From 1981 to 1984, Mark Bray was employed by a National Department [Ministry] of Education project in Papua New Guinea. He was based at the University of Papua New Guinea, and provided in-service training in educational planning for officers at all levels of the system. This required considerable travel to all provinces, and he gained close acquaintance with the realities within the system.

Before moving to Papua New Guinea, Dr Bray taught in secondary schools in Kenya and Nigeria and at the University of Edinburgh. He had also been a consultant to the World Bank Fourth Primary Education Project in Pakistan, and had travelled extensively in both less developed and more developed countries.

Subsequently, Mark Bray moved to the University of Hong Kong where he currently holds the UNESCO Chair in Comparative Education. Between 2006 and 2010 he worked in Paris as Director of UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP).