Leadership Development Program Intern Jobs in Gainesville, FL

Requisition No: 881397 

Agency: Department of Transportation

Working Title: DOT INTERN - D2 - 55990819

 Pay Plan: Student/Gradte Assnt

Position Number: 55990819 

Salary:  $15.00 - $25.00 PER HOUR 

Posting Closing Date: 08/31/2026 

Total Compensation Estimator Tool

State of Florida Department of Transportation

Job Posting Description

225 / Organizational Development

Open Competitive

Other Personnel Services

Part-Time Internship Position

Contact Person: Emma Donestevez

Contact Phone Number: 386-961-7712

Contact Email Address: Emma.Donestevez@dot.state.fl.us

Hiring Salary Range: $15.00 - $25.00/ Hour

Hours Per Week: Up To 20 Hours Per Week

Join FDOT and be part of the team that works as one to improve safety, enhance mobility and inspire innovation in the Florida transportation system.

To ensure honesty and transparency, all applicants must provide their own work. Unless explicitly requested, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to assist with qualifying questions, work samples, or interviews is strictly prohibited, and any breach of this requirement will lead to the applicant being removed from consideration.

Candidates must be United States (U.S.) citizens or lawfully authorized alien workers.  Visa sponsorship is not available.

Our Mission

The mission of the Florida Department of Transportation is to provide a safe statewide transportation system that promotes the efficient movement of people and goods, supports the state's economic competitiveness, prioritizes Florida's environment and natural resources, and preserves the quality of life and connectedness of the state's communities.

Our Vision

As a OneFDOT team, we serve the people of Florida by providing a transportation network that is well planned, supports economic growth, and has the goal of being congestion and fatality free.

The Work You Will Do:

D2 Intern Transportation Track - Transportation Associate

This position will gain knowledge, skills and experience in the Transportation Industry.  The selected candidates will perform routine tasks under direct supervision across different work units within the department as well as actively participate in team projects and contribute to agency goals. 

The Difference You Will Make:

Through cooperation, coordination and collaboration among the OneFDOT team, you will be contributing to a strong and empowering culture of TRREC: Trust, Relationships, Respect, Empowerment, and Communication. 

How You Will Grow:

FDOT encourages our team members to grow through engagement, empowerment, training, and professional development.  Through our agency's learning management system, you have access to hundreds of computer-based training and instructor-led courses. 

Where You Will Work:

District Two

1109 S Marion Ave

Lake City, Fl. 32025

Hourly Rate:

$15.00 - $25.00/ hour

Your Specific Responsibilities:

FDOT staff will work with each intern to create the learning experience that is most beneficial to the student and the department. Each applicant will have the opportunity to request specific work areas. FDOT Staff will endeavor to fulfill those requests within available positions. See areas of responsibility below. Please choose at least three areas of interest.  

Gain knowledge, skills and experience in the Transportation Industry.  Perform routine tasks under direct supervision across different work units within the department.  Engage in research and provide insights to support initiatives.  Interact with executive leadership, team leads, project managers, fellow interns, and external partners.  Actively participate in team projects, contribute to agency goals, and assist in driving change within the organization.

Transportation Track - (Any majors, explores transportation, in general, and how the agency contributes to providing a safe, efficient transportation system) Transportation Overview, Program Management, Work Program, Modal, Planning, Project Management, Survey and Mapping, Right of Way, Relocation stipend not available.

Metropolitan Planning Organization-An average day for an intern with FDOT Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Liaison and Community Planner focuses on working with local agencies and MPOs to coordinate transportation planning projects. The role includes attending meetings, reviewing studies, answering questions about transportation policies, and ensuring projects align with community and state goals. Much of the work involves communication and collaboration to support planning efforts and keep transportation projects moving forward. The position also involves facilitating and growing the FDOT work program by coordinating MPO Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) approvals and supporting the development and approval of the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP). 

Modal Development Office- The Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT) Modal Development Office is dedicated to improving the safe and efficient movement of people and goods across various transportation modes, including transit, rail, sea, air, and road. The intern will collaborate with the Modal Development team to identify and implement multimodal infrastructure projects in the eighteen-county Northeast Florida region. This position will provide exposure to all phases of project delivery, including planning, environmental assessments, design, construction, and maintenance. The intern will represent the Department and work closely with external partners in the transit, rail, sea, air, and roadway industries to align strategic interests, identify future needs, and make funding allocation decisions. 

Typical tasks may include: 

Coordination with external partner agencies to develop capital improvement plans 

Aligning state funding with multimodal infrastructure needs 

Development of the FDOT Five-Year Work Program for the Transit, Rail, Seaport, and Aviation programs 

Work with external agencies to develop project scopes and projected funding requirements 

Developing Public Transportation Grant Agreements (PTGAs) for external agency operational or infrastructure projects 

Reviewing engineering plan sets for multimodal projects 

Providing compliance oversight of grant-funded operational or infrastructure projects 

Reviewing invoices from external agencies for multimodal grant-funded projects 

Performing field safety reviews or audits 

Inspections of transit agency vehicles and associated records 

Performing field inspection of grant-funded projects under active construction 

Attend and participate in coordination meetings with external agencies 

 
Emergency Management - An EM intern would be under general supervision, responsible for supporting EOC Team/DECO with planning, coordinating, and assisting the response and recovery to natural disasters, emergencies, and critical incidents to ensure the safety and security of the traveling public, state property, and environment.  Conducts research and coordinates input from various sources to design and/or maintain emergency preparedness plans to minimize impact on communities. This role requires quick decision-making, leadership, and the ability to collaborate with various stakeholders, including local governments. 

Planning and Environmental - In the Planning and Environmental Management Office (PLEMO) we would provide opportunities for Interns to get involved in a large variety of our work responsibilities. We usually aim to tailor the experience of each individual to their interests but also try to ensure at least base-level exposure to our core functions - Engineering, Environment and Planning.   For Engineering, we provide exposure to technical processes such as concept development, traffic analysis, CADD, drainage design and Permitting. For Environment, we go through the different listed protected/endangered species, contamination, noise, socioeconomic, historic/archeological as well as other protected resources encountered on our projects.  Lastly, for Planning, we like to bring interns along to commission and other stakeholder meetings, public involvement meetings as well as learn about creating projects, managing funding programs and pursuing discretionary grant funding opportunities. 

Program Management- The District Two (D2) Program Management Office is made up of 4 offices - Local Programs, Final Plans and Estimates, Work Program, and Program Services.  A current need for an intern exists in one of those 4 offices - Local Programs.  The Local Programs office is responsible for delivering state and federal grant projects through the various local agencies within D2. The Local Programs office is involved in all facets of a project from concept to final construction. An intern in Local Programs would assist the Local Programs coordinators with various project management tasks, including but not limited to: 

Supporting the office's review of Small County Road Assistance Program (SCRAP) and Small County Outreach Program (SCOP) solicitation applications from the local agencies. 

Supporting candidate project builds through developing requests to and coordination with the D2 Work Program office.  

Research and data collection of various state and federal projects managed by the Local Programs office.   

Assisting with the development of various project agreements.   

Assisting with plans and bid package reviews.  

Uploading documents into various systems for project tracking.  

Coordinating resolution of project issues. 

Right of Way Administration -  

An intern in Right of Way Administration will be immersed in discovering the multifaceted and varied areas of the right of way process. The experience would provide an overview of the complex world of the eminent domain appraisal industry with the intern working alongside our internal review appraisers to review parcel appraisals, conduct site visits to parcels being appraised for acquisition to accommodate construction of transportation projects, attending meetings with the Design Office, Survey and Mapping, Legal, and Title to recommend potential parcel revisions and map changes, if needed. Further, the intern would experience the production side of Right of Way by working alongside Senior Right of Way agents to research the myriad of federal and state statutory requirements that dictate how real property must be acquired and displacees are relocated when a transportation project is federalized. This would be accomplished by reviewing pertinent FL. Statutes and Federal Code, analyzing the documentation required for presentation of offers to property owners, attending property owner offer meetings with Senior Right of Way agents, and attending pre-order of taking hearing meetings with the Legal office, Design, and Appraisal. Finally, the intern would work with our Property Management agents to discover the processes involved in clearing newly acquired Rights of Way for construction, attend meetings with Property Management agents, Maintenance, and the Legal Office regarding permit related donations of property, and attend site inspections to assess potential encroachment issues and oversee ongoing demolition activities. 

District Materials Office - The District Materials Research Office (DMRO) has four core areas of responsibility: Pavement Materials (asphalt and concrete pavement systems); Geotechnical Materials (foundation design, aggregate mining, construction, sinkhole remediation, and roadside construction and testing); Structural Materials (concrete mix design, production plant inspection, construction assistance, prestress beam and pile fabrication, and quality assurance); Operations (testing of asphalt and concrete samples, testing of aggregate and soil samples, project certification, database management). An intern with the DMRO will have the opportunity to work with each of these areas, if they so choose, or they can choose to focus on a single area. They will work under instruction with one of our engineers or senior managers during the internship learning in depth about the area they have chosen.

Structures Maintenance - An intern will be learning how FDOT bridges are inspected and repaired to ensure the bridges are safe for the traveling public.  This would include accompanying the bridge inspectors in the field to evaluate bridges as well as completing maintenance activities with the fixed and moveable field crews.  Attending meetings with design, maintenance, materials, construction and other FDOT departments to understand how the different departments work together to complete construction and maintenance projects for District 2 bridges.  Visit construction projects to learn about pile driving, drill shaft installations, cathodic protection pile jacket installations, moveable repairs, steel bridge repairs, painting of steel structures and any other specialty projects that arise while interning.  Be exposed to bridge construction plans as well as completing contracts and cost estimates for varies type of construction and maintenance contracts. 

The Successful Candidate will have the following required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

The student should have an interest in the transportation industry.

Knowledge of:

• Microsoft Word, Outlook, and Excel

Skills in:

• Organization
• Time Management

Other Job-Related Requirements:

Students in Environmental, Geomatic, Planning, Urban Transportation, Project Management, Construction Management (non-Engineering), Finance or Accounting, Emergency Management, Workplace Safety, Trades (including HVAC, Welding, Carpentry, Auto Mechanics, etc.) Computer science, or related field; junior, senior, or graduate student; minimum GPA 3.0

Minimum Q...