Stephen O'Connor joined IPU New Zealand in 2014 as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Contemporary Studies, where he teaches academic English and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) across all four language skills to Japanese and international undergraduate students. His recent responsibilities at IPU New Zealand include teaching Japan-focused content courses in modern history, culture, and international relations, supervising undergraduate capstone and postgraduate research in TESOL, education, and Japan-related studies, and serving as a core lecturer on the Trinity TESOL Certificate programme. He previously served as Assistant Dean of the Bachelor of Contemporary Studies in 2017, and has contributed to NZQA Modern Asian Language qualification development.

Dr O'Connor's doctoral research, conducted at Victoria University of Wellington, examined collective best practices of academic induction in New Zealand universities, grounded in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. His broader research interests span higher education pedagogy, second language acquisition, and Japan studies. He has published in journals including Education About Asia, Humanizing Language Teaching, and the Australian Institute of Business Review, and has been recognised with the IPU Teacher of the Year Award (2022), the IPU Researcher of the Year Award (2019), the New Zealand Prime Minister's Scholarship for Asia (2024) supporting research at Hokkaido University and Ochanomizu University in Japan, and the Wellington Doctoral Submission Scholarship (2024).