Health Technician (Dietetic)- Dietary Clerk

Full Job Description

This position is located in the Nutrition and Food Service (N&FS) of the VA Medical Center in Buffalo NY serving as a Health Technician (Dietetic) - Dietary Clerk, providing administrative and customer service support for the VA hospital food service program.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/10/2026.

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-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: entering patient food preferences into computer system; running tally guides, production reports, nourishment labels and tube feeding reports; processing new admissions; providing information on meal service and menus; making appropriate adjustments to patient diet patterns and taking corrective action when needed; verifying the physician's diet order.

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 full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Computer Skills Customer Service Food Service Patient Care 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: This work requires walking, standing, bending, lifting and carrying of light items, such as food trays, instruction materials, books, and manuals.

NCC Associate function require long periods of sitting and moving about in an office environment, including repetitive motion activities of the hands and fingers for extensive keyboard and computer mouse use, and office tasks such as answering and holding a telephone, and writing.

The work may require walking indoors, outdoors, or to and from other areas of the medical center. It may be necessary to lift and/or push equipment.

Incumbent is subject to periods of continuous standing, sitting, walking and frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, and bending.

Frequently lifts or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds and pushing loaded carts of trays and/or nourishments.

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:

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 Takes whatever action necessary, within authority, to maximize patient satisfaction with meal service - Completes 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 - Assists patients in selection of the proper foods according to their individual diet Performs clerical and administrative duties in support of the service Performs other related duties as assigned.

Designated Drug-Testing Position: Applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment.

Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received.

Work Schedule: Intermittent; 3:00pm-7:00pm including nights and weekends (subject to change) Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Dietetic) - Dietary Clerk/PD99855A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized