From 1979-2004, Prof. Skhirtladze worked at the Giorgi Chubinashvili Chubinashvili Institute of History of Georgian Art; From 1988-2009, he gave lectures at Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, was the head of the Department of Christian Art. In 1987-1998, was head of the Caucasiology Department of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. Since 2006, he has been the director of the Institute of Art History and Theory of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. He leads bachelors, masters and doctoral programs in the field of art history.

Professor Zaza Skhirtladze’s main research interests include medieval art of Georgian and Christian East, ethno-cultural and artistic interrelations in the South Caucasus, monastic life and art. The findings of his research are reflected in various books/monographs as well as in academic articles published in local and international scientific journals. He has carried out scientific research visits to the United States of America (Dumbarton Oaks, Washington), Greece (University of Athens), France (Center for the Study of Byzantine Civilization, Collège de France, Paris), Great Britain (Universities of Warwick, Oxford and Cambridge), and Hungary (Central European University, Budapest).