Clarification from the agency

This vacancy is open to current permanent Richmond VA Medical Center (CVHCS) employees only. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Duties includes but not limited:

• Provides food-operations-specific leadership, serving as a 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, including planning, directing, and assessing the work of subordinate staff.
• Develops and leads Food Service Operations.
• Establishes a training plan for the Food Operations section.
• Leads continuous quality improvement efforts within Food Service Operations.
• Identifies and prioritizes problems, sets long- and short-term goals, develops action plans, and analyzes data to evaluate progress and improve outcomes.
• Develops and updates policies and procedures and establishes and oversees systems for regulatory compliance. Coordinates food service operations policies and procedures with Clinical Nutrition Management, Nursing, and other services, as applicable.
• Manages the budget and other resources, anticipating future trends, inflation, and new service opportunities. Ensures recommendations for growth, efficiencies, and strategic initiatives are incorporated into resource requests and presented to the Chief.
• Directs staff in managing contracts, subsistence, and supply purchasing for NFS and submits reports to the NFS Chief.
• Solicits support and negotiates with facility managers to influence decisions that support the success of the Food Operations section.
• Works closely with Supervisory Dietitians to support the department, ensure coverage within NFS, and execute departmental activities.
• May perform other related duties as assigned, appropriate to the grade and assignment.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 06:30am-3:00pm
Telework: Ad hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: PD99515S
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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).

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• 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.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• 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.

Current VHA Dietitians that qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision may not be promoted to a higher grade if they do not meet the current RDN/RD requirements.


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. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

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

Assignment. For all supervisory assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity, difficulty, variety and be performed by the incumbent as a major duty at least 25% of the time. The incumbent must spend 25% or more of their time providing administrative and technical supervision over staff who are at the full performance level or above. Employees in this Supervisory Dietitian Food Operations assignment report to the NFS Chief. They supervise a complex Veteran-Centric food operation consisting of four distinct sections (Informatics, Food Service, Production and NCC). Supervisory Dietitians make decisions based on intricate and unrelated information and assumptions from inconclusive or variable data in all aspects of food operations. They provide food-operations-specific leadership and exercise a full range of supervisory and personnel management authorities and responsibilities in planning, directing and assessing the work of subordinate staff. Supervisory Dietitians establish a training plan for the food operations section. They develop and lead food operations, establish strategic goals and ensure priorities align with the strategic plan of the NFS department, VISN and national programs. Supervisory Dietitians identify and prioritize problems, set long and shortterm goals, develop action plans and analyze data to evaluate progress to improve outcomes. They are responsible for developing and updating policies and procedures and establishing and overseeing a system for regulatory compliance. Supervisory Dietitians manage 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. They direct staff in the management of contracts, subsistence, supply purchasing for NFS and submitting reports to the NFS Chief. Supervisory Dietitians solicit support and/or negotiate with facility managers to influence 21 decisions to support food operations section success. They collaborate closely with the clinical nutrition section to enhance the Veteran dining experience and to support the strategic goals of the clinical nutrition section and NFS.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: Most of the work is performed in an adequately lighted and climate controlled setting, however, there be occasional exposure to hot liquids, sharp cutting blades, hot working surfaces in the kitchen and temperature changes, Light lifting, under 15 pounds, light carrying, under 15 pounds and walking (4 hrs), standing (4 hrs).

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:

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• Other (1)
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Next steps