Phillips, who can play wing or full back, has previously played his club rugby for the Newcastle Falcons and Stade Francais.
However, he is also well known for his time on the World Sevens Series circuit with England. A former captain of the side, he was named IRB Sevens Player of the Year in 2009.
He started his career with Newcastle where he played 33 times in five seasons, scoring nine tries in the process. He then spent two seasons with Stade Francais.
He left Stade last June and has been working his way back to fitness following a knee injury including spending time training with the England Sevens squad.
However, he is now fit and raring to go and looking forward to contributing to the rest of Gloucester's season as he told the club website.
"It's a fantastic opportunity for as I've always had a great deal of admiration for Gloucester and its rugby traditions.
"It's a proper rugby club in a proper rugby city and Kingsholm is a place I've always enjoyed playing at. I can't think of a place I'd rather play my rugby.
"I was actually quite close to joining Gloucester a couple of years ago when Dean Ryan was still there but I'm delighted to finally get there and I can't wait to play in front of the Shed with them backing me and not barracking me!"
Phillips will report for training at Hartpury on Monday and he confessed that the move had come about very quickly.
"I had a call from Bryan who told me that Lesley Vainikolo was moving on and that he needed to strengthen the squad.
"Then I heard that Olly Morgan was injured which was terrible news. Olly is actually a really good friend of mine and I'm gutted for him but the news sped things up a bit.
"I'm fit and raring to go. I trained with the England Sevens squad before Christmas and I'm really grateful to Ben Ryan for that. There was an opportunity to play some Sevens but, once I knew of Gloucester's interest, my mind was made up."
Gloucester's style of play was also a huge factor in the decision according to the 29 year old.
"Gloucester play with a lot of movement and get the ball into the wide channels a lot and that suits me down to the ground.
"My first challenge though is to try and get a game and that won't be easy given the firepower they have in the squad.
"But, if I can reproduce my form of last season with Stade Francais where I was the top scorer, then I can give the coaches something to think about.
"For now though, I'm just really excited about linking up with the boys and being part of the Gloucester squad."
