Prior to joining Aquila, Stephen held the position of Executive General Manager - Project Development for Vale Coal. In this role he was responsible for the Vale coal project pipeline in Australia. Originally holding the position of Business Development Manager for AMCI from 2004, he assisted the development of their portfolio in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia and managed the development of the Broadlea Open Cut Coal Mine and the Ellensfield Coal Project. He continued in his role with project development with Vale following the acquisition of AMCI in April 2007.

Prior to AMCI Stephen had held operational roles managing at a number of underground coal mines including West Cliff Colliery, Kestrel Mine, Oaky North Mine.