Jason Heidel

Assistant Director of Housekeeping, Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando

Distinguished Leader in Operations - Back of House

Jason Heidel, Assistant Director of Housekeeping, with the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando
is the Honoree for the Distinguished Leaders in Hospitality Awards in the Operations – Back of
House category. Jason not only displays outstanding leadership qualities, but is known for being
completely cool under pressure, even in the most trying days.

Jason has cultivated strong relationships with his team and has had a hand in developing and
growing multiple team members. During a leadership transition period last year, Jason was able to
balance his full duties and assist with the on-boarding of a new department director.

Additionally, he was selected to participate in a cross-campus project team, which focused on
activating and auditing recruitment, as well as establishing on-boarding standards for all 11 hotels
and support centers throughout the company. Jason was also a key contributor to many of the
department’s recent successes. This included exceeding expectations through managing the
department’s labor to standard, increasing the Housekeeping Mystery Shop Average, and receiving a
perfect score on the Q1 shop.

Jason’s crowning achievement was the results of his outstanding team member engagement survey
that was 12 points over the department’s company average. This resulted in Jason also receiving
their company’s Leader of the Year award in 2024.