[4] She graduated from the University of Virginia[5] where she majored in rhetoric and worked at the college newspaper, The Cavalier Daily.

[6] After college, she worked at The Advisory Board Company, a consulting firm founded by David G. Bradley and then for the digital agency i33/AppNet.

[10] She hired the former Pinterest executive David Rubin to be The Times' head of brand.

[11] She oversaw the development of The Times' first brand marketing since 2010, which began with the "Truth is Hard" campaign.

[9][13] In June 2017, she was promoted to chief operating officer of The New York Times,[14] managing "the teams responsible for digital product, design, audience and brand, and consumer revenue and advertising".

Levien has said the company's digital products should be "as addictive and unrivaled as the journalism itself", and has spoken out in defense of local news, saying "quality, original, independent journalism at the local level is... foundational to community, to society, and ultimately to democracy".

[17] In July 2020, she was named president and chief executive of The New York Times Company,[18] effective from September 8, 2020.