Payne began his work with Carnival Corporation in January 1985 when employed by Technical Marine Planning, Ltd, then a London-based consultancy firm under contract with Carnival for the design and construction supervision of its new ships. (
By 1995 the firm was absorbed into Carnival and became its newbuild department.)

His first assignment was to assess stability of the MS Holiday.
 He next became a member of the design team for the Carnival Fantasy class ships which entered service starting in 1990.
The last two Fantasy ships, Elation and Paradise, were equipped with ABB Azipod thrusters rather than traditional shaft drives, a development which influenced his later work.
By 1995 he was a Senior Naval Architect and oversaw the construction of the first Destiny class ship.
 His next major project was the design of Holland America Line’s new flagship MS Rotterdam VI where he was project manager.
Payne designed the new ship with twin funnels, a tribute to the 1959 SS Rotterdam V. Following completion of the Rotterdam, Payne was project manager for the Costa Atlantica and the Spirit class ships.

In May 1998 Carnival acquired the Cunard Line, and Payne was given charge of designing the new ocean liner Queen Mary 2 (QM2) to replace the aging Queen Elizabeth 2 as Cunard's transatlantic liner.
Payne's design was heavily influenced by past Atlantic liners. "
I have this philosophy that to get things right the first-time, you need to have an appreciation for history - of what has been done before."
 QM2 has a breakwater adopted from the Normandie and split engine rooms to avoid having a single point of failure. "
The bridge, the mast, and the funnel are all loosely based on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and I felt it particularly important to echo some of the similarities between that ship and this one to create the lineage progression."
  
On three occasions Carnival's board halted the project as they did not consider it commercially viable.
Payne refined the design and instituted several innovations to justify the new liner's construction cost.
He placed the new ship's public spaces near the water line.
This allowed for a premium fare balcony, rather than porthole, cabins to be placed in the hull yet high enough to have a margin of protection from the sea conditions of the north Atlantic.
Payne also created more revenue-producing interior space by removing one engine room from the initial design and instead using gas turbines at the base of the funnel.
Podded propulsion, rather than shaft drives, was used to free up even more interior space and offered greater fuel efficiency and maneuverability.
Spectacular public rooms, restricted to only first class passengers on the great twentieth century liners, were open to all passengers.
QM2 was delivered to Cunard in December 2003, on time and under budget.

During the design phase of Queen Mary 2 Payne was appointed a member of a safety Innovation Group for the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
His next major project was to lead the design team for the Seabourn Cruise Line Odyssey class ships which entered service starting in 2009.
Carnival's later newbuild contracts would stipulate podded propulsion as they offered fuel savings and superior maneuverability compared to traditional shaft drives.
 Payne would later state, "I have yet to meet a ship's master who is familiar with pods that doesn't prefer them to shafts, rudders and stern thrusters."

In 2010, Payne left Carnival and became a founding member of the consultancy PFJ-Maritime Consulting Ltd. As a maritime consultant Payne has been involved in the proposed Project Orient Limited, shipping law, passenger vessel safety, and future developments for shipping propulsion.
He is also an industry consultant for the emergence of Asian shipyards for ship building and refurbishment.
Payne began his work with Carnival Corporation in January 1985 when employed by Technical Marine Planning, Ltd, then a London-based consultancy firm under contract with Carnival for the design and construction supervision of its new ships. (By 1995 the firm was absorbed into Carnival and became its newbuild department.)
His first assignment was to assess stability of the MS Holiday.  He next became a member of the design team for the Carnival Fantasy class ships which entered service starting in 1990. The last two Fantasy ships, Elation and Paradise, were equipped with ABB Azipod thrusters rather than traditional shaft drives, a development which influenced his later work. By 1995 he was a Senior Naval Architect and oversaw the construction of the first Destiny class ship.  His next major project was the design of Holland America Line’s new flagship MS Rotterdam VI where he was project manager. Payne designed the new ship with twin funnels, a tribute to the 1959 SS Rotterdam V. Following completion of the Rotterdam, Payne was project manager for the Costa Atlantica and the Spirit class ships.
In May 1998 Carnival acquired the Cunard Line, and Payne was given charge of designing the new ocean liner Queen Mary 2 (QM2) to replace the aging Queen Elizabeth 2 as Cunard's transatlantic liner. Payne's design was heavily influenced by past Atlantic liners. "I have this philosophy that to get things right the first-time, you need to have an appreciation for history - of what has been done before."  QM2 has a breakwater adopted from the Normandie and split engine rooms to avoid having a single point of failure. "The bridge, the mast, and the funnel are all loosely based on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and I felt it particularly important to echo some of the similarities between that ship and this one to create the lineage progression."   
On three occasions Carnival's board halted the project as they did not consider it commercially viable. Payne refined the design and instituted several innovations to justify the new liner's construction cost. He placed the new ship's public spaces near the water line. This allowed for a premium fare balcony, rather than porthole, cabins to be placed in the hull yet high enough to have a margin of protection from the sea conditions of the north Atlantic. Payne also created more revenue-producing interior space by removing one engine room from the initial design and instead using gas turbines at the base of the funnel. Podded propulsion, rather than shaft drives, was used to free up even more interior space and offered greater fuel efficiency and maneuverability. Spectacular public rooms, restricted to only first class passengers on the great twentieth century liners, were open to all passengers. QM2 was delivered to Cunard in December 2003, on time and under budget.
During the design phase of Queen Mary 2 Payne was appointed a member of a safety Innovation Group for the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency. His next major project was to lead the design team for the Seabourn Cruise Line Odyssey class ships which entered service starting in 2009. Carnival's later newbuild contracts would stipulate podded propulsion as they offered fuel savings and superior maneuverability compared to traditional shaft drives.  Payne would later state, "I have yet to meet a ship's master who is familiar with pods that doesn't prefer them to shafts, rudders and stern thrusters."
In 2010, Payne left Carnival and became a founding member of the consultancy PFJ-Maritime Consulting Ltd. As a maritime consultant Payne has been involved in the proposed Project Orient Limited, shipping law, passenger vessel safety, and future developments for shipping propulsion. He is also an industry consultant for the emergence of Asian shipyards for ship building and refurbishment.
Stephen Payne (naval architect)