Phil joined the Kenya Regiment in May 1940 as a private and went on to serve in the K.A.R. until demobilised in February 1946. He then joined the Kenya Government as a temporary District Officer, at Mombasa until October, when he left for Oxford University, where he completed a post-war colonial Officer's course in 1948. On his return to Kenya, he worked in the Provincial Administration as a District Officer, then District Commissioner until 1960, and then seconded to the Ministry of Agriculture. He was later transferred to the Ministry of Lands and Settlement on its inception in June 1963. In July 1967, he was promoted from a Senior Administrative Officer to Deputy Director of Settlement and in July 1972, he reverted to Assistant Director of Settlement (Finance and Administration) until he left the Kenya Government service in June 1976.
