Danial is the Deputy Executive Director of Academic & Student Affairs at the International Institute of Public Policy and Management (INPUMA) at Universiti Malaya (UM). He teaches on the Master of Public Policy (MPP) programme and previously served as an Adjunct Professor at the Asia Pacific University (2022-2024). He has also delivered several policy lectures and seminars at the Royal Malaysian Police College (MPDRM), the Public Service Department (JPA) Policy Lab series, and a Leadership Immersion course hosted by the UM Centre for Leadership and Professional Development (UM LEAD). Danial has also acted as a resource expert for the Public Service Department (JPA) Panel in developing Public Administration Circular (PKPA) No. 1 of 2026 concerning the Alternative Service Delivery Mechanism.

Danial previously served as the Secretary of the Malaysian International Studies Association (2023-2024) and was a Fellow at the Research Institute for Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore at Universiti Utara Malaysia (ITS-UUM) during the same period. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the International Political Science Association (IPSA) in Montreal, Canada, the International Studies Association (ISA) in the US, the British International Studies Association (BISA), the Royal African Studies Association (RAS), the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA), and the African Studies Association (ASA) in the US. Furthermore, he is a lifetime member of the Malaysian Social Science Association (PSSM), Malaysian-Japan Studies Association (MAJAS), a Research Fellow at the Malaysia-Japan Research Centre (MJRC), and has previously been part of the Malaysian Association for American Studies (MAAS), Malaysian Scholars on Korea (MASK), and Malaysia's International Strategic and International Studies (ISIS).

In addition to his peer-reviewed contributions to Third World Quarterly, Comparative Politics, African Identities, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, SAGE Open, Kajian Malaysia (USM Press), and Journal of International Studies (UUM Press), Danial currently serves on the Editorial Boards of the Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities (UPM Press), the Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Journal of Social and Political Science (JSP-FISIP), and JEBAT: Malaysian Journal of History, Politics and Strategic Studies (UKM Press), all indexed in Scopus and WOS. He has also served on the editorial boards of the Malaysian Journal of International Relations (MJIR), SINERGI: Journal of Strategic Studies & International Affairs (UKM Press), and WILAYAH: International Journal of East Asian Studies (UM Press).

Alongside his internal supervision and examination duties include serving as a supervisor for the Malaysian Armed Forces Defence College-National University of Malaysia (MPAT-UKM) programme. Danial has also acted as an external examiner for PhD theses in politics, policy, and security at universities across Malaysia, Australia, Japan, India, Pakistan, and Singapore. Additionally, he has participated in various government and industry projects as a consultant, moderator, resource person, invited speaker, and public lecturer. Besides his academic publications, Danial has provided commentaries and taken part in interviews on various issues for national and international media. He has also delivered invited lectures at UUM, UNIZA, APU, and UiTM. Furthermore, he served as a founding advisor for the UM student association, Malaya Model United Nations, from 2016 to 2023.

Danial earned a PhD in International Relations (Political Science) from the University of St. Andrews in the UK. During his doctoral studies, he was mentored by the late Professor Ian Taylor, a renowned expert in Africa-Asia Politics and Critical Political Economy. He received the UM Bright Spark Fellowship, supporting his PhD. Additionally, Danial has conducted extensive fieldwork and study visits in numerous African and Asian countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Libya, Egypt, Sierra Leone, as well as in Europe: The Former Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, and Cyprus. His travels also include Russia, Canada, Brazil, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Danial earned a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction Honours, majoring in International and Strategic Studies and minoring in East Asian Studies. At the 2007 UM Graduation Ceremony, he was awarded the Ghazali Shafie Book Prize and the Dato Panglima Kinta Yusuf Gold Medal. He is deeply interested in research, teaching, and supervising in areas related to Global South or Africa-Asia Relations within Comparative Public Policy, Malaysia's Public and Foreign Policy Analysis, and Peace and Conflict Studies. Danial has received numerous esteemed grants, including the INTAN 2026 Grant for the Malaysian Country Report, the European Union-Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (EU-SUHAKAM), the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), the National Agency for Anti-Drug Research Grant, and funding from Malaysia's Economic Planning Unit (EPU), as well as grants from the Sumito Foundation (Japan), Japan Foundation, and Korea Foundation (South Korea).