Summary This position is located in the Nutrition and Food Service of the VA Providence Healthcare System. This position is a permanent, full-time position at 40 hours per week. Many Vacancies in Providence, RI DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.205 (b)"(1)-(4)" for this occupation. THIS OPEN & CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT (OCA) ESTABLISHES A STANDING REGISTER OF ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS. Responsibilities The Food Service Worker WG 3 does tasks with several steps or a sequence of tasks that require attention to work operations. Some duties include: Provides on-going instructions and demonstrates proper work methods to lower grade personnel. Prepares and delivers between meal nourishment and necessary tube feedings. Conducts hydration and snack deliveries to patients twice daily as requested. Checks menus, unit orders and portioning guide for completeness and accuracy. Assist patients with diet restrictions with daily meal choices. Sets up cold food items such as salads, desserts and cold beverages. Performs basic food preparation activities such as toast, egg and coffee preparation. Assists cooks by weighting and/or measuring ingredients and labeling them for use in the production area. Makes salads including molded salads from prepared vegetables and fruits. Responsible for correct portioning of salads, desserts, condiments, and beverages for tray serving units and cafeteria. Checks work in progress to insure compliance with written guidelines and instructions from the supervisor. Responsible for placing the regular selective or modified diet cards and menu during serving operations. Checks food as it comes from preparation area to determine correctness, quality, and temperature. Responsible for sanitation and proper handling of equipment, supplies, utensils and dishes used in preparation areas. Participates in cleaning the work area, serving unit, and/or dining room including floors, equipment, tables, etc. Maintains familiarity with all equipment in the unit and reports maintenance issue to the supervisor. Reads and interprets regular and modified menu, individual diet cards, or patient selections and places correct items on patient trays. The incumbent has a high level of skills and abilities for providing patient centered care and exceptional customer service. Daily interaction with veterans to obtain menu selections. Work Schedule: Work hours will vary between 0600am-7:30pm; Must be available for any shift as needed. Includes weekends and holidays. Position Description Title/PD#: Food Service Worker 99920S 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 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Pre-employment physical required Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 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: Food Service Workers perform work requiring light to moderate physical effort. 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. They are subject to continuous standing and walking, and frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, and bending. They frequently lift or move objects weighing up to 20 pounds unassisted and occasionally lift or move objects weighing more than 40 pounds with the assistance of others. The work is performed in kitchen areas where the steam and heat from cooking and dishwashing equipment often cause uncomfortably high temperatures and humidity. The work area is well-lighted but usually noisy from food service activities, and there is danger of slipping on floors where food or beverages have been dropped. Food service workers are regularly exposed to hot liquids, sharp cutting blades, hot working surfaces, and extreme temperature changes when entering walk-in refrigeration or freezing units. Education Substitution of Education: There is no educational substitution for this position. Additional Information The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/. Receiving Service Credit for 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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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.