D'Arcy Payne was employed by the Northern Rhodesia Government as a Learner District Assistant in the Provincial Administration from 1957 to 1961, based at first in Abercorn (now Mbala), then Kasama, Mporokoso and Isoko in Northern Province. He was subsequently seconded to the Department of Rural (later Community) Development to train leaders for Community Service camps at a site in Abercorn.

Payne attended the Overseas Services Course at Cambridge University from 1961 to 1962 and gained experience as an Outward Bound instructor during the vacations. He returned to the Provincial Commissioner's office in Livingstone as a District Officer before a posting in Gwembe. In 1963 Payne was put in charge of the Development Area Training Centre in Kabompo, where practical skills were taught, and in 1964 transferred to Abercorn to establish a national centre for Outward Bound courses. Apart from a secondment to work on the independence celebrations in October 1964 Payne remained at the Outward Bound Lake School until September 1967 when he resigned from service in Zambia and returned to the United Kingdom.