Syed Abu Ahmad Akif has been a member of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), the premier group amongst the federal civil service of Pakistan since 1983. The PAS continues to comprise of “enlightened generalists\" inspired by Confucian Mandarins. Possessing multi-disciplinary skills, officers usually work in many areas of management due to extensive horizontal mobility. Syed Akif has worked in the “field” as a general administrator heading the law and order and governance coordination functions, as well as in the federal and provincial secretariats, a rural development programme, state-owned corporate sector, an AsianDevelopment Bank funded institutional reform project, and the national pension system. Most recently (2010-2015) he served as head of Pakistan’s Hajj Mission in Saudi Arabia. Syed Akif has also worked in the civil society and private sectors by way of leave from the government (2000 - 2003).