He was appointed by President Barack Obama as the first special representative and policy coordinator for Burma with rank of ambassador, and was sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on October 2, 2011.

From December 1988 to June 1989, he worked as copy editor at The China Post in Taipei, at the time the largest English-language daily newspaper on Taiwan, where he learned Mandarin Chinese, which he further studied at Nanjing University, in the summer of 1990.

He conceived, organized, managed, and conducted training in democratic development programs in new and emerging democracies, including Armenia, Burma, Cambodia, Georgia, Pakistan, and Thailand.

He conceived, developed, and implemented a wide variety of programs related to U.S.-Asia and Asian intra-regional affairs, and managed a highly active team of scholars.

During this time, Mitchell was a visiting scholar (April to June 2007) at Peking University, School of International Studies, acting as a researcher and guest lecturer at China's premier academic institution.

He also led the conduct of public outreach and drafted speeches outlining the Department of Defense's strategic approach to East, Southeast and South Asia.

[5][6][7] He was charged with negotiating directly with the leaders of a regime that has been in power for over 40 years and was known for its repressive policies towards its own people, causing the United States to institute sanctions on the country.

[9] On April 5, 2012, Foreign Policy magazine cited sources indicating that the Obama administration would nominate Mitchell as United States Ambassador to Burma.