Prior to her appointment to the Royal Military College of Canada, Jill Scott served as Provost and Vice-President Academic Affairs, and professor in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ottawa. In this capacity, Dr. Scott was chief academic officer and chief budget officer from 2019-2024, providing leadership in key areas such as equity, diversity and inclusive excellence, antiracism, Indigenous affairs and reconciliation, and mental health and wellness.

From 2013-2019, Dr. Scott served as the inaugural Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning) at Queen's University, where she oversaw the implementation of a new academic quality assurance process, led research and new practices in assessing higher-order cognitive skills in undergraduate education, and co-chaired the Provost's Task Force on Truth and Reconciliation. Dr. Scott assumed additional responsibilities as Interim Associate Vice-Principal (International) in 2018-2019. During her time as Head of the Department of German Language and Literature, she led major reform to academic programming and departmental structures.

At Queen's University, she was professor in the Departments of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, and German Language and Literature, and held cross-appointments to the Department of Gender and Women's Studies and the Graduate Program in Cultural Studies. Dr. Scott has taught and published widely in the fields of German and Austrian literary studies, forgiveness and conflict resolution, and Indigenous studies. Dr. Scott holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Toronto. She is fluent in English, French and German.