Operations and Hospitality Management Internship
Ronald McDonald House Charities ® of Central Florida Operations and Hospitality Management Internship Program
Internship Period: 3-4 months
Hours per Week: 20-25 hours per week
Compensation: $1,500
INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTION
Ronald McDonald House Charities ® of Central Florida (RMHCCF) provides essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need healthcare. Our core program, the Ronald McDonald House ® (RMH), provides a “home-away-from-home” that offers comfort and care to families of children being treated at local hospitals and medical facilities. There are three Ronald McDonald House locations in Central Florida; one located on the campus of AdventHealth for Children, one on the campus of Orlando Health, and our third location located on the campus of Nemours Children’s Health. The Operations and Hospitality Management internship participant will engage in projects and management experience over 12-16 weeks. They will
focus primarily on the areas of family guest experience, daily facility operations, and hospitality management.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- To develop a broad understanding and appreciation of hospitality management, facility operations, and the nonprofit sector.
- To build experience in a professional work environment while gaining experience working independently and in teams.
- To strengthen or build skill sets by utilizing them in a variety of working conditions such as guest experience, public speaking, managing projects and deadlines, time management, and attention to detail.
- If a student is seeking this internship for academic credit, additional learning outcomes and requirements will be discussed with the student to meet the needs of the course.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Guest Experience:
- Provide exceptional customer service and hospitality to all guest families, volunteers, donors, and visitors.
- Lead the front desk by managing incoming telephone calls, providing tours, directing questions, taking donations, and maintaining a clean and comfortable environment, all while ensuring our RMHCCF pillar of a world-class experience is met.
- Ensure every family is treated with kindness, compassion, and equality.
- Lead guest family paperwork, check-in, and check-out tasks as directed by the House Management Team.
- Serve as a secondary contact for guest families from the time of application to the completion of stay.
- Assist with hosting Baking Buddies, Share-A-Meal, and Serve Days in collaboration with the Partnerships and Programs team.
- Organize and advertise interactive house activities, national holidays, and local resources for families.
- Identify, recruit, and engage families to participate in sharing their RMHCCF story through family photoshoots, Keeping Families Close Tours, and community speaking engagements.
Facility Operations:
- Ensure all guest rooms are inspected, approved, and prepped for incoming guest family check-ins.
- Circulate through the House to check the status of the kitchen, public-facing restrooms, laundry room space and supplies, playroom, and common living rooms.
- Monitor air handlers daily to ensure standard operations.
- Report potential facility or operational problems that may need attention to House Management Team members.
- Assist with management of meeting space(s) including setup, providing hospitality to group, and breakdown.
- Provide detailed record-keeping within platforms of all communication/interaction with guest families, volunteers, in-person donations, facility maintenance, vendors, team members, and incident reports.
- Assist charity staff with other responsibilities as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Possess computer skills including experience with email, Canva, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint programs
- Ability to multi-task, prioritize, and take initiative
- Ability to function responsibly and take direction well.
- Flexible, diplomatic, trustworthy, creative, poised, and maintains a supportive, cheerful “Can do” attitude
- Open to constructive feedback in a professional matter throughout internship
- Works well independently and as a team player
- Possesses strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Proactive time management skills
- Consistently able to work efficiently to meet deadlines
- Valid Florida driver’s license and operable vehicle
REQUIREMENTS
- Must be enrolled in an institution of higher education in a degree-seeking program.
- Must be available to work within the required period during the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. including some nights and weekends and must have reliable transportation.
DRESS CODE
- Business casual attire and closed-toe shoes.
- 2 RMHCCF polos and name tags will be provided upon onboarding.
BENEFITS
- Professional work environment.
- Opportunity to serve the community.
- Hands-on opportunity to learn the inner workings of a dynamic and large operations program.
- Affiliation with a globally respected nonprofit agency.
TIME COMMITMENT
- Flexible during weekdays and weekends; based on the student’s schedule
COMPLETION OF PROGRAM
- Intern will complete paperwork throughout internship including:
- Project Checklist
- Mid-Program Evaluation
- Exit Survey and Exit Interview
- Discuss the overall experience of the program.
- Discuss future involvement with the charity
- In-House volunteer opportunities
- Group opportunities
- Special Events
- Job opportunities (if available)
- A reference and/or verification letter will be provided for the intern