David Stockton

David Stockton is VP of Engineering at Directus, bringing more than two decades of experience building, operating, and scaling complex software systems. A true engineering polyglot, his journey began with early experimentation on home computers like the Commodore 64 and Acorn Electron, sparking a lifelong curiosity about how systems work from the ground up. Over the years, David’s career has spanned hands-on software engineering, DevOps and SRE leadership, and executive roles across startups and large-scale technology organisations, where he has helped teams operate reliable, secure platforms serving global users at significant scale.

At Directus, David leads the engineering organisation with a focus on long-term technical excellence and developer empowerment. His approach is grounded in first principles: understanding systems end to end, favouring pragmatic troubleshooting, and designing platforms that remain flexible under real-world complexity. Having worked across everything from early-stage products to highly regulated, enterprise-grade environments, he brings a balanced perspective to evolving the Directus ecosystem. Beyond technology, David is deeply invested in growing people and teams, fostering a culture of ownership, curiosity, and continuous improvement that enables engineers to do their best work.