Iva Rinčić was born in Rijeka in 1975. She completed Vladimir Gortan Elementary School and the First Croatian Sušak Gymnasium in her hometown, after which she continued her studies in Zagreb. At the Faculty of Croatian Studies, she studied sociology and Croatian culture, completed her postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Political Science, and earned her doctorate at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb.

Her first employment was in 2001 at GONG, as a county coordinator for non-partisan observers during the 2001 local elections.

Since 2001, she has worked at the University of Rijeka (first at the Faculty of Medicine, and from 2013 also at the Faculty of Health Studies), with bioethics as her primary area of interest. In 2023, she was appointed as a full professor. Until taking office as Mayor, she served as the head of the Department of Public Health at the Faculty of Health Studies. In the academic year 2021–2022, she received the University of Rijeka’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

From 2013 to 2021, she was the Director of the University of Rijeka Foundation, during which time the Foundation was awarded the Golden Plaque “Coat of Arms of the City of Rijeka” for its longstanding promotion of philanthropy, contribution to the development of the university community in Rijeka, and support for the local community by fostering a knowledge-based society.

In December 2024, she was elected president of the Croatian Bioethics Society, becoming the first woman to lead the society.

In 2021, she entered local politics for the first time as an independent candidate for county Prefect and City councillor. During the 2021–2025 term, she served as an independent councillor in the Rijeka City Council and the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Assembly, also participating in the work of several committees.

In May 2025, she was elected Mayor of Rijeka as an independent candidate with the support of the Youth Action, Kvarner Union, Centre, Croatian Seniors’ Party, Fokus, and Alternative 101, becoming the second female mayor in Rijeka’s history. She bases her city management on responsibility that demands knowledge, transparency, empathy and persistent work, placing citizens—especially young people—at the centre of her policies.

She engages in sports recreationally and, on rare occasions when her obligations allow, participates in races and other sporting events.

Her family consist of her husband Amir and son Marul.