This position is in Nutrition and Food Services (NFS) located in a Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The primary purpose of the position is to provide administrative and customer service support for the VA hospital food service program. This position will collaborate with Dietitians regarding Food/Drug Interactions, notifying clinical staff of potential issues with meal service and delivery and taking direction regarding management. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. GS-05 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-04 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: Knowledge of computerized medical record and Nutrition and Food Services COTS Dietetics Software programs. Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, in person and via telephone with people from a wide variety of backgrounds while maintaining good public relations and high level of customer service. Ability to follow oral and written instructions. Ability to work under pressure and to maintain composure under adverse conditions. Knowledge of computer operations and ability to use computer equipment, phone system and printers. Knowledge of tray assembly area procedures for set up, assembly, tray distribution and pick-up; and nourishment and tube feeding distribution. Ability to organize work, analyze data, and work under time constraints. Ability to work effectively as a team member. Must be able to understand Dietetics Software programs, computer keyboard, printers, and ACD phone system in order to perform required computer functions including, but not limited to print required Dietetic lists/reports at specified times and generate labels for nourishments. Incumbent functions independently and must possess the conceptual skills to plan and organize work to complete daily tasks without direct supervision; i.e. autonomously identifies and completes work objectives with resources at hand. Must be able to understand facility patient engagement platforms if there is an interface with patient meal ordering (e.g. the Get Well Network). Incumbent must have thorough knowledge and understanding of regular and all modified diets in order to ensure that Veterans are selecting food items that are in accordance of their prescribed diet. Must be able to assist with food selections and review appropriateness of menu selections for complex diets and diet combinations such as, but not limited to, consistent carbohydrate, renal, dysphagia, thickened liquids, fluid restrictions, cardiac, and restricted sodium. Employee must be able to follow oral and written instructions and in turn process oral and written instructions when making assignments and transferring information. This includes the ability to interpret and apply written policy/procedures. Incumbent must be able to process simple arithmetic, be accurate in all tabulations, and possess good writing skills when transferring written material and possess the ability to convert English to metric units. Incumbent must perform work in an accurate and timely fashion; have a working knowledge of appropriate NFS and Medical Center Policies and Procedures. Incumbent has the knowledge of computer equipment, electronic data entry, security regulations, operations and information processes as they apply to COTS Dietetics software, VA Information Technology, and other equipment that may be in use in NCC. Incumbent must be able to organize work and maintain established work schedule. OR Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-05 level: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in a subject directly related to the position. OR Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-05 level: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience are also qualifying. If education is used to meet specialized experience requirements, then such education must include courses directly related to the work of the position. For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to 1 year of specialized experience. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-XX. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Food Service Patient Care Customer Service Skills Computer Skills ["Duties include but are not limited to: Handles patient meal service orders. Completes quality monitors to ensure food items/menu selections for regular and therapeutic diets are prepared and served appropriately (i.e. accuracy, timeliness, appearance, and temperature, dysphagia food testing). Completes quality monitors to ensure food items/menu selections for regular and therapeutic diets are prepared and served appropriately (i.e. accuracy, timeliness, appearance, and temperature, dysphagia food testing). Ensures all food/supplies are covered, labeled, and dated. Stores, rotates and inventories stock items and disposes outdated food/beverages. Advises supervisor of any special orders or changes needed that may impact food production, including instances when substitutions are needed due to food preferences. Collaborates with Dietitians regarding food/drug interactions and notifies clinical staff of potential issues. Follows policies and procedures for patient feeding, including but not limited to missed patient meals, late tray requests, patient meal ordering, and adherence to prescribed therapeutic diet. Conducts meal rounds on units after tray delivery to ensure patient satisfaction and provides service recovery and meal corrections when needed. Triages calls from inpatient/outpatient clinics and procedure areas related to patient meal/ nourishments. Assists patients in selection of the proper foods according to their individual diet. Takes appropriate action to maximize patient satisfaction with meal service. Answers questions and provides information about menu and food items. Conducts patient rounds to discuss menu available food items and ways to order meals. Enters meal orders into a computerized system. Retrieves computerized information/printouts to assist with tray and/or nourishment assembly. Collecting, compiling, and entering data from patient satisfaction surveys. Prints lists, reports, labels, and tray tickets following established local procedures. Work Schedule: Variable workdays, including weekends and holidays. Shifts either 5:30am-2:00pm or 11:00am-730pm\nTelework: Not Authorized\nVirtual: This is NOT a virtual position.\nRemote: This is NOT a remote position.\nPosition Description Title/PD#: Health Technician-Dietetic/NFS Ambassador/PD99855A\nPhysical Requirements: The work requires walking, standing, bending, lifting and carrying of light items, such as food trays, instruction materials, books, and manuals. NCC Associate functions require long periods of sitting and moving about in an office environment, including repetitive motion activities of the hands and fingers for extensive keyboard and computer mouse use, and office tasks such as answering and holding a telephone phone, and writing. The work may require walking indoors, outdoors or to and from other areas of the medical center. It may be necessary to lift and/or push equipment. Incumbent is subject to periods continuous standing, sitting, walking and frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, and bending. Frequently lifts or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds and pushing loaded carts of trays and/or nourishments."]