Before his shit to the North Block, Pandey held the charge of Secretary of three Departments — Department of Investment & Public Asset Management (DIPAM), since 24 October 2019, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) since 01 August 2024 and Department of Personnel and Training since 04 November 2024. Both the DIPAM and DPE function under the Ministry of Finance.
A Masters in Economics from Panjab University, Chandigarh and an MBA from the University of Birmingham (UK), Pandey has also held many significant positions in the Union Government and State Government of Odisha, in addition to serving a stint in the Regional Office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
In the Union government, his previous positions included joint secretary, planning commission (now NITI Aayog), joint secretary, cabinet secretariat, and deputy secretary in the Ministry of Commerce.
Pandey also served as administrative head in the Departments of Health, General Administration, Commercial Taxes, Transport and Finance in the Odisha government. He also served as Executive Director of Odisha State Finance Corporation and Managing Director of Odisha Small Industries Corporation.