Summary This position is located in Nutrition and Food Service, VA Medical Center, Huntington, WV. This is a full-time career position. The incumbent provides support to persons performing the operation and sanitary management of the Cold Room Unit, Product Control position, and Ingredient Control Unit during times of their absence; this may include changes in days off or tours of duty. Responsibilities Major Duties and responsibilities include (but are not limited to): Make the final check of diet trays assembled by lower grade workers for completeness, correct food temperature, and to verify that food items on the tray are appropriate for the prescribed diet; conduct the daily patient census by calculating trays needed at each meal; Knowledge to perform the duties of the Cold Room Unit and the Ingredient Control Unit; Prepare individual and bulk nourishments and special feedings for patients; Follows directions in assembling, measuring, weighing, or mixing ingredients for basic formulas and other supplemental feedings; Take nourishment inventories, replace expired bulk items, and label and distribute individual nourishments to appropriate patients or nursing stations; Apply special sanitary techniques in preparing formulas and tube feedings such as sterilizing equipment and sanitizing work areas; Weighs and measures food items and recipe ingredients; Use portion control scales and measuring devices to apportion individual items according to standardized recipes. Apportion other food items ( e.g., gelatins, juices, salads and desserts) into standard servings using the proper utensils and containers; Determines the quantities of ingredients needed to prepare required yields; Able to make conversions from the metric system to the U.S. standard system; Able to use a computer terminal to record and retrieve recipe, menu, and inventory data and to produce printouts of such information for various work units in the kitchen. Able to use a computer terminal to enter and retrieve patient diet and supplemental feeding data for use by various work units in the kitchen. Interacts closely with the Nutrition and Food Service clinical staff, ingredient control persons, product control persons, cold room unit persons and Food Service Supervisors; Must share information on patient formula consumption, unusual usage patterns of supplies, special diet needs of patients, holiday meal requirements, plating techniques, and over-all resource management of materials used in Nutrition and Food Service; Follows detailed procedures to perform warehouse work which involves receiving, storing, and shipping a variety of bin and bulk supplies, material, equipment, and commodities. The work is usually repetitive and involves unloading, stacking, binning, rotating, and marking stock in accordance with standardized operating instructions; Check shipping documents to verify incoming and outgoing shipments and may use automated material check shipping documents to verify incoming and outgoing shipments and may use automated material; Assist cooks in simple food preparation such as mixing, stirring, chopping and grilling items such as grilled cheese sandwiches or sausages; Train and develop lower grade food service workers. Work Schedule: 6:00 am-2:30 pm (Days varies requires weekends and holidays) Position Description Title/PD#: Food Service Worker/PD99836S Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Subject to background/security investigation Pre-employment physical required Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/03/2025. EXPERIENCE: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards. SCREEN-OUT ELEMENT: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligibles are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements: Dexterity and Safety Interpret Instructions, Specifications (other than blueprint reading) Materials Technical Practices Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment Without more than normal supervision Work Practices Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements/Working Conditions: They are subject to continuous standing and walking, and frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, grasping, pulling, twisting, and bending. They frequently lift or move objects up to 18 kilograms (40 pounds). They may be required to perform heavy work, such as scouring and scrubbing large-size cooking utensils and pushing heavy carts and trucks in unloading, storing, and delivering supplies. Education Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
