Tavares holds the UEFA Pro Licence, regarded as the highest football coaching qualification in Europe.

In 1998, Tavares was appointed as head coach of the U-18 team of Pastelaria Rosa FC.

Tavares first moved away from Portugal in 2013 to Bahrain, where he was appointed by Bahraini Premier League club Al-Hidd SCC as the assistant coach of Adnan Ebrahim Showaiter and Khalifa Al-Zayani.

They also had a successful run in the 2014 AFC Champions League where they entered as a qualifying play-off Round 1 participant.

[1][2] In Round 2, the Bahraini club were defeated 2-1 by 2012–13 Qatar Stars League runners-up Lekhwiya SC at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium and hence failed to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage.

In the Round of 16, the club secured a 1–0 win over 2012–13 Lebanese Premier League champions, Al-Safa' SC and advanced to the Quarter-finals.

In 2014, Tavares moved back to Portugal and to be the head coach of Portuguese Second Division club F.C.

His first match as head in-charge of the club was on 17 February 2015 in a 2–1 win over 2014 GCC Champions League runners-up, Saham SC.

The club began the campaign on a flying note as they secured a 2–1 win over 2013–14 Syrian Premier League winners, Al-Wahda SC Damascus.

[18][19][20] Tavares moved to Tanzania in Africa in August 2016, where he was appointed by Tanzanian Premier League side, African Lyon F.C.

[21] Later due to some financial delays, the Portuguese decided to part ways with the Tanzanian side.

Mika Lönnström, the sporting director of HIFK, commented later that they tend to trust people, when he was asked if Tavares had fooled the club.

[29] In 2022, Tavares was appointed as head coach of Indonesian club PSM Makassar.

In 2006, Tavares received praise for having won two AFL Cups as the head coach of G.C.