Francisco Noel R. Fernandez III served as Assistant Secretary and Chief of Protocol of the Department of Foreign Affairs prior to his designation as Director General of the Foreign Service Institute.

In Manila, he served as Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (2014-2016) and was Executive Director of the newly created Office of Migrant Workers Affairs in 2016. He previously served as Executive Director in the Office of European Affairs (2014) and Director for Ocean Governance at the Ocean Concerns Office (2013).

He was Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Administration while serving concurrently as Director of the Law Division and Board Secretary of the Board of Foreign Service Administration (BFSA) (2003-2006). On his initial appointment as Foreign Service Officer, he served concurrently as Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs and Director for Treaties in the Office of Legal Affairs (1995-1997).

Overseas, he was Second Secretary in Beijing (1997-2003), Minister and Alternate Permanent Representative in London (2006-2012), and Deputy Chief of Mission in Ottawa (2016-2022).

            He earned his Master of Laws after completing his Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Arts, Major in Political Science (Dean’s List).

            He placed first in the 1994 Philippine Bar Examinations and placed second in the 1994 Foreign Service Officers Examination. He received the Outstanding Sillimanian Award in 2021 from his alma mater, Silliman University

He is married to a Filipino diplomat, Bernadette, and they have two children.