Work in the Academy was scarce and so she moved to the Vilnius Communist Party High School, where she lectured in political economics and global finance.

In 1990, soon after Lithuania reestablished its independence from the Soviet Union, Grybauskaitė continued her studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., in the Special Programme for senior executives.

During 1993, she was employed in the Foreign Ministry as director of the Economic Relations Department, and represented Lithuania when it entered the European Union free trade agreements.

[8] There, she worked as the deputy chief negotiator for the EU Europe Agreement and as a representative of the National Aid Co-ordination in Brussels.

She held this position until 11 November 2004, when she was named European Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget within the José Manuel Barroso-led Commission.

[12] She frequently criticised the Lithuanian Government, headed by Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, for its lack of response to the approaching financial crisis.

I can and I want to contribute with my experience, knowledge and skills to expel shadows from morality, politics, and economics to create a citizen-ruled Lithuania – a state of citizens.

The unemployment rate rose to 15.5% in March 2009, and a January street protest against the government's response to the recession turned violent.

[18] During the campaign, Grybauskaitė stressed the need to combat the financial troubles by protecting those with the lowest incomes, simplifying the Lithuanian bureaucratic apparatus, and reviewing the government's investment programme.

[22] Political analysts attributed the easy victory to Grybauskaitė's financial competence and her ability to avoid domestic scandals.

[21] The international press was quick to dub her the "Lithuanian Iron Lady" for her outspoken speech and her black belt in karate.

[23][24] Grybauskaitė, who speaks Lithuanian, English, Russian, French and Polish,[23] has mentioned Margaret Thatcher and Mahatma Gandhi as her political role models.

[29] Grybauskaitė took advantage of grey areas in the Constitution of Lithuania to accrue additional competences, such as a monopoly on Lithuania's representation in the European Council, and often made use of informal power, such as personal meetings between the Presidential office, Prime Ministers and individual ministers, to express positions on matters outside of the Presidency's competences.

[30] At time of Grybauskaitė's inauguration in 2009, the "Statesmen" conspiracy theory had been prominent in the press since the death of State Security Department (VSD) officer Vytautas Pociūnas in 2006.

Proponents of the theory claimed that a deep state, led by officials in the VSD and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sought to take control of the country.

In August 2009, in a controversial decree, she fired deputy director of the VSD Darius Jurgelevičius, while Mečys Laurinkus was accused of politicking in diplomatic service and recalled from the Lithuanian embassy in Georgia in late 2009.

After her presidency, Grybauskaitė described the meeting as a clarifying point, stating "I realised that this person and country is not willing to accept their neighbors honorably, that they are trying to make you kneel on your knees; Either you give in, or you are the enemy.

"[42] During the meeting, according to her, Putin presented a list of demands to fulfill, encompassing increasing the interconnectedness and interdependence of the Lithuanian–Russian energy sectors.

[44] Relations with Russia markedly deteriorated during Grybauskaitė's second term in office, due in part to her hard line stance against Russian influence in Europe and the Baltics, especially after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

[46] In June 2014, Grybauskaitė told the German news magazine Focus: "[Putin] uses nationality as a pretext to conquer territory with military means.

"[47] On 20 November 2014, Grybauskaitė, commenting on the conflict in Ukraine, characterized Russia as "a terrorist state which carries out an open aggression against its neighbors".

"[52][53] In March 2017, Grybauskaitė criticized the government of Poland and Prime Minister Beata Szydło for not endorsing Donald Tusk again for the President of the European Council.

[55] In March 2020, Grybauskaitė was appointed by the President of the United Nations General Assembly and the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council as one of the two co-chairs of the High Level Panel on International Financial Accountability Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (FACTI Panel).

"I'm ashamed to hear that leaders and officials of NATO states are muttering about not being able to involve in the conflict but being fine with it in the case of Syria, Libya, Africa, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan?"

"[58] In November 2024, following the Lithuanian parliamentary election, Grybauskaitė sharply criticized the decision of the victorious Social Democrats to ally in a coalition with the nationalist party Dawn of Nemunas, whose founder Remigijus Žemaitaitis is known for antisemitic statements.

[59] She wrote that she viewed the incoming government as a "Kremlin-scented coalition with fascist brownshirt seasoning" and that the inclusion of Dawn of Nemunas was already causing "irreparable reputational damage" to Lithuania in the eyes of its EU and NATO partners.

[61] Grybauskaitė is often praised by supporters for her strength of leadership, while in office, she was presented as a dutiful politician who fights corruption and seeks to establish order in the country.

"[73] Despite Ulvydas' explanation that his former claim was lapsus linguae on Facebook, politician Naglis Puteikis attempted to launch an investigation in the Lithuanian Seimas, but the initiative did not get enough support.

[75][76] Emails from 2014 to 2016 suggested that the President possibly knew about the unlawful relations between politician Eligijus Masiulis and the business group MG Baltic.