Since 2023, he has served as Chief of Staff for the Puglia Region.

Since 2012, he has been a full professor at the Faculty of Information Engineering, Computer Science, and Statistics at Sapienza University of Rome.

His academic career also includes positions as an associate professor at the Polytechnic University of Turin (since 2001) and as a full professor of Economic and Managerial Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan (since 2005).

From 2019 to 2022, he coordinated the Technical Mission Structure for strategic direction, infrastructure development, and high-level oversight at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. Previously, he had held similar roles within the same Ministry.

Catalano has participated in various ministerial commissions and committees, including the Observatory for the Evaluation of the University System (1996-2000) and the Committee for the Evaluation of the University System (2000-2004). He served as an economic advisor to the Minister of Transport (2006-2007) and held various oversight and evaluation positions at the same ministry between 2007 and 2009. He was also an expert at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (2013-2014). Additionally, he has been part of the scientific board of the University Foundation for Public Administrations (FUAP) and the Scientific Committee of the Foundation for Training and Updating in Public Administration (FORMAP).

His research activities focus on various topics, including the economics of education, spending reviews of public activities and projects, and public intervention in the infrastructure and transport sector. In this field, he has studied the financing of local public transport (LPT), the determination of standard costs in LPT, the planning and evaluation of public investments, and cost analysis of transport infrastructure.