Kvien joined the
Foreign Service in 1992, and her first assignment was as a consular officer in Paris. She later served as an Economics Officer at the
Embassy of the United States, Manila. Subsequently, she served at the
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs in Washington, D.C., focusing on
European Union and
OECD issues. She was then assigned as a desk officer for
Slovenia. From 2001 to 2005, she served at the
United States Mission to the European Union in Brussels as an Economics Officer, and then was transferred to the
Embassy of the United States, Moscow, working on environment and energy issues. Kvien then became Director for EU Affairs, EU Economies and Caspian Energy for Ukraine and Belarus at the
United States National Security Council. Kvien then accepted a post in London overseeing
US-UK economic relations, covering finance and banking issues, civil aviation, terrorist financing, labor, and energy policy. Before being posted to Ukraine, Kvien served at the
Embassy of the United States, Paris from 2016 to April 2019 as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs. in Rzeszow, Poland, on March 5, 2022 At the
Embassy of the United States, Kyiv, Kvien assumed the post of
Chargé d'Affaires from
Joseph S. Pennington on May 28, 2019. Upon the appointment of former ambassador
William B. Taylor Jr. as the new Chargé d'Affaires, Kvien relinquished that post on June 18, 2019. She then served as
Deputy Chief of Mission in Ukraine from June to January 2020. After the departure of Taylor in January 2020, Kvien again became acting ambassador. On November 30, 2022, hearings on her nomination were held before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On December 7, 2022, her nomination was favorably reported out of committee. On December 13, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by the Senate by
voice vote. She was sworn in by Under Secretary
Uzra Zeya on January 26, 2023, and presented her credentials to President
Vahagn Khachaturyan on February 21, 2023. In December 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump recalled Ambassador Kvien back to Washington D.C. She departed post January 2026, after two years and eleven months as U.S. ambassador to Armenia. ==Awards and recognitions==