In 1998 Parmer was appointed by U.S.President Bill Clinton as the Assistant Administrator of the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in charge of the Bureau of Humanitarian Response.[3] Parmer was unanimously confirmed for the post by the Republican controlled U. S. Senate. During his tenure at USAID, Parmer was largely responsible for U.S. humanitarian operations during the Kosovo War.
After the election of President George W. Bush in 2000, Parmer was selected as president[4] of the American Refugee Committee, an international humanitarian relief organization with programs in 14 conflict impacted countries around the world. In 2008, he was elected to the board of directors of Interaction, the largest association of U.S. based private relief and development organizations.