Health Technician (Dietetic)
What you'd do
This position is located in the Nutrition and Food Service (N&FS) of the VA Medical Center in William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans' Hospital serving as a Nutrition Communication Center (NCC) Ambassador, providing administrative and customer service support for the VA hospital food service program.
Major duties
This position is in the nutrition call center. Responsibilities include taking meal orders from veterans on room service, coordinating calorie counts (patient intake reports), printing all food service reports, coordinating meal services, and conducting patient surveys. Major duties and responsibilities will include: Has a broad knowledge of routing modified diets, combinations of diet modifications and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) dietetics software Handles patient meal service orders in person or by phone Interacts with Veterans, dietitians, nursing staff, and other medical center employees Receives patient meal orders and preferences, meal and nourishment requests from nursing, clinical staff, and other members of the interdisciplinary team Take whatever action necessary, within authority, to maximize patient satisfaction with meal service Complete select and non-select menus as required Retrieves computerized information to assist with tray and/or nourishment assembly such as standing orders, nourishment labels, tabulated recipe lists, and other simple information to assist in meal delivery Provides education and information on local facility therapeutic diets to patients, guests, and nursing staff Assist patients in selecting proper foods according to their individual diet Performs clerical and administrative duties in support of the service Performs other related duties as assigned Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: 6:00am to 2:30pm OR 10:15am to 6:45pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Dietetic)/ 99855S / 99601S / 99796S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 07/13/2026. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).You may qualify based on your experience and/or education described below: MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: Select the ONE statement below that best describes your experience and/or education to meet the minimum requirements for this position. Please refer to the Qualifications and Duties sections of this announcement for detailed information. NOTE: Your experience must be documented in your resume, and transcripts are required for all grades. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. 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. For this Health Technician (Dietetic), GS-640-03 ENTRY LEVEL position, applicant must have: At least six (6) months of general experience. General experience is in any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area (i.e. nutrition, food service, etc.) of the occupation. OR Successfully completed one (1) full year of education above high school level that included study in medical, health, or related fields. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. OR An equivalent combination of successfully completed post-high school education and experience, as described above, which meet the total qualification requirements for this grade level. This education must have been obtained at an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. For this Health Technician (Dietetic), GS-640-04 position, applicant must have: At least one (1) Year of general experience. General experience is any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or experience that provides a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area (i.e. nutrition, food service, etc.) of the occupation. OR Successfully completed two (2) years of education above high school that included at least 12 semester hours in subjects related to the position (i.e. nutrition, dietary therapy, food and nutrition science, food service systems management, etc.) This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. OR An equivalent combination of successfully completed post-high school education (beyond the first year) and specialized experience, as described above, which meets the total qualification requirements for this grade level. This education must have been obtained at an accredited business, secretarial, or technical school, junior college, college, or university. For this Health Technician (Dietetic), GS-640-05 position, applicant must have: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-04) in the Federal Service that has given me the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of this Health Technician (Dietetic) 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; and using computer equipment, phone system, and printers. This position requires effective communication skills both verbally and in writing and good customer service. OR Successfully completed a full four (4) year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with a major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to this position (i.e. nutrition, dietary therapy, food and nutrition science, food service systems management, etc.). This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. OR An equivalent combination of successfully completed post-high school education (beyond the second year) and specialized experience, as described above, which meet the total qualification requirements for this grade level. This education must have been obtained at an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Clinical Data Collection/ Documentation Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Technical Competence 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 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience is credited based on time spent on 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. 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/.
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