Different aspects will be differently portable (e.g. funding will region specific, modulo field specific schemes). Having a PhD (in a relevant field) gives you

Different aspects will be differently portable (e.g. funding will region specific, modulo field specific schemes). Having a PhD (in a relevant field) gives you domain knowledge as well as knowing where the pitfalls are, and a PhD in general will mean you're at least familiar with what questions to ask/who to ask those questions.