From 1996 to 2001, he was director of the Currents in World Christianity Project at the University of Cambridge.
During his tenure in Cambridge he also served as the director of the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide (formerly the Henry Martyn Centre) and was a fellow of St Edmund's College.
He joined the faculty at the University of Edinburgh in January 2009 and served as Director for the Centre for the Study of World Christianity at the School of Divinity in the University of Edinburgh until 2018.
[2][3] He is also currently the chief editor of the academic journal Studies in World Christianity[4] and part of the editorial board of The Journal of Ecclesiastical History.
[5] Along with Robert Eric Frykenberg, Stanley is co-editor of the Studies in the History of Christian Missions book series from the William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.