Marschik served as the policy advisor to the deputy undersecretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor. He was also the assistant director at the Center for the National Interest. Marschik is a China specialist focusing on Chinese foreign policy, U.S.-China relations, and ideology. He has an MA in the social sciences from the University of Chicago and a BA in political science and East Asian languages and cultures from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.