In September 2005, Pulis took over as manager of Plymouth Argyle and again appointed Kemp as his assistant. Kemp remained in this post under new manager Ian Holloway until August 2006. In October 2006, he rejoined Stoke City as assistant manager, but became chief scout when Peter Reid was appointed as assistant manager. In July 2010, Reid left Stoke to become manager at Plymouth and Pulis again appointed Kemp as his assistant. Kemp remained as assistant to Pulis as Stoke earned automatic promotion to the Premier League in 2008. Stoke established themselves as a Premier League outfit during Kemp's time as assistant and finished as runners-up in the 2011 FA Cup. He left Stoke at the end of the 2012–13 season. He followed Pulis to Crystal Palace in January 2014 and then West Bromwich Albion in January 2015. Kemp left his position as Albion's Assistant Head Coach at the end of the 2016–17 season and retired from football after spending more than 40 years in the game. After a short break Kemp returned to football with Middlesbrough FC,