Maechler studied at the University of Toronto, at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, at the Institut de hautes études en administration publique in Lausanne and at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she received her doctorate in international economics in 2000.
From 2013 to 2014, Maechler was deputy head of the secretariat at the European Systemic Risk Board in Frankfurt.
She was deputy head of Global Markets Analysis at the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
The department is tasked with monitoring capital markets and assessing systemic risks.
[3] Maechler was elected by the Federal Council on December 17, 2014, as the first woman to be a member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank.