Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

The duties of the position may include but are not limited to the following:

General Description of Assigned Duties:

• Provide professional and management support to the department and continuously strive to increase patient satisfaction and improve veteran experience.

• Responsible for carrying out the strategic and business aspects of the full food service operations section.

• Support the NFS goals in alignment with the broader medical center mission and coordinate section activities with other services and units in the facility, clinics, and local community.

• Responsible for ensuring compliance with internal and external regulatory authorities while maintaining a "food forward" and Veteran-Centric focus with conventional cooking, convenience cooking, advance food preparation and delivery, room service, or a combination of food production and service modalities.

• Ensure evidence-based guidelines are integrated into food operations and collaborate closely with the clinical nutrition section to enhance the Veteran's dining experience and to support the strategic goals of the clinical nutrition section.

• Provides food-operations-specific leadership, serving as professional and technical advisor to staff and other health care professionals.

• Has oversight over HR staffing, employee relations and labor relations in Food Service Operations.

• Exercises a full range of supervisory and personnel management authorities and responsibilities in planning, directing, and assessing work of subordinate staff.

• Establishes a training plan for the food operations section.

• Develops and leads food operations.

• Establishes strategic goals and ensures priorities align with the strategic plan of the NFS department, VISN and national programs.
• Leads the continuous quality improvement effort in Food Service Operations.

• Identifies and prioritizes problems, sets long and short-term goals, develops action plans and analyses data to evaluate progress to improve outcomes.

• Develops and updates policies and procedures and establishes and oversees a system for regulatory compliance. Coordinates food service operation policies and procedures with clinical nutrition management, nursing and other services, as applicable.

• Manages the budget and other resources, anticipating future trends and inflation, new service opportunities, recommendations for growth, efficiencies and strategic efforts are factored into resource requests and brought to the Chief.

• Directs staff in management of contracts, subsistence, supply purchasing for NFS and submits reports to the NFS Chief.

• Solicits support and/or negotiates with facility managers to influence decisions to support food operations section success.

• Works closely with the Supervisory Dietitians to support the department, cover the work within NFS and execute the activities of the department.

• May perform other related duties as assigned which are appropriate for this grade and assignment.

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.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• 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).

• 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.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

Citizenship- Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).

Registration- All applicants must hold the RDN credential from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) the credentialing agency of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Note: Applicants who hold the RDN credential have met the education requirement (e.g. bachelor's degree or higher) of CDR, as such this occupation is considered professional and scientific with a positive education requirement and the procedures in Part I, Chapter 4 of this Handbook will be followed when applying Veteran's preference.

Applicants may be covered by the Grandfathering Provision.

Grade Determinations-Supervisory Dietitian (Food Operations), GS-13:
Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, (GS-12).Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA).In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate, in their resume, the following KSAs:

• Knowledge of business administration practices such as budget planning, contracting and food and supply purchasing to operate a food service program successfully.
• Skill in written communication including policy development and standard operating procedures.
• Skill in strategic planning to develop goals, objectives and action plans.
• Skill in analyzing data to monitor progress towards improving and sustaining outcomes.
• Ability to supervise subordinate staff (i.e., plan, organize, delegate, direct, control and review activities and performance).
• Ability to negotiate.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Professional Certification
• Resume

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Other (1)
• Other (2)
• Other (3)
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Next steps