Mr. Santosh Kumar Mohanty holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Utkal University and Bachelor of Law (LLB) from Mumbai University. He holds a master's degree in international studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a PG Diploma in securities Laws from Mumbai University. He started his career with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in 1985 and joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in 1991. He joined IRS as Assistant Commissioner of Income tax in September 1991 and became the commissioner of Income tax in November 2012 and held the position till May 2013. In May 2013, he joined Forward Markets Commission (FMC) on deputation and served there as a Director till September 2015.

Subsequently he joined the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on deputation as an Executive Director on 29th September 2015 and became a Whole Time Member (WTM) of SEBI in June 2018 and held the said position till June 23, 2023. He is currently a Director of Acuite Ratings & Research Limited, L G Electronics India Limited, SBI CDMDF Trustee Private Limited, Computer Age Management Services Limited and Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Limited.