Gordon was appointed as the Australian Public Service Commissioner commencing 11 May 2023 and was previously the Secretary for Public Sector Reform. Prior to this Gordon was Professor of Economics, jointly appointed to the Crawford School of Public Policy and College of Business and Economics.

Gordon has extensive experience in public policy and administration in Australia, including as Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Energy (2013-17) and senior roles in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (including Associate Secretary of Domestic Policy Group and G20 Sherpa, 2008-13), Treasury (2002-08), ANU (Professor of Economics, 2000-02) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (1991-99).

He is committed to public value, high-quality policy and implementation, and effective government. Gordon has a PhD in economics from the Australian National University, and was awarded a Public Service Medal in 2011.