He was previously State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance under Minister Olaf Scholz in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021.

Schmidt then served a two-year legal clerkship term at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court until 2002, when he completed his second state examination.

[citation needed] In the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Schmidt again served as Scholz's chief of staff at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

[4] Schmidt joined the youth organization of the Social Democratic Party, called the Jusos, in 1989 due to his interest in the third world.

[13] In October 2023, Schmidt participated in the first joint cabinet retreat of the German and French governments in Hamburg, chaired by Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron.