[7] Ahmed joined Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development as a faculty in 1981; where he worked till 1994.
[7][9] Ahmed was an advisor on Local Governance for the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2014.
[7] In 2020, Ahmed criticized the framing of charges against Matiur Rahman, editor of Prothom Alo, over the death of school student by electrocution at an event of the newspaper.
[11] In October 2023, he called on political parties to hold dialogue to avoid conflict at an event of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik.
[12] After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government, the Muhammad Yunus led interim government made Ahmed a member of the newly created Electoral System Reform Commission in October 2024.