Prior to joining the Crawford School, Stephen Howes was Chief Economist at the Australian Agency for International Development. He worked from 1994 to 2005 at the World Bank, first in Washington and then in Delhi, where he was Lead Economist for India. In 2008, he worked on the Garnaut Review on Climate Change, where he managed the Review's international work stream. He continues to work as an advisor and consultant for AusAID and the World Bank on issues relating to aid effectiveness and climate change policy.

Stephen serves as a Board Member for the Pacific Institute of Public Policy, and sits on the Advisory Board of the Asian Development Bank Institute. He is the Director of the International and Development Economics teaching program at the Crawford School, and is also Director of the Development Policy Centre.