Danny Smith

Consultant

Armakuni

Pole Star EAM

Chief Operations Officer

Oyster®

Consultant - Remote Workplace Design & People Ops

Delocate (acquired by Oyster)

Principal Consultant

RED Academy

VP Technology

Global Curriculum Director, Technology

Lead Instructor

Ada. National College for Digital Skills

Curriculum Designer & Lecturer

CharlieHR

Senior Software Engineer

Sparta Global

I wore *a lot* of hats as we grew from a 3-employee startup to 80+ folks

All Sorts

Royal Air Force Air Cadets

Adjutant, Central Training Team, HQ RAFAC

COO & Consultant | Creating high-performance remote organisations 👨‍💻🌍

I work with leaders to intentionally design remote organisations & ways of working, laying the foundations for rapid scaling, long-term organisational health, and a globally distributed workforce.

I spent 2021 at Oyster, scaling their fully-remote (globally distributed) company from 14 to 500 people (and a $1bn valuation). Which was absolutely wild.

I work mostly at the intersection of system design, human behaviour, remote work & operations. I'm convinced that knowledge work has no borders and the "remote work revolution" has the power to make the world a fairer and more equal place for everyone. Globally distributed companies are the future.  And the remote workplace should be diverse, safe & supportive for all.

I talk about "Organisational Health" a lot because healthy orgs feel calm when ploughing through unknown waters at 1000mph and can operate on the edge of chaos without being chaotic: much better for our people, and our business. Since systemic health problems have a disproportionately large effect on distributed remote teams (and quickly compound with scale), I'm on a mission to help folks be more intentional about how they design & transform remote-first orgs.

➡️ Read more on this → https://danny.is/writing/organisational-health

I love meeting new folks, so hit me up if you wanna chat 🙂☎️

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Wanna learn about remote best practices? 👇

· Oyster Reef → https://oysterhr.notion.site/Welcome-to-The-Reef-Oyster-s-Open-Source-Employee-Guide-fc482e3f107c4afd8c85ed217f1d0c1d
· Some tiny remote working tips → https://danny.is/remote

If you've read this far you *might* be interested to know...

· I've a sporadic sideline in personal coaching and team facilitation.
· I used to be a software engineer, but realised I have a much bigger impact when I help others do their thing better. And now that's my thing. (I still code, but just for fun.)
· Before that I was a blues musician. I still perform and jam lots: music has this weird ability to transcend language and cultural barriers.
· I'm a generalist. Obviously. Sorry not sorry.


In the past, my desire to "make work better for everyone" saw me doing:

· Education → curriculum design, learning design, teaching etc.
· Engineering process → DevOps, architecture etc
· Agile coaching & delivery process (SAFe still gives me nightmares).
· Design systems before they were hip.

Miranda Zolot

Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Business Operations

Oyster™

OysterHR is revolutionizing global employment. We are solving one of the biggest employment challenges the world has ever faced -- how to equitably and consistently employ and compensate global talent in a world without traditional work borders.

Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

TechGC

An independent, invitation-only, peer community where General Counsels share knowledge / best practices and support each other throughout our lives and careers.

Charter Member

TriNet

Developing a holistic claims program and managing all customer facing claims, including employment practice liability defense, unemployment claims handling, garnishments, and other legal processes. The Claims Teams manage over 60,000 claims annually, working directly with customers, state and federal agencies, courts, and service providers.  Responsible for all corporate litigation and legal oversight of corporate insurance programs. 

Collaboratively established an enterprise-wide Information Risk Management program. Responsible for the development of a data and information governance function, which includes defining company-wide policies and best practices, implementing programmatic requirements, as well as creating and facilitating training programs. The Information Management Team is also responsible for the transformation of the legacy Verification of Employment function into a Records Management function supportive of the evolving records and information management needs.

Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Information and Claims

Responsible for all facets of the day-to-day management of the Legal & Compliance Department, with a staff of over 125 and a $30M annual budget.  The Legal Operations team provides staffing and project management support, triage and escalation support, software implementation, business analytics, matter and legal vendor management.  Additionally, served as liaison for Technology and Products Teams and partner for development and implementation of customer-facing compliance products.  

Established Corporate Procurement and Travel function (January 2016- November 2018), including implementing a purchase order system, contract review process, electronic signatures, and a Third Party Risk Management program.  From RFPs and vendor venting, to contract negotiation, review, and audit, along with receiving and invoicing assistance, developed Strategic Sourcing team who provides end to end managed spend support.  Role included developing and implementing playbooks for vendor contracting, defining company-wide policies and best practices for expenditure and signature authority, commercial transactions, and creating and facilitating training programs.  In 2018 alone, the team identified cost savings of over $10 Million.

Senior Corporate Counsel, Legal Operations

Manage nationwide employment litigation portfolio across brands for external clients. Advise external and internal clients on a variety of employment issues as they arise and in connection with business changes, including internal investigations, RIFs, and severance agreements. Collaborate extensively with outside law firms and insurers on litigation strategy, budget and coverage issues.

Corporate Counsel

Family Dollar

Managed nationwide single-plaintiff employment litigation and all E-discovery, including litigation hold and collection processes.  Assisted in management of class and collective actions, complex commercial litigation, and coverage issues.  Reduced pending case load 63%, reduced outside legal fees 3% and came in 12% under budget, and reduced median time cases were open by 43%.  Collaborated with outside law firms and vendors on fixed fee agreements.  Worked closely with internal clients on legal advice and compliance, change management, contracts, and best practices training.  Led corporate initiatives on topics including: sale of dangerous products, background checks, and medical marijuana.

Senior Counsel, Litigation

McGuireWoods LLP

Litigated employment claims and lawsuits nationwide for two employers headquartered in North Carolina.  Worked closely with clients advising on a variety of employment issues as they arose and in connection with business changes, including drafting and reviewing employment agreements, employment policies, affirmative action plans, RIFs, and severance agreements.  Conducted FLSA and OFCCP audits, internal investigations and provided best practices training.

Counsel

The Chambers of U.S. District Court Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr.

As first permanent clerk to newly appointed Federal Judge, I helped establish chamber practices and procedures.  Researched and drafted published opinions. Participated in district and circuit wide initiatives. Active in representing the Court in local bar organization events and committees.

Permanent Law Clerk

Duke University School of Law

Responsible for career development curriculum, on campus interviewing, and alumni liaison.

Assistant Director of Career Services

Littler Mendelson

Associate

Clifton Budd & DeMaria

With over 20 years of experience as an in-house legal counsel, Miranda is a seasoned leader and a legal creative who loves helping people and businesses succeed. She is an International Legal Design Expert, certified by Legal Creatives, and a charter member of TechGC, a peer community for General Counsels.

As the General Counsel at Oyster, Miranda is building a legal framework for making cross-border employment easier, supporting global expansion for businesses, and helping to bring remote work to talented people everywhere. She leverages her expertise in employment law, litigation, information risk management, and legal operations to deliver forward-thinking, business-minded solutions that produce sustainable results. Miranda is a strategic business partner and adviser to the senior management team, and a hands-on leader of a diverse and collaborative legal team.

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Miranda Zolot

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