account the environmental, social and economic dimensions of the transition.

Nominated by France's government in September 2021, Pénicaud was one of five candidates to succeed Guy Ryder as Director-General of the International Labor Organization in March 2022,[19] alongside Gilbert Houngbo, Kang Kyung-wha, Mthunzi Mdwaba and Greg Vines.

[30] The French daily Libération claimed that Pénicaud was suspected of having provided a "truncated overview of the audit" to Business France's board of directors.

[31] As a human resources director at Danone in the 1990s, Pénicaud made $1.4 million from stock options while cutting 900 jobs in Europe, according to Bloomberg.