Gené began competing in karting, winning the Spanish Karting Championship in 1986. He immediately showed promise on four wheels, winning the Fiat Uno Championship in 1987 and the Spanish Formula Ford Championship in 1988. In 1989, he moved to England to compete in the British Formula Ford Championship, also contesting the Formula Ford Festival where he finished fourth.
Progressing to the British Formula 3 Championship, Gené spent two seasons in the series, finishing fourth in 1991 with West Surrey Racing in a Ralt-Honda. He attended the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort that year, finishing behind David Coulthard, and competed at the Macau Grand Prix and the Fuji Superprix, winning the latter.
With Marlboro backing, Gené entered Formula 3000 in 1992 alongside Laurent Aïello at Pacific Racing, winning the opening round at Silverstone and finishing fifth in the championship in a Reynard-Mugen. In 1993 he was involved in the Bravo F1 project, an attempt by former Spanish Formula One driver Adrián Campos to field a new constructor. The project collapsed after the sudden death of team owner Jean Mosnier and the car's failure to pass mandatory crash tests, though the entry did appear at the 1993 South African Grand Prix. Gené returned to Formula 3000 that year with TWR Jr. without scoring points.
A connection through Tom Walkinshaw led Gené to a test driver contract with Benetton for 1994, his third season in Formula 3000, this time with Nordic Racing on a Lola chassis.
Unable to reach Formula One, Gené returned to Spain and joined the Campeonato de España de Turismos. Driving for Opel as a works driver in 1995, he finished second in the championship. A switch to Audi in 1996 brought the title, with five victories.
In 2000 Gené entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP675 class, racing a Volkswagen-powered Reynard for the ROC team. In 2001 he returned with ROC and secured a class victory at Le Mans while also finishing fifth overall, a career highlight in sportscar racing. That year the team's Reynard-VW also won the LMP675 class at the 500km Most in the European Le Mans Series. Gené also won the Spanish GT Championship in 2003, co-driving a SEAT Toledo GT with Gines Vivancos.
Gené joined Roberto Ravaglia's BMW Team Italy-Spain in 2002 for the European Touring Car Championship, driving a BMW 320i and finishing eighth overall. He then joined SEAT's new ETCC programme from 2003. After a disappointing seventeenth place in 2003, he improved to eighth in 2004, claiming two podiums with the SEAT Toledo.
Gené raced in the WTCC with SEAT Sport from 2005, initially in the SEAT Toledo before switching to the new SEAT León mid-season. He secured a win late in 2005 and finished eleventh in the championship. Over subsequent seasons with SEAT he accumulated further podium finishes.
In 2009, he remained with SEAT Sport as part of an unchanged lineup. He took two podiums at the season-opening Race of Brazil and another at the inaugural Race of Morocco, where he passed teammate Yvan Muller on the final lap to take the position. However, the season was punctuated by incidents, including a first-lap start-line pile-up at the Race of the Czech Republic — caused by Augusto Farfus veering left — which eliminated Gené along with Andy Priaulx, Robert Huff, and Nicola Larini. He finished the 2009 season eighth in the drivers' championship, with a podium in Race 1 at Macau.
Following SEAT Sport's withdrawal from factory competition after 2009, Gené joined the SEAT-supported customer team SR–Sport for 2010 alongside Gabriele Tarquini, Tiago Monteiro, and Tom Coronel. He qualified second at the season opener and took a second place in Race 2. At the Race of Belgium he won Race 1 but was subsequently disqualified for a technical infringement, handing the win to Tarquini. He finished the season twelfth in the standings and did not return for the Race of Japan onwards after being replaced by Michaël Rossi.
In 1998 and 1999 Gené briefly competed in the European Truck Racing Cup, driving for the Cepsa MAN team. In 2012 he moved to the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship with Volkswagen Team Biogas, driving a Volkswagen Scirocco. His best result was a second place at Åre Östersund Airport, finishing seventh overall as teammate Johan Kristoffersson won the championship.
Jordi Gené built a career spanning karting, single-seaters, sportscars, and multiple touring car championships across Europe. His most consistent period was with SEAT Sport in the WTCC, where he was a regular points scorer and occasional winner. His 2001 class victory at Le Mans remains one of the notable achievements of his sportscar appearances.