Kireet Kumar started his professional career in 1986 through a World Bank sponsored Kanpur Urban Development project focusing on water and wastewater management. He, then worked with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi till Feb 1991 on aspects of environmental quality management; Environmental Impact Assessment; Development of emission and effluent standards for asbestos and mini cement plants, stone crushers etc.
In 1991, he joined G B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development to serve the Himalayas where he developed the monitoring network of permanent Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and weather profilers across Indian Himalaya in collaboration with MoES and CSIR. He played key role in establishment of Glacier Study Centre of the Institute to study the glacier response to climate change. He has been involved in various other projects and consultancies related to land and water management in Indian Himalaya under Watershed Processes and Management (WPM) and Knowledge Products and Capacity Building (KCB) themes of the Institute, as a scientist and Group Head. His accomplishments include technical paper (60+) and policy documents (10+) on climate change assessment, environmental hydrology and water management, catchment area management plan for augmentation of spring water flow, Village Environment Action Plan (VEAP) for resource planning, valuation of water (ecological and economic aspects), guidelines for rain water harvesting and location planning for buildings, etc.
After obtaining Master of Technology (M. Tech.) in Environmental Engineering from I.I.T. Kanpur in 1986 he has been professionally trained on project management, EIA studies, and GPS surveys and glaciology.