Maia Sandu served as the education minister in the period 2012 through 2015. She received this appointment from the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) of then Prime Minister Vladimir Filat, who in 2017 was sentenced to nine years in prison for corruption. In July 2015 the cabinet led by Chiril Gaburici resigned and PLDM fielded Miss Sandu to take over the premiership. Yet the leaders of the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party – allied at that time – turned down her candidacy and she didn’t have the chance for pick up her cabinet members.

Following this story Miss Sandu said she was “disappointed in the Moldovan political class” and founded a party of her own – the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS). In 2016 she competed against Socialist leader Igor Dodon for presidency, losing the fight in the second round (47.89%).

In the February 2019 parliamentary elections she obtained an overwhlming victory in the uninominal constituency №50 West of Moldova. Miss Sandu attended parliamentary sessions only a few months and then changed her MP mandate for a mandate of prime minister of Moldova. However, on 12 November 2019, against the background of dissensions created by a draft law on amending the prosecutor's law, the Socialist and Democratic members of the Parliament voted agains the Government led by Maia Sandu.

Maia Sandu has completed a master’s study in public administration at Harvard Kennedy School of Government in the U.S. (2009-2010) and then worked as an advisor for the managing director of the World Bank, in Washington DC (2010-2012).

At the 1 November 2020 presidential elections Maia Sandu is the candidate of the PAS party. She reaches the second round of voting, with Igor Dodon as her opponent. Maia Sandu wins the electoral race, obtaining 57.72% of the votes.

In 2024, she is running for a new term, supported once again by PAS. Together with the presidential elections, Maia Sandu is also launching a consultative referendum on the Republic of Moldova's accession to the European Union (EU). During her mandate, and against the backdrop of Russia's war in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, alongside its neighboring country, obtained EU candidate status.

RISE Moldova analyzed her public CV and official information about her workplaces in Moldova, and found that the president did not list all her positions. In 2008, Maia Sandu provided consultancy for the Soros Foundation Moldova, Case Moldova Foundation, and the Institute of Public Policies.

Also in 2008, for one month, she was a consultant for Business Intelligent Services SRL, the firm of former Deputy Prime Minister and PD deputy Valeriu Lazar.

In 2016, while setting up the Action and Solidarity Party, she worked for six months as a program director at the Center for Reform Analysis and Evaluation, an NGO run by her former adviser, Ionela Costache.

Maia Sandu pursued her master's studies in public administration at Harvard Kennedy School of Government in the USA (2009-2010). Subsequently, she was an advisor to the executive director of the World Bank, based in Washington, DC, USA (2010-2012).