Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila is not only a respected researcher but also a popular lecturer. He has taught at the University of Helsinki since 1984. In addition, he has given dozens of public presentations at scientific associations, in the government, in the media, in schools and in many other forums. He has also frequently performed readings of his own poems or translations. He has given thousands of interviews and played a prominent role in various campaigns.

International and national positions of trust are important counterweights to research for Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila. He is the editor-in-chief in the series Humaniora (Finnish Academy of Science and Letters) and The Intellectual Heritage of the Ancient and Mediaeval Near East (Ugarit Verlag). Furthermore, he is or has been a member of the editorial board of several academic journals, such as the Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Al-Andalus-Magreb, al-Karmil, Rocznik Orientalistyczny, al-Qantara, and Studia Orientalia. Recent international appointments include acting as a commissioner appointed by the Italian Ministry of Education (Commissione per l’Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale, 10/N1: Culture del Vicino Oriente antico, del Medio Oriente e dell’Africa 2013–2015) and being elected as the President of the Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants for the term of 2014–2018.

In Finland Hämeen-Anttila is, or has been a member and the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation of the Finnish Institute in the Middle East , as well as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Finnish Cultural Foundation. He is also an honorary member of the Finnish-Arabic Society and for many years was the Vice-Chair of the Islamic Working Group of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

Even the administrative duties of the University of Helsinki are not unfamiliar to professor Hämeen-Anttila. He has long held a post as a member in the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Arts. He is also the Deputy Director of the Institute for Asian and African Studies and a member of the Institute Council as well as now a deputy member of the Faculty Council of the Department of World Cultures. He was the first Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts between 2007 and 2009.