Later from 1977 to 1979, he was an assisting manager for FK Daugava under Vadims Ulbergs (), worked as a coach in the Riga school of football, and manager of FK Pārdaugava reserves squad.
After Latvian independence in 1991, Gilis was appointed as the first general manager of the Latvia national football team.
Under Gilis Latvia participated in qualifying for two World cups and one European championship.
The first years for the national team were tough although under Gilis Latvia got some notable wins (1:0 against Northern Ireland, 3:2 against Austria) and also a couple of historical draws (0:0 against Spain and European champions Denmark).
After the work with the national team Gilis managed Liepājas Metalurgs but in 1999 - FK Rīga which under Gilis won the Latvian Cup in the first year of the club existing.