[2][3] Scott attended Arizona State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in German language and literature while also minoring in Russian.

[4] Scott's early State Department assignments included Croatia, Israel, and Switzerland.

In 2005, he was named deputy chief of mission at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, based in Vienna.

Under his watch, the United States and Russia cooperated on Iranian issues and began to negotiate the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) agreement to reduce nuclear weapon stockpiles, launchers and heavy bombers.

In addition to English, he has learned Russian, German, Italian, Serbian, Hungarian, French, and Hebrew.