Cvijanović worked as a teacher of English and as a senior interpreter and assistant for the European Union Monitoring Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the 2010–2014 parliamentary term, Cvijanović was an expert-external member of the Committee for European Integration and Regional Cooperation of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska.

In the 2014 general election, Cvijanović stood as a candidate of the incumbent coalition SNSD-DNS-SP for the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

She lost against the opposition candidate Mladen Ivanić (PDP) by a narrow margin, and was later reappointed as prime minister of Republika Srpska in the entity's 15th cabinet.

[5] On 11 April 2022, Cvijanović and Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency, were sanctioned by the United Kingdom for attempting to undermine the legitimacy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with British foreign secretary Liz Truss stating that Dodik and Cvijanović "are deliberately undermining the hard-won peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"[6] On 1 July 2022, Cvijanović announced her candidacy in the Bosnian general election, running again for Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-person Presidency member, representing the Serbs.

[12] On 31 July 2023, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Cvijanović under Executive Order 14033 for threatening regional security, peace, cooperation, and undermining the Dayton Agreement related to the Western Balkans.

[13] On 9 November 2023, Cvijanović met with French President Emmanuel Macron during an official visit to France.