After attending the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (a college for senior civil servants), François David began his career in 1969 at the French Ministry for Finances. He chose to join the Department for Foreign Economic Relations (DREE), where he progressed through all the ranks, reaching the post of director in 1987. During that period, he was called to become a member of the Cabinet of the Ministry for Foreign Trade in 1978 and was called back again in 1986 to become the director of this Cabinet. With the political climate being particularly rich at that time, François David took part inter alia in GATT negotiations. In 1990, he left the Ministry to become international managing director of the company Aérospatiale.

In 1994, François David was appointed chairman of the newly privatised French company, Coface. He rapidly followed up privatisation with many other big changes; the first being the diversification of Coface's product lines. To complement the credit insurance offer, aimed particularly at export activities, he oversaw the development of new information and receivables management tools. He also worked to expand Coface on an international level. Today the company boasts offices in 66 countries.

François David is a board member of the following companies: Lagardère SCA, Areva, Vinci, Rexel.”