Working overseas has been a goal for Ricardo Amante Jr. and his wife as they build their own family. For nearly one year, he has been living in the UAE and working as the Head of Logistics for Gulf Coca-Cola Beverages (GCCB), covering UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. He is responsible for the design and governance of all logistics operations and excellence organizations of GCCB.
The challenge of working with a very diverse culture and the opportunity to represent Filipino talent globally, especially in an exciting field like logistics and supply chain, drove him to say yes to this assignment.
Before embarking on an overseas journey, Ricky, fondly called by his colleagues, previously handled Warehouse and Transport strategies and excellence of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, where he was in charge of building capability, providing supply chain solution expertise, and equipping the warehouses, distribution centers, and plants of Coca-Cola across the Philippines via robust processes, breakthrough resource planning, and industry-standard infrastructure to deliver compliant, innovative, effective, and efficient end-to-end best in class results in service, value creation, and cost.
Ricky, a licensed chemical engineer, also spent significant time in Procter and Gamble (P&G) spanning different roles in Supply Chain across his career there. His last stint was as the Senior Logistics Manager managing mega distributors. He also take pride lead global and regional projects and initiatives, including implementation, acquisition, divestitures, and procure-to-pay projects, to name a few. He is also considered a business and process expert in Procurement to Payment operations, solutions, and innovation systems.
The Filipino professional has a cumulative 18 years of solid experience and expertise in Product Supply Chain key planks, including Procurement, Manufacturing, Quality Assurance, Supply Network Operations, Warehousing, and Logistics and Project Management.
While working in Dubai is his first abroad assignment, he has already been working with global colleagues since his P&G days and had stints on some global roles and projects from his previous assignments. He has been constantly travelling as well to different countries on business trips making him exposed to different cultures and landscapes ever since.
His recent milestone was leading the Logistics team of Coca-Cola as one of the sponsors for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Ricky had to be physically stationed there to support the deliveries of their products without fail under intense pressure and lean resources. They ended up making history, having delivered the highest number of drinks served in any sporting event in the world.
“As a newbie expat, working with different cultures has its own challenges. You need to be assertive while balancing the right way to build relationships and influence. The pressure to deliver work demands while being away with relatives is also tough. My ultimate source of strength is my wife and my kids; we are making all moments and experiences count,” he said.
The Filipino chemical engineer is passionate about capability, both within and outside work. He pursued several studies and capability learning activities to equip himself further. He recently secured a Diploma in Supply Management from the Philippine Institute of Supply Management and San Beda, where he graduated as top of class 2021.
He is also professionally affiliated with the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers UAE and PH, the Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines, and the Philippine Institute of Supply Management.
“Supply Chain and Logistics is a road less taken for Chemical Engineers like me, but I find it a very fulfilling venue to demonstrate versatility and agility because there is no similar day in Logistics – always on the go! I have worked in different landscapes from the Philippines to here, faced different challenges and complexities, learned a lot, and extended my knowledge to others. On top of that, Logistics as a function continuously evolve, making it one of the most sought-after and lucrative professions. It requires different skill sets, and it pushes one to grow and be fluent and response with market landscape changes,” he said.
Outside work, he enjoys spending quality time with his wife Happy and kids, Joaquin, Franco and Helena – either on a roadtrip or simply strolling in the mall or tourist spots. The clingy family is excited to explore what Middle East can offer so weekends are really precious for them. Ricky also enjoys singing and writing (poems, literary) in his free time.
Seeing his fellow Filipinos excel in their respective fields also makes him proud and drives him to elevate Filipino equity outside the Philippines further.
“Resilience is a key trait of Filipinos and a good way to demonstrate that while working abroad. Understand your purpose and goals, both short and long-term, take advantage of the experience and learning, and never give up. Find a good community to help you brave the tides and to remind you that life is bigger beyond the walls of our current jobs. Trust everything to the Lord but work hard and work smart. Be ok to fail sometimes, stand up, learn and recover,” his advice to fellow Filipinos abroad.