Summary

Primary purpose of the position is to provide administrative and customer service support for the Fort Harrison Montana VA Medical Center Nutrition and Food Service. Incumbent performs duties that require exceptional customer service - computer skills - proper phone etiquette - proficiency in special food service and therapeutic diet procedures - a broad knowledge of routine modified diets - combinations of diet modification and knowledge of Commercial Off the Shelf Dietetics software.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. All applicants must meet one of the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) to receive additional consideration: Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists - speech pathologists - medical officers - and optometrists. Therefore - technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge - methods - and techniques of the position to be filled; OR - Education for GS-5: 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 subjects directly related to the position. In addition to meeting the IOR - to qualify for the GS-05 all applicants must meet one of the following criteria: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-04) in the Federal service that has provided the knowledge - skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of this Health Technician (Dietetic) NFS Ambassador position. Specialized experience includes: Performing duties in food service in a hospital environment; knowledge of tray assembly area procedures; using dietetics software programs; familiarity with regular and modified diets; assisting with food selections; following verbal and written instructions; using computer equipment - phone system - and printers; effective communication skills both verbally and in writing; good 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 - Education and/or Training: A 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation and/or completion of appropriate training such as in-service training programs - training acquired while serving in the Armed Forces - and government-sponsored developmental training programs - will be allowed credit on a month-for-month basis - generally through the GS-05 level. Education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school - junior college or a college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. Such training meets general or specialized experience requirements depending upon its applicability. Note: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials; education cannot be credited without documentation; OR - Combining Experience and Education: 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. (When crediting education - prorate the number of hours of related courses required as a proportion of the total education to be used). For this GS-05 position - 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. Add the two percentages; the total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify for GS-05. Note: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials; Education cannot be credited without documentation Preferred Experience: Room service ordering experience using computer system and hospital food service experience is preferred but not required. 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.

Duties

• Duties include but are not limited to: Having a broad knowledge of routing modified diets - combinations of diet modifications and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) dietetics software
• Handling patient meal service orders in person or by phone
• Interacting with Veterans - dietitians - nursing staff - and other medical center employees
• Receiving patient meal orders and preferences - meal and nourishment requests from nursing - clinical staff - and other members of the interdisciplinary team
• Taking whatever action necessary - within authority - to maximize patient satisfaction with meal service
• Completing select and non-select menus as required
• Retrieving computerized information to assist with try and/or nourishment assembly such as standing orders - nourishment labels - tabulated recipe lists - and other simple information to assist in meal delivery
• Providing education and information on local facility therapeutic diets to patients - guests - and nursing staff
• Assisting patients in selection of the proper foods according to their individual diet
• Performing clerical and administrative duties in support of the service
• Ability to organize work - analyze data - and work under time constraints
• Understanding of regular and modified diets to ensure Veterans are selecting food items in accordance with their prescribed diet
• Assisting with food selections and reviewing appropriateness of menu selections
• Work Schedule: Includes various shifts from 6:00 am - 6:30 pm with weekends and holidays - based on the needs of the facility
• Position Description Title/PD#: Health Technician (Dietetic) NFS Ambassador/PD99855S Physical Requirements and Work Environment: The work requires walking - standing - bending - lifting - and carrying of light items - such as food trays - instruction materials - books - and manuals
• Frequently lifts or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds and pushing loaded carts of trays and/or nourishments
• may be necessary to lift and/or push equipment
• Requires long periods of sitting and moving about in an office envrionment - 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 and writing
• The work may require waling indoors - outdoors or to and from other areas of the medical center
• may be subject to periods of continuous standing - sitting - walking and frequent stooping - reaching - pushing - pulling and bending
• Work is performed in a hospital and involves some exposure to contagious diseases
• Standard precautions may necessitate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in situations of potential exposure
• This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.