Derval Troughton

Experienced operations, escalation, and people leader with a proven track record delivering results across complex enterprise environments. With over 25 years' experience spanning customer service, technical escalation, field operations, and senior leadership roles, I bring a strong understanding of both operational performance and the people dynamics that drive service excellence and customer satisfaction at scale. Currently operating as a Senior Customer Escalation Manager, I own high‑risk, business‑critical customer situations end‑to‑end, acting as a trusted senior point of contact for executives and internal leadership.

I work calmly under pressure, setting direction, maintaining control, and ensuring clear accountability while restoring confidence and protecting long‑term relationships. Beyond reactive issue management, I focus on operational improvement, strengthening how escalations and services are run through clearer expectations, defined exit criteria, consistent communication cadence, and robust root‑cause analysis—reducing repeat issues and improving delivery resilience. A committed people leader, I build trust, psychological safety, and clarity within teams, coaching leaders to operate confidently under pressure and deliver consistent outcomes.

Proven experience leading cross-functional teams and managing critical incidents under high-pressure situations.

Senior Escalation Manager - IFS

(2023-10)

End‑to‑end ownership of executive‑level account escalations across complex enterprise customers.

• Calm, controlled leader in high‑pressure, high‑impact situations, confidently managing difficult customer scenarios.
• Acts as a trusted senior interface for customer executives and IFS leadership, providing structured, outcome‑focused engagement
• Rapidly assesses customer concerns, sentiment, and escalation risk to identify priority focus areas and capability gaps.
• Leads cross‑functional resolution through collaboration with Support, R&D, Cloud Operations, and Delivery teams.
• Ensures the customer voice is heard throughout the escalation lifecycle, maintaining trust and transparency.
• Initiates and chairs both internal and customer‑facing escalation calls, maintaining clear ownership and momentum.
• Provides consistent, high‑quality status updates and executive‑level communications to all stakeholders.
• Sets realistic expectations, with clear recovery plans and agreed exit criteria from the outset.
• Mentors and coaches De‑Escalation Managers, strengthening judgement, confidence, and independence, reducing reliance on heroics.
• Designs and implements process improvements to strengthen escalation handling and governance.
• Drives high‑quality RCA, lessons learned, and escalation prevention, reducing repeat incidents and escalation fatigue.
• Ability to de‑escalate high‑risk situations, restore customer confidence, and protect long‑term account relationships.

Field Service Manager - Dell Technologies

(2020-07 - 2023-10)

Senior people manager, leading teams in high‑pressure, ambiguous, and customer‑critical environments.

• Accountable for the operational performance of a district supporting 2,000+ enterprise customers.
• Direct line management of 10 field engineers, ensuring day‑to‑day service continuity and customer satisfaction.
• Led formal Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) providing clear feedback, support, and measurable improvement plans.
• Recruited, onboarded, and trained new staff, ensuring effective role integration, early capability development, and alignment with organisational standards and culture.
• Managed difficult performance conversations and exits professionally, balancing compassion with accountability and business needs.
• Owned delivery against key KPIs, introducing new processes and improvements where required to meet targets.
• Built high‑performing teams through clear expectations, coaching, and continuous development.
• Actively managed workload balance and wellbeing, ensuring fair distribution of work and sustainable performance.
• Fostered a blameless, fearless culture, promoting collaboration, accountability, and psychological safety.
• Championed an inclusive and diverse workplace culture aligned with the companies culture.
• Conducted regular 1‑to‑1s focused on career development, skills growth, and performance improvement.
• Managed customer escalations end‑to‑end, including major incidents involving data loss or data unavailability.
• Maintained control in high‑pressure situations, coordinating internal and external stakeholders while providing consistent, confidence‑building customer communications.
• Recognised by DELL stakeholders for leading a UK‑wide escalation for a major IT institution facing performance degradation during peak periods.
• Delivered executive‑level RCA reports to customers and stakeholders, driving transparency and improvement.
• Served on the UK & Ireland Health and Safety Board, ensuring effective measures were in place to protect employees from workplace hazards.

Field Engineer - Dell Technologies

(2014-06 - 2020-07)

• Collected, analysed, and shared customer feedback to support continuous service and process improvement.
• Collaborated closely with field peers and cross‑functional teams including Sales, Presales, and Professional Services, to deliver aligned customer outcomes.
• Remained current with upcoming product releases, enabling informed customer discussions and operational readiness.
• Contributed to UK & Ireland–wide initiatives, partnering with Field Management, Business Operations, and Customer Services.
• Selected for the Tell Dell Committee, L.I.V.E Ambassador (CS, EMEA), mentoring programme, and Aspiring Leaders Programme.
• Developed and led national workshops as part of a UK‑wide application rollout, acting as a change lead to support field engineers through adoption, training, and transition.

Account Service Representative - Dell Technologies

(2006-01 - 2014-06)

• Acted as a trusted customer-facing representative, reinforcing consistent service delivery, clear communication, and customer confidence.
• Managed and coordinated complex customer service changes end‑to‑end, including customer requests, FCOs, and system reconfigurations.
• Applied expert knowledge to streamline workflows and improve service consistency, reducing friction for customers and internal teams.
• Led national workshops as part of a UK‑wide application rollout, acting as a change lead to support field engineers through adoption, training, and transition.

Product Support Engineer - Dell Technologies

(2001-09 - 2006-01)

• Provided advanced technical support to the field for highly complex system configurations, upgrades, and critical technical issues.
• Documented and reported failures comprehensively, supporting engineering fixes and quality improvements.
• Designed and delivered product support workshops and training for new hires and experienced engineers

Bachelor of Science - Applied Physics and Instrumentation - Cork Institute of Technology