Food Services Specialist

Full Job Description

This position is located in the Nutrition and Food Service at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The Food Service Specialist is responsible for the culinary technical standards providing safe and high-quality food service to the Veteran, both inpatient and outpatient.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/17/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service.

An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement.

In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: overseeing food service operations; identifying and resolving issues; knowledge of culinary procedures; maintaining inventory; knowledge of food service production equipment; assisting with inspecting food for quality; using a computer to perform administrative duties; and providing courteous and efficient customer service.

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree OR three (3) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in a related field.

OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Food Service Quality Management 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 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.

Physical Requirements: Work requires physical exertion such as lifting, bending, pushing, frequent walking, standing, stooping, reaching, stretching.

Also unpacking and/or tagging supplies and equipment and carrying moderately heavy items such as personal computers, equipment, subsistence, supplies and chemical supplies 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/.

Major Duties:

Conducts product samplings with vendors, keeps current on new food product availability Coordinates all resources including the equipment, labor and ingredients in the consistent delivery of high-quality foods.

Assesses current state of food services and makes recommendations on improvement/changes. Technical and quality expert of culinary standards.

Creates and tests specialized recipes and develops specialized food preparation methods to meet the needs of the Veteran population.

Attend focus groups and implements strategies to closer meet customer needs desires within clinical parameters, while partnering with Clinical Nutrition Section.

Serves as lead culinary specialist, researching, advising, training and educating in the advancement of culinary arts for the service.

Provides budgetary input on food service subsistence needs, advises on future budgetary requests for food service and culinary program advancements Identifies issues, deficiencies or improvements, especially in the area of food production, productivity, safety and quality, taking immediate corrective action which can vary from one-to-one training to procedural changes.

Work Schedule: 6:00am - 2:30 pm Position Description/PD#: Food Services Specialist/PD99847S