Kanishka has been with the EFC since 1997 and has served as its Director General/Chief Executive Officer since 2015. He is a member of the Standards Review Mechanism Tripartite Working Group (SRM-TWG) that functions under the aegis of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), an elected substitute employer member of the Governing Body of the ILO for the Asia-Pacific Region and is the President of the South Asian Forum of Employers (SAFE) for 2020/2021.

Kanishka was admitted as an Attorney-at-Law by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1992 and commenced his professional career as a State Counsel at the Attorney General’s Department.