Professor Rehman Sobhan has served as a Professor of Economics, Dhaka University, Member, Bangladesh Planning Commission, Director General, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Visiting Fellow, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford, Member, of the Advisory Council of the President of Bangladesh, Founder and Executive Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Executive Director, South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS), Visiting Scholar, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University, Senior Research Fellow, Ash Institute of Democratic Governance, Harvard University and is currently Chairman, CPD. 

He has been awarded the Shadinata Purushker, the nations highest civilian award and was the first recipient of the Bangladesh Bank Purushkar for services to economics.

He has published a large number of books, research monographs and articles published in professional journals, relating to the political economy of development, public enterprise and privatization, foreign aid, petropolitics, agrarian reform, regional cooperation in South Asia, democracy and governance. His most recent works include, Challenging the Injustice of Poverty: Agendas for Inclusive Development in South Asia (2010), was published by Sage. His memoir, Untranquil Recollections: The Years of Fulfillment (2015) published by Sage and From Two Economies to Two Nations: My Journey to Bangladesh (2016) published by Daily Star Books.