Cont started his career as a CNRS researcher in applied mathematics at Ecole Polytechnique (France) in 1998 and held academic positions at Ecole Polytechnique, Columbia University and Imperial College London.

[10][11] Cont's research focuses on probability theory, stochastic analysis and mathematical modelling in finance.

[12] His mathematical work focuses on pathwise methods in stochastic analysis [13] and the Functional Ito calculus.

[23] He has given numerous media interviews[24] [25][26][27] [28] on issues related to systemic risk and financial regulation.

Cont was awarded the Louis Bachelier Prize by the French Academy of Sciences in 2010 for his work on mathematical modelling of financial markets.