Haus der Kunst, 2003–2011

From 2003 to 2011 Dercon served as the director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich.^[10] In his first year, he notably invited Ydessa Hendeles to co-curate Partners, combining work by Diane Arbus, Maurizio Cattelan, James Coleman, Hanne Darboven, Walker Evans, Luciano Fabro, On Kawara, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Giulio Paolini, Jeff Wall and Lawrence Weiner^[11] with Hendeles's own artwork Partners (The Teddy Bear Project) (2002), a large-scale installation built around an archive of family-album photographs, each including the image of a teddy bear.^[12]

Tate Modern, 2011–2016

Dercon was appointed director of the Tate Modern in London in 2011 where he stayed until 2016.^[3][13] In his position as Tate Modern director, he succeeded Vicente Todolí^[8] ranking second to Sir Nicholas Serota.^[14] During his tenure, he oversaw the opening of the museum's first dedicated space to live art and installations as part of plans to explore new areas of visual culture like video, photography and performance art.^[15]

Whilst at Tate Modern, Dercon sat on the committee which chose Ferran Barenblit to be the new Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) in 2015.^[16]

Volksbühne, 2017–2018

Nominated by Berlin's State Secretary for Cultural Affairs Tim Renner in 2015, Dercon was appointed general director of the Volksbühne Berlin from 2017^[17] until 2018, succeeding Frank Castorf.^[18][19] His first season began with a wide variety of productions including a 10-hour dance event in which the audience were asked to join in, and an installation by filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul.^[19] But the first major world premiere of Dercon's tenure, a new play by Albert Serra, who had not previously worked in the theater, was panned by critics.^[19] He experienced the fierce opposition of part of the Berlin scene, that considered that Dercon's appointment was a betrayal of the theater’s roots. Only six months after arriving, he quit the position. Klaus Lederer, Berlin’s senator for culture, said in a statement that Dercon failed in his vision for the Volksbühne.^[20]

Grand Palais, 2019–2022

From 2019 Dercon was the President of the Association of French National Museums-Grand Palais for an initial five-year term, where he oversaw the renovation of the Grand Palais,^[21][22] working with François Chatillon.^[23]

Dercon served on the jury which selected Kapwani Kiwanga as winner of the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2020.^[24] In 2021, he was a member of the search committee that recommended Elvira Dyangani Ose to be the next director of MACBA.^[25]

Fondation Cartier, 2022–present

In 2022, Dercon was appointed director of the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain.^[26]