Gene began his career in social housing managing hostels for ex-offenders in London in 1985 subsequently becoming Director of Housing with an Irish Housing Association before returning to Dublin in 2001 to take up the post of Housing Development Manager with Dublin Docklands Development Authority. He was then recruited to become the Chief Executive of the Iveagh Trust, the longest established provider of social housing in Ireland. During this time he held a number of elected positions both in Ireland and Brussels which include President and Vice Pesident of the Irish Council for Social Housing, Vice President of the Not for Profit sector and Chairman of the Economic Finance and Internal Markets Committee of Housing Europe, the Brussels based federation of social, public and co-operative housing bodies who collectively house 25 million tenants across Europe. Gene retired in 2019.

Gene joined the Board of Dublin Simon Community in April 2020 and is Chair of the Property & Development committee.