In 1988, she studied at the Voronezh State University in Russia for some time. After graduation from Heriot-Watt she worked in St Petersburg, Russia as an English teacher from 1990 to 1991.
She was Deputy Chief of Staff and Special Adviser (Political Relations) to Nick Clegg, in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister from May 2010 to October 2011. Suttie was initially special adviser to then-Scotland secretary Danny Alexander, but moved to serve Nick Clegg when then Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws resigned over his parliamentary expenses claims.
Since 2012 Suttie has worked as a self-employed political campaign training consultant (Suttie Consulting). She has worked in Tunisia and Moldova and runs training courses on campaigning and lobbying for civil servants, NGOs and charities.