Professor Phillips is a Head of Department at the Northern Oesophagogastric Unit and Professor of Oesophagogastric Surgery & Surgical Education at Newcastle University. He undertook his higher surgical training in the Oxford and Northern deanery.

As well as specializing in malignant oesophagogastric condition he has a strong interest in clinical and educational research.

He is the Northern Cancer Alliance Lead for UGI cancer, undergraduate lead for surgery at Newcastle University, Director of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the deputy training programme director for higher surgical training in the Northern Deanery and Co-Chair for the International Society of Diseases of the Esophagus (ISDE) Education Committee.