Scott Ballew

Experience

• 

  Texas Association of School Boards

  Nov 2007 - Mar 2012

  I conceived, built, and launched the TASB Online Learning Center (OLC), providing fee-based, online training and professional development courses to school district officials. I handled various aspects of operations, such as site design, project management for course production, advising on instructional methodologies, multimedia editing, server maintenance, data collection, and customer support. Additionally, I marketed and sold courses nationwide to public school districts, collaborated with subject matter experts and industry partners for content development, and acted as the project manager for instructional content production, coordinating activities with instructional experts and designers for online learning systems (LMS). Show less

  • Director, TASB Online Learning Center

    Jul 2008 - Mar 2012

  • National Account Manager

    Nov 2007 - Dec 2008
• 

  Macmillan

  Mar 2012 - now

  As a Senior Technical Program Manager (TPM) in a leadership role with the Program Management Office, I oversee complex technical projects and programs. I possess strong technical expertise, project management skills, and leadership abilities to guide cross-functional teams. My responsibilities include strategic planning, risk management, resource allocation, quality assurance, and release management. Specifically, I manage the end-to-end release process for Macmillan's enterprise LMS, Achieve, ensuring stakeholders are informed about progress, risks, and changes related to releases. I identify and proactively mitigate potential risks and develop contingency plans for unforeseen circumstances to ensure timely software deployment. I also have several years of experience in SLDC Program Management and related roles requiring me to collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Engineering, Quality Assurance (QA), Operations, and Product Management. Show less I was responsible for managing a portfolio of six legacy online learning products using project and program management methodologies. This includes monitoring resources, schedules, and finances. I collaborated with finance, engineering, and product teams to provide strategic oversight and reporting to senior management through steering committees. I handled project constraints, maintained project plans, and managed various projects and teams in a matrix-structured environment. I provided communication to all levels of the company, including presentations to C-level executives. I supported the VP of the PMO by developing and integrating PMO tools and methodologies, as they pertain to the company's strategic initiatives and technology requirements. Additionally, I demonstrated professionalism, integrity, and leadership while focusing on customer and employee satisfaction and promoted diversity and inclusion. Show less As the owner of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) for three online learning applications, I led teams of onshore and offshore software developers to build online educational software. I was responsible for hiring and managing both full-time staff and contractors, overseeing budgets, and creating progress reports for management. I worked closely with engineers, developers, and Product Management to enhance web applications and services.Achievements:- Improved team velocity by 15% through standardizing sizing efforts, writing clearer User Stories with Product Management, and embedding a Technical Lead in each team.- Reduced AWS expenditures by including a DevOps Manager in teams to monitor and audit cloud server spending across different stages of development.- Managed and executed software development projects from start to finish and supervised project status updates.- Acted as a facilitator of Scrum, coaching teams in various locations, including Brazil, India, Argentina, and the USA. - Assisted Product Owners in backlog management, sprint planning, and Scrum meetings, including reviews and retrospectives.- Increased team efficiency by ensuring detailed acceptance criteria on stories and promptly addressing blockers, resulting in improved team velocity. Show less In this role, I worked closely with Product Owners and engineering leads to establish and document release plans, which were then communicated to all relevant stakeholders. I focused on enhancing the stability and reliability of Macmillan's SaaS offerings by ensuring adherence to acceptance criteria and QA requirements. I played a crucial role in ensuring effective communication, risk management, and quality assurance during the release process, aiming to improve the overall stability and reliability of the SaaS offerings.Key responsibilities included:- Managed communications with stakeholders regarding upcoming release status.- Updated stakeholders on the progress of feature development and deployment timelines.- Made decisions on whether to proceed with the release (Go) or roll back (No Go) based on assessment.- Identified and recorded risks, while also developing mitigation strategies.- Collaborated with stakeholders and product owners to formulate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) plans and executing them promptly.- Worked with Product Owners to log defects into Jira™ and managing them until resolution. Show less As lead user of the Learning Management System (LMS), I worked closely with key stakeholders throughout the organization and demonstrated the ability to manage an initiative through its complete lifecycle; Initiation, Planning and Design, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling through Closing. I took an active role in conveying the product vision to the scrum team, motivating the team with a clear, elevating goal. Working with the Scrum Master, I managed the engineering team’s backlog and communication with stakeholders. Show less

  • Senior Technical Program Manager, PMO

    Jun 2021 - now

  • Senior Program Manager, PMO

    Jun 2017 - May 2021

  • Software Development Project Manager / Scrum Master

    May 2015 - Jun 2017

  • Software Release and UAT Manager

    Apr 2013 - Apr 2015

  • Product Owner, LMS

    Mar 2012 - Mar 2013