Born in Rio de Janeiro, Zé Ricardo represented São Cristóvão and Olaria as a youth, but retired at early age.

[3] On 26 May 2016, Zé Ricardo was appointed as caretaker of the first team, after Muricy Ramalho resigned due to health problems.

[7][8] On 22 August 2017, just two weeks after departing Flamengo, Zé Ricardo took charge of fellow state club Vasco da Gama.

[10] On 4 August 2018, Zé Ricardo was appointed manager of Botafogo still in his native state, in the place of fired Marcos Paquetá.

[14] After leaving Internacional, Zé Ricardo spent a year in Italy studying, and was appointed manager of Qatar SC on 14 June 2021.

[16] On 4 December 2021, Zé Ricardo returned to Vasco da Gama after being named manager of the club for the 2022 campaign.

[18] Following the dismissal of Hiroaki Hiraoka in the middle of the 2022 J1 League season, Zé Ricardo was appointed manager of Shimizu S-Pulse.