He began his career in research at the University of Louvain, then in 1985
joined Saint Gobain. In 1989 he went to Valeo as a product/process engineer and then held various positions in purchasing before being named Purchasing Director of the Clutch Division in Amiens in 1996. He joined Renault in 1999 as head of the Supplier Performance Analysis
Department and was appointed Cost Price Director in 2003. In addition to this function, in 2005, he was named head of the cross-functional team on competitive local integration and global sourcing.

Since March 2008 Christian Vandenhende has been Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organization Director for Chassis, in the Purchasing Department. On March 1, 2009 he became Senior Vice President, Purchasing, and Chairman of RNPO.