[2] Ali joined the Administrative and Diplomatic Service as an Assistant Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry on 5 January 1981.
Upon returning from the US, he began serving at the Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister's Department (PMD).
He consecutively held the positions of Director of Disbursement Division and Deputy Director-General of the National Transformation and Advancement Programme.
[4] On 22 April 2009, Ali was appointed the Director-General of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Unit, PMD, a central agency created to spearhead PPP initiatives, namely privatisation projects, private finance initiatives, corridor developments, and facilitation funds.
He was sworn in as the Chief Secretary to the Government on 23 June 2012, before Prime Minister Najib Razak in Parliament.