Soon after completing his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) Mr. Kirmani embarked upon a rewarding career, starting with a multi-national Oil Company (Caltex later Chevron Pakistan) in 1969 and worked for seven years in the United States, United Arab Emirates and Australia in different senior management positions in Marketing Operations, and Finance. In 1991, Mr. Kirmani became the first Pakistani to be elected as a Company Director of that multi-national company.

In April 1999, he joined Pakistan State Oil (PSO) as Deputy Managing Director and went on to become the Managing Director in July, 2001. He turned around this public sector organization and converted it into a customer focused entity, by giving it a new brand image and making it profitable while aggressively competing with multi national companies like Shell and Total. Innovative marketing strategies and cutting edge IT based systems contributed to PSO's success. This lead to an increased market share which it sustains to date owing to Mr. Kirmani' s vision and long term strategic thinking.

With PSO's successful turn-around and his 36 years of multi faceted experience in the corporate sector both domestic and international, the Government of Pakistan (GoP) appointed Mr. Tariq Kirmani, as Chairman, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in April, 2005. He served the airline for two years until April 2007 during which he introduced customer focus and identified and initiated implementation of programs in three key areas for improvement a) Fleet Renewal b) Employee Rationalization c) Systems & Processes through implementation of IT and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

Presently besides National Bank of Pakistan, Mr. Kirmani is serving as a Director on the Boards of Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan Power Infrastructure Board, Pakistan Sports Trust, Cupola Cares Foundation and the National Academy of Performing Arts.