Food Service Worker

Food Service Worker

This Food Service Worker position is located within the Nutrition & Food Service at the VA Medical Center in Memphis, TN. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has adopted the Nutrition and Food Service (NFS) Workforce Modernization Plan, one of the largest workforce innovation efforts undertaken by VHA to articulate future states of NFS operations across enterprise.

Responsibilities: This position works in one or more functional areas of the kitchen such as food preparation, dish and pot washing, dry and refrigerated storage and receiving, and the serving area doing work such as portioning cold food, dipping hot food, working in the dish room and passing trays. Major duties and responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Serve food cafeteria style by placing uniform portions of food on customers'/patients'/residents' plates
• Break down and clean the station when assigned
• Set up dining room tables for service, place food and beverages on tables, and replenish items as necessary
• Return soiled trays and dishes to the dish room
• Deliver meal trays to the patients' bedsides and report the patients' comments and complaints to the supervisor or dietitian
• Prepare beverages according to the number of servings required
• Prepare fresh fruit/cold salads/dressings/sandwich fillings and cold sandwiches and simple cold desserts in specified quantities
• Sort, wash, peel and cut cold foods using knives or other equipment
• Provide assistance to cooks in the food preparation area, such as weigh, measure and assemble ingredients according to standardized recipes
• Prepare uncooked food items, such as sandwich spread and salad dressings
• Operate and break down and clean all equipment assigned to food service and related areas
• Portion food items into standard serving sizes using the proper utensils and specified dishware
• Prepare boxed/to go meals
• Select and place correct items on patient trays
• Read and interpret a regular or modified menu, individual diet cards, tray tickets or patient selections
• Identify obvious discrepancies between the prescribed diets and the food items designated by the menu
• Decide what food items to serve for the most common diets
• Perform heavy-duty cleaning tasks throughout the food service and related areas
• Separate food waste, trash/recyclables from dishes, glasses and silverware
• Unload food/tray delivery carts
• Store sanitized dishes, glasses and silverware
• Scrape, soak, scour, and scrub cookware and utensils
• Move garbage cans when collecting and transferring trash from the work area to the disposal area
• Other duties as assigned to meet the needs of the Medical Center

Work Schedule: Rotating TOD (6:00am-2:30pm and 11:00am-7:30pm). Tour of duty is based on the needs of the service that will includes working weekends and holidays based on rotating off days per quarterly schedule.

Position Description Title/PD#: Food Service Worker/PD99921S

Physical Requirements: 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.

Requirements Conditions of Employment:

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• May serve a probationary period.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements.

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.

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.

Education: There is no substitution of education or education requirement for this position.

Additional Information: Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more 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.