Supervisory Dietitian (chief, Nutrition And Food Services)

Chief Of Nutrition And Food Services

The Chief of Nutrition and Food Services (NFS) is the director of the department at Birmingham VAMC, who has the responsibility for managing and supervising all phases of NFS operations including the provision of quality food production, service and effective nutrition therapy to the veteran population served. The Chief also serves as a member of the senior leadership team, providing advice for integrated care programs for diverse veteran population with multiple diagnoses and other needs.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Establishing organizational structure and guidelines, performance standards, reporting requirements and defining the lines of authority and supervisory controls necessary and essential in carrying out the mission of the service.
• Overseeing the coordination of policy and procedure for nutrition care of veterans in the continuum of care and in a multidisciplinary model.
• Ensuring all policies and procedures are in compliance with VA manuals, central office guidelines, NFS program guides, VISN guides, professional guidelines and Joint Commission standards.
• Assurance of the menu planning, subsistence purchases, production and delivery of safe, high quality, nutritionally adequate meals.
• Providing final approval of food standards and menu cycle.
• Facilitating the development of service priorities, which address the goals and objectives of the medical center, healthcare system and VISN.
• Coordinating service activities to accomplish identified priorities and ensure compliance with VHA directives and medical center policy/procedures to provide customer satisfaction.
• Directing the technical, professional and administrative functions of the service through the Assistant Chief, NFS and Food Service System Management Dietitian.
• This requires the coordination and integration of technological advances and administrative change within the service.
• Developing and administering a budget management program that provides for the effective utilization of available financial resources, adequate monetary controls and budget estimates based on accurate and applicable data.
• Planning and justifying an annual budget for subsistence, supplies and personnel costs.
• Benchmarking against other VA facilities offering similar services as well as private sector to assure cost effective services.
• Communicating with and advising Fiscal regarding the status of NFS resource management.
• Assurance that performance improvement program is in compliance with applicable standards, established OSHA, HACCP, VHA, JC and other reviewing agencies.
• Providing leadership to NFS, which consists of professional and non-professional staff.
• Providing direction and presenting conclusions and recommendations to staff at department meetings.
• Directing personnel management program for the service by making decisions on personnel actions including selection, promotions, reassignments, retention and recommendations for adverse actions.
• Reviewing cases, documents and taking disciplinary action for employees with poor performance or conduct.
• Promoting positive labor-management relations by hearing employee grievances and complaints that are not resolved at a lower supervisory level.
• Responding to EEO complaints and unfair labor practice charges.
• Assigning work to subordinates based on priorities, capabilities of the employee, selective consideration of the difficulty and requirement of the assignment.
• Maintaining position descriptions or functional statements.
• Delegating responsibility and authority to subordinate supervisors and holds them responsible for the performance of their sections.
• Guiding subordinate supervisors on problem solving, decision making delegation, change management, confrontation management performance improvement management and labor-management relations.
• Assurance that the professional staff is competent to perform their assigned duties and that they remain abreast of advanced technologies and changes in nutrition therapy.
• Assurance that the staff is confident in their areas of expertise to serve as the nutrition expert for other healthcare professionals.
• Assurance that new information/nutritional advancements are incorporated into daily practices and procedures which ensure continued improvement in services provided.
• Providing input to medical center and healthcare system long and short range planning and assists in the development and implementation of a policy which reflects the goals of the agency and VISN.
• Serving as a recognized expert in nutrition and food service to provide authoritative advice and coordination of nutrition care programs that may encompass multiple medical centers.
• Meeting the needs of customers while supporting VA missions.
• Consistently communicating and treating customers (veterans, their representatives, visitors, and all VA staff) according to established policies and procedures.
• Handling conflict and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm.

Telework: Ad-hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Travel: 25% or less.

Functional Statement #: PD99498S

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

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. Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) or Registered Dietitian (RD) - Must be registered with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) the credentialing branch of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics formerly known as the American Dietetic Association (ADA). 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 (Chief, Nutrition and Food Services), GS-14: Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Knowledge of security measures within food operations to ensure patient and staff safety. Knowledge of organizational structure to assess impact on program operations. Skill in ensuring regulatory requirements are met. Skill in leading a group of professionals to facilitate collaboration and organizational development. Skill in leading managers to establish strategic goals. Ability to oversee the planning of new initiatives addressing patient care delivery systems and system reorganizations. Ability to lead efforts in business administration to include budgeting, contracting and purchasing.

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

Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary and does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance.

Additional Information: During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

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.

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. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.