The employee will serve as the Food Service Specialist in Nutrition and Food Services at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, in Tucson, AZ. The employee is fully responsible for the culinary technical standard ensuring that efficient, safe and high-quality food services are provided to the Veteran, both inpatient and outpatient.

Duties

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Serves as the technical and quality expert of culinary standards. Creates and tests specialized recipes and develops specialized food preparation methods to meet the needs of the patients. Creates specialized food service menus, recipes and service techniques offered in a hospital setting to include diets for multiple medical conditions. Analyzes and performs quality improvement tasks for menus and food service arrangements. Oversees and continually improves food service operations. Identifies and resolves difficult issues and challenges in a complex environment. Applies advanced culinary techniques which minimize the use of restricted nutrients to develop refined and patient pleasing flavors, textures and presentations. Plans future advancement in food services, new techniques, procurement and production needs. Identifies culinary and food service developmental and training needs of employees. Performs quality control on plate presentations, recipe compliance, taste quality control, plate waste studies and overall culinary controls. Develops culinary performance, technical standards, and quality improvement initiatives for food service operations. Identifies issues, deficiencies or improvements, especially in the area of food production, productivity, safety and quality, taking immediate corrective action which can vary from one-to-one training to procedural changes. Ensures compliance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Code, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points principles, Joint Commission Standards and food safety principles. Provides budgetary input on food service operations and culinary program advancements. Serves as Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for food service, food distribution, and purchase and maintenance of equipment contracts and oversees subsistence/supply ordering. Conducts studies and investigations to include problem analysis and development of logical/documented recommendations on corrective actions. Performing related duties as required. Work Schedule: Tour of duty varies - 40 hours/week and may include weekends and holidays. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required.

Requirements

Qualifications

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service. This experience must have equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Specialized experience includes: overseeing food service operations; identifying and resolving issues; knowledge of culinary procedures; maintaining inventory; knowledge of food service production equipment; assisting with inspecting food for quality; using a computer to perform administrative duties; and providing courteous and efficient customer service. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must clearly indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Applicants must possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. This education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) - Equivalent combinations of graduate education and experience (as described above) to meet total qualification requirements. NOTE: Only graduate education beyond the second year may be used to qualify. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Administration and ManagementFood ServiceQuality ManagementTechnical Competence IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. 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; religious; 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. Physical Requirements: The work requires physical exertion such as lifting, bending, pushing, frequent walking, standing, stooping, reaching and stretching. Also unpacking and/or tagging supplies and equipment and carrying moderately heavy items such as personal computers, equipment, subsistence, supplies and chemical supplies. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

NOTE: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Tucson VA Medical Center 3601 South Sixth Avenue Tucson, AZ 85723 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]