Professor Pettiford has worked at NTU as a lecturer, senior lecturer, deputy course leader, principal lecturer, course leader, learning and teaching coordinator, associate head of department, head of department and Associate Dean. He has had two spells as Acting Dean.
Professor Pettiford publishes extensively. This has included the following areas: environment, democratisation, Latin America, foreign policy, security, IR theory, terrorism, teaching practice, and football (away from NTU).
His most recent research has been looking at the role of the humanities’ disciplines in understanding the phenomenon of genocide.