Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, he holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from California State University, Humboldt and a master's degree in Resource Strategy from the National Defense University in Washington D.C.[4] Before joining the Department of State, Jeff Levine worked as a newspaper reporter for seven years and was a founding staff member of USA Today, one of the largest newspapers in the United States.

[2][5] In addition to his assignment in Hungary, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Sofia, Bulgaria and has also been posted to Brasilia, Brazil; Nicosia, Cyprus; Alexandria, Egypt; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Lima, Peru.

At the time of his nomination, he had been the State Department's director of Recruitment, Examination and Employment since September 2010.

Levine has received numerous Department of State awards as well as the Golden Laurel Medal, presented by the Government of Bulgaria.

[4] Levine has studied Spanish, Portuguese, Bulgarian and Hungarian and is currently taking Estonian lessons.