Jessica Lewis-Dalgarno Email & Phone Number

London, Gb

I have delivered a transformation of the ER model at Vodafone, focusing on a digital approach and a self-service style. Upskilling our manager population through workshops, training sessions and materials, I'm working on securing cultural change and stakeholder buy-in to a pragmatic, risk-aware and cost-effective style of ER case management.I advise on complex ER cases, including supporting with tribunal cases, and constantly assess successes and opportunities for improvement. Vodafone has placed in the Times Top 25 Big Companies to Work For twice in the last two years, reaching #7 this year. My work in managing areas of friction with employees, and in ensuring our managers have the right knowledge and skills to manage their line reports effectively, directly contributes to the experience that employees have at Vodafone. We are looking to improve that experience every day.

London, Gb

I worked across two busy Employment teams, in London and in Reading.My experience includes:- Drafting settlement agreements and employment contracts – I successfully managed 89 settlement agreements for one client, which also included negotiating with their employees’ solicitors as the main point of contact;- Reviewing and amending policies – I have reviewed and amended policies for clients ranging from large companies to charities;- Advising on issues ranging from recruitment and performance management to redundancy and termination as the client’s first point of contact, including research into highly technical areas of law;- Supporting litigation work including drafting formal defences and amending witness statements, negotiating through ACAS. I also worked on disclosure for a High Court matter;- Taking the lead on corporate support projects as sole support for the supervising partner;- Leading relationships with smaller clients such as a UK charity and a US company;- Designing and writing training materials for client sessions on issues from redundancy to discrimination;- Leading a project developing a pool of Brexit resources for the Knowledge Lawyers including commercial implications for key clients.

London, Gb

I worked to support the Corporate department with document production, amending contracts and deeds, working on high-profile and time-critical matters. I was directly responsible for two fee-earning colleagues, and developed my time-management skills to ensure work is delivered to a high standard and on time. I built excellent professional relationships in a short time both with internal colleagues and with external partners including a document production team and an external print facility. I took up new learning opportunities and sought training on a number of new systems including that for expenses.

London, Gb

I worked to support the Employment and Pensions department in the well­ respected City law firm Stephenson Harwood. I directly assisted two partners, eight associates and trainees in opening new clients, managing compliance requirements and billing processes.I set up a new system to meet the auditing requirements of a public sector client, and trained colleagues in this new process. I met with clients to do identity checks and have built positive relationships with the clients and colleagues in this department. I assisted with disclosure for an ongoing case and enjoyed learning how this is done in practice.I learned internal systems quickly and showed a keen interest in taking up training in order to do my work more effectively. I am always interested in adding value and want to do the job to the best of my ability.

London, Gb

I supported the work of partners, associates and trainees in the Real Estate Group. I managed production of documents, worked within strict deadlines, handled the registration of forms at the Land Registry and was the first point of contact for support for the fee ­earners. I learned how to prioritise work based on how important or time­ critical the work was, not how senior the colleague was. This was frequently a juggling act and I became adept at renegotiating deadlines if necessary. In my appraisal it was noted that the continuous communication was considered useful in terms of expectation management and fostering a better understanding of capacity within the team

I was Company Secretary for a web solutions company called Think Inspire Create Ltd. and was responsible for registering the company and the directors at Companies House as well as filing the Annual Return. I took minutes of their weekly meetings and became more adept at guiding a meeting to ensure productivity. This role gave me experience in anticipating issues before they arise and keeping an eye on compliance.

London, Gb

I worked with the partners and associates in the employment department to learn and add value to a variety of tasks.I researched case law in order to support current work, including an internal policy on equal pay. I drafted an email of advice to a client based on my understanding of a client's settlement agreement which was sent out without amendment. I made comments on a letter of dismissal written by a client and used the precedent library to make amendments. I learned how trainees work on projects and feed back to associates, and I was able to sit in and watch that process. I also attended an internal training session held by video conference and learned about the interactions between different locations.I attended a client meeting with a partner about Shared Parental Leave and was able to make a contribution to clarify a point. I sat in on two conference calls and was asked afterwards to draft an attendance note.I was commended on my insight into commercial considerations by the Head of Employment, and my knowledge of case law by a partner.

I was the first point of contact for commissioners of training at Early Education, which included local authorities and the Department for Education. I identified the scope of each commission, quoted for the work and then identified the most appropriate consultant for the work. I negotiated service level agreements with several local authorities, and I identified the risk of not having a cancellation policy, which I then drafted alongside the Chief Executive. I also built excellent professional relationships with several local authorities, securing long term contracts for Early Education.I worked alongside the CEO and the Professional Development Consultant to plan the in­house training programme available to members, and had to research the offers and provision available from competitors in order to pitch our programme at a rate which was both financially competitive and consistent with our charitable objectives. I learned a great deal about profitability and commercial practicalities during this time.I supported the CEO with bid­writing for government and private investment, and represented the charity at several meetings with external and internal stakeholders. I elected to undertake training to learn about good governance and its importance. I helped to draft the tender document for a new website, and assisted in interviewing the applicants. I was responsible for liaising with the project manager at the external company who won the tender, and ran four training sessions for colleagues to learn to use the new content management system.I had proofreading oversight on several publications, some internal documents and several policy­related books. I demonstrated my ability to get to grips with unfamiliar topics in order to add value to the process. I was a key­holder and managed training events on several occasions, sometimes by myself. I delivered presentations to senior education experts to help develop their professional relationships with the charity.

In my role as intern I supported both the Head of Policy and the Media Officer at a welfare charity.In order to support the ongoing project, I researched recipients of a bursary funded by a corporate partner, Barclaycard, to enable single parents to access further and higher education. After using the paper files to compile a database of recipients, I conducted phone interviews with single parents who had benefited and the education institutions with whom they had enrolled, in order to make suggestions to improve the administrative process should the bursary project continue. I learned how to ask open questions and be empathetic without obstructing the purpose of the interview, which was to generate information.I made a verbal and written presentation to the research to a sub­committee of the trustees, and the report was included in a presentation to the corporate partner several days later. The partner agreed to continue funding for another two years.In addition, I assisted the policy and media department with enquiries from journalists and members of the public, both by telephone and in writing. I was also involved in the administration and logistics of a Parliamentary reception at Portcullis House, which was attended by MPs and journalists, on the topic of children attaining majority while in care and the gap in support. The reception was well ­received and had a positive impact in terms of media coverage for the charity.

Between terms at university, I worked as an Administration Assistant in two departments­ firstly with Reception, responsible for a switchboard for all staff, and taking the role of first point of contact for visiting clients. I learnt to understand the pattern of work within an office that had a lot of travelling sales representatives and the challenges that generated in terms of managing their expenses and travel, and in getting hold of them when asked.I then worked in the Accounts department, organising then rationalising the system of paper files. I was praised for my attention to detail and my analysis of what was required. I was left to be self­sufficient for long periods and I learned to set myself targets for each day to make sure I didn't lose productivity even under no supervision.

I taught a class of 45 four­- to eleven-­year olds in a primary school in a slum in Kenya. I overcame asignificant language barrier and developed an approach based on my own experiences and some research in order to make a meaningful and positive impact on the class.I concentrated on improving behaviour and focus in the class in order to properly assess the impact of the lesson content, and needed to overcome the cultural expectation of using corporal punishment to enforce concentration. Instead, I ran PE lessons early in the day to expend excess energy and improve focus once the children were back in the class.Following my time teaching, there was an improvement of 27% in standardised tests compared to before I arrived. My lateral thinking was praised and I am really proud of my resilience in challenging circumstances.

Birmingham, West Midlands, Us

I worked in the Secretariat which received queries from the public, Freedom of Information requests and requests from contractors and other government departments. I was responsible for logging the queries from the general public and FOIs and distributing them to the relevant team for response. I needed to ensure the team produced a response within a strict time frame to comply with both internal guidelines and FOI requirements, and this involved building positive relationships with the team members quickly. Towards the end of my time working at the HA I was encouraged to draft responses to some of the more common requests myself, to be checked by senior colleagues.I also was a tester for a new administration management website which involved some training and the ongoing routine submission of feedback forms to the builders of the site before it was put live more widely. I also worked on routine tasks to support the work of senior colleagues and the Regional Director.

Surrey, Gb

I worked on an environmental campaign called Reduce, Reuse, Recycle targeting consumers of plastics and packaging at the point of sale at supermarkets and shopping centres around Surrey. I engaged with members of the public, so dealing with unexpected and off­ topic enquiries was common, and the eight ­hour days standing in public required patience and creativity to make sure I could still engage consumers at the end of each day.I worked in a team of two and we needed to be self ­sufficient, managing our resources of leaflets and free cotton bags across the venues we attended. The venues were spread across the county so time management was crucial in planning the journeys and making sure we arrived in good time to start each day.

Lpc, Law

Graduate Diploma In Law, Law

Ba, English Literature And Philosophy