2013年12月10日，沙姆沙德•阿赫塔尔博士被联合国秘书长潘基文任命为联合国副秘书长兼亚洲及太平洋经济社会委员会第十任执行秘书。她还担任20国集团联合国筹备官员。

她原任秘书长经济与金融事务高级顾问，兼任经济与社会事务部主管经济发展的助理秘书长。她领导了2015年后发展议程及相关政策和规范工作的联合国全系统协调，包括可持续融资战略的支持工作。

阿克塔女士曾任巴基斯坦中央银行行长，近期还曾任世界银行中东和北非地区副行长。阿克塔女士以央行行长的身份担任央行董事会及其附属机构的主席，以及国际货币基金组织理事。在她的任期内，她因为央行取得的成功受到表彰：进行重大重组；引入货币政策分析框架；以及制订充满活力的银行业结构的金融业十年愿景。由于这些成就，她连续两次赢得新兴市场以及美国信孚银行颁发的亚洲最佳央行行长奖项。2008年，《华尔街日报亚洲版》也将她选为亚洲十佳职业女性之一。

阿克塔女士曾长期在多边开发银行任职。在世界银行任职期间，她倡导了世行对阿拉伯之春的应对措施，以及阿拉伯区域一体化战略及其实施。她曾在亚洲开发银行(亚行)任职近15年，历任高级经济学家直至最高专业职位，包括亚行行长特别高级顾问、以及亚行东亚局局长。在亚洲金融危机期间，她还曾担任亚太经合组织财政部长亚行协调员，对若干经济和社会领域的危机预防和缓解提供分析支持，同时还领导与国际清算银行和其他标准制定机构的互动协作。

阿赫塔尔女士曾在若干区域和许多国家工作过，处理财政和税收政策、权力下放、贫困和不平等、财政和货币政策、产业和基础设施政策，以及治理发展等事项。她还曾任巴基斯坦经济咨询委员会委员和巴基斯坦统计局理事会成员。此外，阿克塔女士还曾就落实巴基斯坦新经济增长框架事宜向发展机构提供咨询意见，而且还曾从事购买力平价政策框架和管理问题方面的工作。

阿克塔女士曾在哈佛大学作为美国富布赖特学者做过博士后研究，拥有苏格兰佩斯利理工学院经济学博士学位，英国苏塞克斯大学发展经济学硕士学位，以及伊斯兰堡古艾德-阿赞姆大学经济学硕士学位。

    On 10 December 2013, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, a national of Pakistan, was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and as the tenth Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. She also serves as the United Nations Sherpa for the G20.

Formerly the Secretary-General's Senior Advisor on Economics and Finance, and Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, she led the UN-wide coordination of the post-2015 development agenda and related policy and normative work, including supporting work on the Sustainable Financing Strategy.

Ms. Akhtar has previously served as Governor of the Central Bank of Pakistan, and recently also as Vice President of the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank. In her capacity as Governor, Ms. Akhtar was also the Chairperson of the Central Bank Board and its affiliates, as well as a Governor of the IMF. During her term of office, she was recognized for the success of the Bank, which was restructured significantly; the introduction of an analytical framework for monetary policy; and the development of a ten-year vision for the finance industry, with a vibrant structure for the banking sector. For these accomplishments, she won two consecutive awards as Asia's Best Central Bank Governor from Emerging Markets and from the Banker’s Trust. In 2008, The Wall Street Journal Asia also recognized her as one of the top ten professional women of Asia.

Ms. Akhtar has had a long-standing career with the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs). In her assignment for the World Bank, she spearheaded the Bank’s response to the Arab Spring, as well as the Arab regional integration strategy and its implementation. She has served in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for almost 15 years, rising through the ranks from Senior Economist, to attaining the highest professional positions, including as Special Senior Advisor to the President of ADB, and as the Bank’s Director-General of the East Asia region. During the Asian financial crisis she also served as ADB’s Coordinator to the APEC Finance Ministers, providing analytical support in a number of economic and social areas for crisis prevention and mitigation, while also leading engagement with the Bank for International Settlement, and other standard-setting bodies.

Ms. Akhtar has worked in several regions and many countries, dealing with fiscal and taxation policy, decentralization, poverty and inequality, financial and monetary policy, industrial and infrastructure policies, as well as governance development. She has also served as a member of the Pakistan Economic Advisory Committee and of the Governing Council of the Pakistan Statistics Bureau. In addition, Ms. Akhtar has advised development agencies on the operationalization of Pakistan’s New Economic Growth Framework, and has also worked on PPP policy frameworks and governance issues.

Ms. Akhtar was a post-doctoral degree US Fulbright Fellow at Harvard University, holds a PhD in Economics from Scotland's Paisley College of Technology, as well as a Master in Development Economics from the University of Sussex in the UK, and an MSc in Economics from Quaid-e-Azam University, in Islamabad.