Sylvia Pilz has been working as a consultant in the social policy department of the regional chamber Vienna of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber since December 2004. 

From April to June 2003, she supported the Office of Science and Technology (OST) in Washington, D.C., where she was primarily responsible for researching material for OST's online publication Voices on U.S. Science & Technology Policy and for legal matters relating to Austrian citizenship. From May 2002 through January 2003, Pilz completed her practical legal training for the District Courts and the Court of Appeals in Graz, Austria. She has been teaching Austrian labor law at an adult learning institution in Austria since 2002. She also worked as a lawyer for Team-i Consulting and the Styrian Economic Society.

Pilz holds a master's degree and a Ph.D. in Law from the Karl-Franzens University in Graz, Austria.