A specialist in environmental engineering, Violeta Ivanov has built a career in this field, getting promoted to deputy minister, and then minister of environment and natural resources in three consecutive Communist governments. In 2018 she was awarded a doctor’s degree in geonomics, defending a paper titled "Surface waters under severing climate in Moldova”.

She has been a member of Parliament since April 2009. In the elections held on 5 April 2009, 29 July 2009, 28 November 2010, and 30 November 2014, she was with the Party of Communists (PCRM), which she defected in December 2015 along with 13 other party mates, amid a political crisis caused by the dismissal of the Strelet Government and the arrest of former Prime Minister Vladimir Filat.

In January 2016, the 14-strong group of defectors including Mrs. Ivanov approved the investiture of the government led by Democrat Pavel Filip, and then joined the Moldovan Democratic Party (PDM). Already in the 24 February 2019 parliamentary elections Ivanov ran for a seat as a member of PDM. She later abandoned the Democrats to continue as a non-affiliated MP. Surprisingly, Mrs. Ivanov put up her candidacy for the presidential election on behalf of the Shor Party, obtaining 6.49% of the votes.