Godrej completed his schooling at the prominent Cathedral & John Connon School. He attended the Illinois Institute of Technology, studying mechanical engineering, and was appointed a director of Godrej & Boyce in 1974, becoming managing director in 1991 and chairman in 2000. In 2012, Godrej resigned from the board of Haldia Petrochemicals, prompting efforts by government of Bengal to retain him.

Jamshyd joined the Board of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited as a director in 1974. He led the group in the areas of home appliances, consumer durables, office equipment, industrial products, consumer products and services. He is currently the Chairman and Managing Director of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited. He is also the chairman of the CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre.

In 2003, he received India’s third highest civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan.

Godrej is on the boards of the World Resources Institute and Aspen Institute; in 2012, Forbes magazine named him one of the richest green billionaires on the basis of the valuable mangrove swamps the Godrej family has owned and preserved in Vikhroli, Mumbai. He is vice president of the World Wide Fund for Nature. In partnership with the World Resources Institute, whose Indian division he chairs, he has supported sustainable forms of public transport in India, including bus rapid transport schemes, through funding relevant institutions and lobbying the Ministry of Urban Development.