Some careers are planned. Others are built, floor by floor, with whatever materials are available. There is a certain kind of professional who does not wait for the right door to open — he walks through the wrong one and figures it out from the inside. Ten years ago, Richard Atillo packed his ambitions and left the Philippines with a job title that had nothing to do with what he had studied or dreamed about. Today, he manages the IT infrastructure of a Hilton property in Saudi Arabia and mentors a new generation of local tech leaders — none of which was part of the original plan.
Starting from the bottom, literally
Richard grew up knowing that nothing would be handed to him. As a working student in the Philippines, he balanced shifts and subjects simultaneously, studying late into the night after long workdays. He also took on part-time teaching, standing in front of IT classes not long after he had been a student himself. “Teaching allowed me to share my knowledge while continuing to learn,” he shared with TGFM. “Standing in front of students helped me grow in confidence, communication, and leadership.”
Before heading abroad, he spent three years working in a government office in the Philippines — an experience he credits for teaching him something formal education could not: how accountability and integrity function in a real workplace. It was unglamorous preparation, but it stuck.
When the opportunity to work overseas came, there was a catch. The available position was not in IT. It was in hotel technical operations — a general maintenance-adjacent role far from the systems management he had set his sights on. Most people might have held out. Richard took it.
Earning the title
He did not coast. He performed well enough to be named Team Member of the Year, a recognition he describes as a turning point. “This motivated me to aim higher and take on greater responsibilities,” he said. From there came a promotion to supervisor, then another step, and eventually the manager’s role he holds today.
The climb from technical staff to IT Manager is not just a résumé milestone — it reflects a calculated patience that defines how Richard approaches his career. He did not try to skip rungs. He learned each level before moving to the next, and that groundwork shows in how he now leads.
Teaching again, in a different room
The part of his current role that Richard talks about with the most energy is not the infrastructure or the systems. It is the people.
Under an ongoing project, he has been developing and training young Saudi IT professionals — bringing them along not just technically but in leadership and professional judgment. He has already mentored four team members and sees the work as an extension of who he has always been: someone who teaches. “Knowing that my work contributes to building local talent and supporting future IT leaders makes my job deeply rewarding,” he said.
There was a period, though, when the work demanded everything he had and more. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Richard lived and worked inside the hotel for nearly two years straight, keeping all systems running through a crisis that reduced manpower and amplified pressure. Cut off from regular contact with his family, he held the operation together while managing the emotional weight of isolation and the demands of a multicultural team under extraordinary stress. He does not dramatize it. He simply describes it as the most demanding period of his overseas career — and moves on.
What comes next
Richard is 36 and already thinking past his current chapter. He wants to keep growing as an IT leader, and he wants his children to grow up with a global mindset shaped by strong values and quality education. He talks about people development as an advocacy — not a buzzword, but something he has actively practiced through mentoring and will continue pursuing in whatever form comes next.
His advice to fellow Filipinos working abroad is straightforward and unsentimental: plan ahead, save with discipline, and invest — whether in skills, education, or a small business. “Working abroad is a blessing,” he said, “but how you prepare for what comes after truly defines success.”
He knows this not because someone told him. He has been preparing his whole life.
