Born in Porto Calvo, Alagoas, Willian José started his career at local CRB's youth setup, before joining Grêmio Barueri in 2008, aged 17.

[10] After scoring a hat-trick in a 3–2 win at Recreativo de Huelva,[11] he was called up for the main squad and was on the bench for the matches against Real Sociedad and UD Almería.

He also scored braces against UD Las Palmas (3–5 away defeat) and Girona FC (4–1 away win), finishing the campaign with ten goals as his side missed out promotion in the play-offs.

[15] He made his debut on 21 August as the season began with a 3–0 home loss to Real Madrid, replacing David Concha after 55 minutes after starting on the bench due to fitness.

[18] Willian José scored four goals on 19 October 2017 in a 6–0 win away to FK Vardar of Macedonia in the Europa League group stage, though his team did not advance.

[20] On 23 January 2021, Willian José joined Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers for the remainder of the 2020–21 season, with the option to make the deal permanent at its conclusion.

[21] He made his first appearance for Wolves as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 27 January, making a vital headed clearance of a goal-bound shot from Kai Havertz in the last minute of added time.

[22][23] He made his first start in the next game away to Crystal Palace three days later,[24] and on 17 April he scored his only Wolves goal in a 1–0 home league win over Sheffield United, sealing the Blades' relegation to the EFL Championship.

[26] He made his debut on 13 September in a 2–1 win at fellow Andalusians Granada, as a half-time substitute for Borja Iglesias;[27][28] six days later he started and scored in the first five minutes of a 2–2 home draw with Espanyol.

[42] In 2011, Willian José was a member of both the FIFA U-20 World Cup and South American Youth Championship winning squads with Brazil, scoring twice in the former and thrice in the latter.