Clarissa began her career at Fox News as an overnight desk assistant in 2003. Soon she took the responsibility of an assignment editor, and eventually worked Fox's international desk coordinating stories from across the world.

These stories included the capture of Saddam Hussein, the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, and the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005. In 2006 she began working as a field producer and then covered stories such as Saddam Hussein's trial and ultimate execution, the Iraq War, Beirut Arab University riots, and the 2007 Bikfaya bombings. She also spent time in Baqubah, Iraq with the U.S. Military.

From October 2007 to October 2010, Ward moved to ABC News as a correspondent. She was then based out of Moscow after having previously been based in New York City and Beirut. While in Russia she broadcast all of the ABC News broadcasts including "World News with Charles Gibson", "Nightline", and "Good Morning America." She covered the Russian Presidential elections and intervention into Georgia territory. She was later transferred to Beijing as ABC's Asian Correspondent and covered the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. She covered the war in Afghanistan, as well.

In October 2011 Clarissa moved to CBS as their foreign news correspondent. There she covered the Syrian Uprising. Her first 60 Minutes contribution in 2012 took place in Aleppo and was one of the first reports of Islamic extremism. She returned to Syria two years later in October of 2014 and interviewed two Western jihadis about their paths to radicalism. 

In September of 2015, Clarissa joined CNN and became based out of London.  She was named Chief International Correspondent in July of 2018. Excited about her new role, she stated "it's more important than ever to be doubling down [on reporting that] informs viewers, that allows them to make better decisions about the world around them. It's a more confusing world these days." "It doesn't matter what the story is, how remote it is. If there's a big story we are going to be there and we are going to go hard on it." "It's a fascinating and interesting time."

Clarissa has one child, Ezra Albrecht Nikolas Nour von Bernstorff, born March 2, 2018 with her husband Philipp von Bernstorff. They met in 2007 in a Moscow dinner party and married in November 2016. She bought her dress just six days beforehand at a department store. Instead of a large gathering, they had a simple ceremony and lunch for just 46 guests at their Notting Hill home in London. 

Clarissa has been awarded five Emmys in addition to several other awards. Her coverage of the Syrian uprising earned her a George Foster Peabody Award on May 21, 2012 and Washington State University awarded her the 2015 Murrow Award for International Reporting in April 2015.

In November of 2016 she received the Excellence in International Reporting Ward from the International Center for Journalists due to her outstanding coverage from Iraq and Syria during the war. One of her five Emmys, as well, was in regards to her 2017 special report on Syria. In 2017 she was awarded the David Kaplan Award from the Overseas Press Club for her report "Undercover in Syria."

Because of her many travels, Clarissa was inspired to learn multiple languages. She is fluent in French and Italian and conversationally competent in Russian, Arabic, and Spanish. She also knows basic Mandarin. Clarissa remains active on her Twitter account, @clarissaward, where he has 44,100 followers and often features breaking news and international reports. She shares other personal and professional stories on her Facebook, @ClarissaWardCNN. This is mirrored on her Instagram, @clarissawardcnn.