Anne-Marie Descôtes graduated from the École Normale Supérieure, l’ENA, holds an advanced teaching qualification (agrégation) in German, a post-graduate diploma in Germanic and Scandinavian Studies and a BA degree in Art and Archeology.

First appointed to the European Cooperation Directorate of the French MoFA, responsible for Community external relations, then Community internal affairs (1995-1997), she then became Advisor to Pierre Moscovici, Minister Delegate for European Affairs (1997-2001). In 2001, she worked at France's Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels, then for Central and South-East Europe from July 2004.  She was Counsellor for Europe and the former Soviet Union at the French Embassy to the USA (2005-2008), then Executive Director of the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) from 2008 to 2013. She was appointed Director-General for Global Affairs, Culture, Education and International Development on August 2013, responsible for economic diplomacy, sustainable development, climate policy and all aspects of political outreach.