He specialises in supporting museums and heritage organisations to embed co-creation, diversify decision-making, and prioritise the needs and aspirations of under-served communities. 

From 2007 until 2020, Stephen was the Curator of Living Cultures and Acting Deputy Head of Collections at the Manchester Museum, part of the University of Manchester. In this role, he was responsible for improving community access to a collection of over 18,000 cultural heritage items from Africa, America, Asia, and the Pacific. Prior to this, he was a project curator working on the development and delivery of the International Slavery Museum, National Museums Liverpool, from 2005 to 2007.

Since 2016, he has been a committee member for the National Lottery Heritage Fund North, and in 2021 he was appointed as a trustee for Homotopia, the UK's longest-running LGBTQ+ arts and culture festival. He served as an advisory panel member for the Arts and Humanities Research Council project Towards an Inclusive GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) Hub from 2021 to 2022. He has also sat on committees for the Islamic Art and Material Culture Subject Specialist Network and the Royal Northern College of Music Collection of Historic Instruments.