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)
• Documentation must be provided with application
• Loss of Credentials
• An employee who fails to maintain the required registration must be removed from the occupation, which may also result in termination of employment
• English Language Proficiency: Dietitians must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d)
• Grade Determinations: Supervisory Dietitian (Chief of Nutrition and Food Service) GS-14 Experience
• At least one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level
• 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 administrative staff who support NFS operations and both a GS-13 Supervisory Dietitian (Food Operations) and GS-13 Supervisory Dietitian (Clinical Nutrition)
• Supervisory Dietitians in this assignment serve as Chief NFS for a complex NFS department
• Chief NFS provides leadership and guidance, with wide latitude for the exercise of independent judgment, to ensure the diverse activities of the department are closely coordinated, integrating clinical nutrition and food operations
• They exercise a full range of supervisory and personnel management authorities with responsibilities in planning, directing and assessing the work of supervisors and subordinate staff
• Chief NFS establishes performance standards and evaluates overall performance of employees, defines competency requirements, identifies developmental and training needs and takes necessary actions to ensure subordinate personnel maintains and enhance technical and leadership expertise
• They serve as the technical advisor and subject matter experts in nutrition and food operations
• Chief NFS develops budget and staffing requirements to manage organizational changes and ensure national directives and goals/objectives are met
• They communicate and advocate with executive leadership for resources
• Chief NFS develop the NFS strategic plan establishing service priorities that address the goals and strategic direction of the medical center, VISN and national programs
• They are responsible for accomplishing priorities and ensuring compliance with VHA directives and medical center policy and procedures
• They oversee planning of endeavours addressing patient care delivery systems and system reorganizations for new or redesigned operational space, equipment requirements, etc
• Chief NFS ensures adherence to the National Dietary Supplement and Subsistence Prime Vendor contracts
• They designate the Contracting Officer Representative to negotiate purchase agreements for NFS contracts
• Chief NFS actively supports, promotes and oversees the implementation of NFS initiatives at the facility level and engages other service chiefs as needed to ensure success
• They participate in VISN and National level NFS initiatives and are responsible for all action items for NFS
• Chief NFS evaluates overall NFS effectiveness through the review of operations, quality assurance, performance improvement and benchmarks, making decisions based on intricate and unrelated items of information from inconclusive or variable data
• They facilitate and support NFS participation in performance improvement studies, ensuring the dissemination of nutrition-related research and quality improvement within the department and facility
• Chief NFS leads efforts to provide food-forward, Veteran-centric dining options
• They implement security measures in all NFS areas to protect against theft, reduce the risk of food terrorism and maintain Veteran and staff safety
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of security measures within food operations to ensure patient and staff safety
• (b) Knowledge of organizational structure to assess impact on program operations
• (c) Skill in ensuring regulatory requirements are met
• (d) Skill in leading a group of professionals to facilitate collaboration and organizational development
• (e) Skill in leading managers to establish strategic goals
• (f) Ability to oversee the planning of new initiatives addressing patient care delivery systems and system reorganizations
• (g) Ability to lead efforts in business administration to include budgeting, contracting and purchasing
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-14
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment
• A pre-placement physical examination is not required.