[citation needed] While holding a research director position with the CNRS in France, Yazami served as a visiting associate at the California Institute of Technology between 2000 and 2010.

He was promoted in 2012 to the Cheng Tsang Man Chair Professor in Energy at the School of Materials Science and Engineering of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

He served as the Director of Battery Programs at the Energy Research Institute (ERIAN) and as a Co-Principal Investigator in TUM Create Center of Electromobility lab.

More recently, Yazami invented a new method enabling ultra-fast charging (UFC) lithium ion batteries in 10 minutes and below.

He is the main Founder of CFX Battery, Inc. (now Contour Energy Systems, Inc.) a Caltech-CNRS start-up company in Azusa, California and of KVI PTE LTD in Singapore.

[6][1] In 2014, Rachid Yazami, John Goodenough, Yoshio Nishi, and Akira Yoshino were awarded the Draper Prize by The National Academy of Engineering for pioneering and leading the groundwork for today’s lithium-ion battery.

Yazami received the Royal Medal (Wissam Malaki) of Intellectual Competency from HM the King of Morocco Mohamed VI, during Throne Day on 30 July 2014.

[10] In March 2016, Rachid Yazami received an award as a finalist of the Marius Lavet Prize of Inventing-Engineers in Paris, France.

In November 2018, Yazami was the recipient of the Takreem Award for Science and Technological Achievement considered as the Arab Scientist of the year.

In December 2023, Yazami was awarded the VinFuture Grand Prize in Hanoi, along with M. Stanley Whittingham, Martin Green, and Akira Yoshino.

Due to the Nobel Prize's limitation of up to three recipients, Yazami believes the committee had to make a difficult decision between Whittingham and himself.