Shihab-Eldin started out in the United States as a News Producer with the New York Times in 2008.[4] For six months, he worked in Doha with the international 24-hour news channel Al Jazeera English. He also worked as a reporter and producer for The Doha Film Institute and helped launch the first Doha Tribeca Film Festival, leading the online editorial team there. Ahmed later worked as a multimedia producer on PBS's documentary series Wide Angle,[5] and as a producer for the New York Times.