Pattison is currently the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. In 2004, Pattison succeeded John Webster who took up the professorship in systematic theology at the University of Aberdeen. Before moving to Oxford, Pattison was an associate professor at the University of Århus (2002–03) and previously the Dean of King's College, Cambridge (1991–2001).
Pattison's works range from historical, theological and philosophical engagement with the works of Hans L. Martenson, Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger and Fyodor Dostoyevsky to theological studies of the aesthetics of film and the visual arts. His latest work has engaged with philosophical notions of ontology, entering into the discussion about whether it is meaningful or helpful to speak of God in terms of "being".