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Posted: April 1, 2026 (0 days ago)

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Supervisory Dietitian (Food Operations)

Veterans Health Administration

Department of Veterans Affairs

Fresh

Salary

$115,439 - $150,075

per year

Closes

April 8, 2026More VA jobs →

GS-13 Pay Grade

Base salary range: $88,520 - $115,079

Typical requirements: 1 year specialized experience at GS-12. Expert-level knowledge in field.

Note: Actual salary includes locality pay (15-40%+ depending on location).

Job Description

Summary

This job involves overseeing food operations and nutrition services at a federal health care center that serves veterans, military personnel, retirees, and civilians, acting as the assistant to the department head to ensure high-quality meal production, delivery, and dietary care.

A good fit would be an experienced registered dietitian with leadership skills who enjoys managing teams, planning budgets, and improving health programs in a government healthcare setting.

Key Requirements

  • U.S. citizenship (non-citizens considered if qualified citizens unavailable)
  • Bachelor's degree in dietetics, nutrition, food service management, or related field from an accredited program
  • Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) credential from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR)
  • Proficiency in spoken and written English
  • At least 1 year of specialized supervisory experience at GS-12 level in dietetics or food operations
  • Knowledge of business administration including budget planning, contracting, and purchasing
  • Skills in strategic planning, data analysis, written communication, and supervising staff

Full Job Description

This position of Supervisory Dietitian (Food Operations) serves as full Assistant Chief to the Department Head/Chief, at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center.

This federal healthcare center is the first fully integrated federal healthcare center within VHA and is responsible for the provision of high quality food production, service and effective nutrition therapy to the veteran, DoD, retiree, and civilian beneficiary populations served.

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Must be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

Education: Must have earned a bachelor's degree from a U.S.

regionally accredited college or university or foreign equivalent in dietetics, food, nutrition, food service management, institution management, or related science.

Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' accrediting agency for education programs preparing students for careers as registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN).

RDN and Registered Dietitian (RD) credentials are the same and both are qualifying. The difference between RDN and RD is in name only due to a change by the professional academy in 2014.

In this standard, the term RDN will be used. English Language Proficiency: Dietitian candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. section 7403(f).

Registration: All applicants must hold the RDN credential from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) the credentialing agency of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Note: Applicants who hold the RDN credential have met the education requirement (e.g.

bachelor's degree or higher) of CDR, as such this occupation is considered professional and scientific with a positive education requirement and the procedures in Part 1, Chapter 4 of the VA Handbook will be followed when applying Veteran's preference.

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

GS-13 Grade Level Specialized Experience: Possess at least 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-12 closely related to the position being filled, and must fully meet the KSAs at that level.

Experience includes, but is not limited to: service as a supervisory dietitian, clinical support expert, integrating clinical functions with other sections of NFS, assessing, planning and evaluating clinical nutrition programs to ensure proper coordination between the delivery of nutrition services and the overall delivery of healthcare, and ensuring compliance with internal and external authorities.

In addition, you must demonstrate the following KSAs: Knowledge of business administration practices such as budget planning, contracting and food and supply purchasing to operate a food service program successfully.

Skill in written communication including policy development and standard operating procedures. Skill in strategic planning to develop goals, objectives and action plans.

Skill in analyzing data to monitor progress towards improving and sustaining outcomes.

Ability to supervise subordinate staff (i.e., plan, organize, delegate, direct, control and review activities and performance).

Ability to negotiate References: Meets the qualification standards for the GS-13 Supervisory Dietitian (Food Operations) as defined by The Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (05), Recruitment and Placement Policy Service (059).

Related Directive: VA Directive 5005, Staffing. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary.

Physical demands do not exceed those of a typical office setting. There may be some walking, standing twisting, turning, sitting, pushing, bending, repetitive keyboarding, or carrying of light items.

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. Major Duties:

Primary Duties (but not limited to): Provides clinical nutrition section specific leadership serving as professional and technical advisor to staff and other health care professionals.

Has oversight over HR staffing, employee relations and labor relations in Clinical Nutrition section.

Exercise a full range of supervisory and personnel management authorities and assume full responsibility in planning, directing, and assessing work of subordinate staff.

Establishes a training plan for the clinical section that is based on evidence-based nutrition. Develops and leads clinical nutrition operations.

Establishes strategic goals and ensure priorities align with the strategic plan of the NFS department, VISN and national programs.

Leads performance improvement efforts within Clinical Nutrition section, acting on quality improvement data and plans.

Identifies and prioritizes problems, sets long and short-term goals, develops action plans and analyses data to evaluate progress to improve outcomes.

Develops and updates policies and procedures and the establishment and oversight of a system for regulatory compliance.

Solicits support and/or negotiate with facility managers to influence decision making and garner support to ensure clinical nutrition operations are a success.

Collaborates closely with the supervisory dietitians to cover the work in all NFS and execute the activities of the department.

May perform other related duties as assigned which are appropriate for this grade and assignment.

The incumbent works under the general supervision of the Supervisory Dietitian, Chief, Nutrition and Food Services, who establishes objectives and department priorities.

The incumbent is expected to complete work assignments with relative independence and minimal guidance, personally setting deadlines for work completions.

They assume responsibility in work assignments in accordance with regulations independently and resolve most conflicts by using considerable judgment and interpretation.

Work is reviewed to ensure that overall objectives of the position are met.

Work Schedule: The incumbent is expected to work a tour of duty most advantageous to the Veterans we serve and the department as a whole.

This is typically M-F 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: This position is not eligible for telework Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: PD000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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Posted on USAJOBS: 4/1/2026 | Added to FreshGovJobs: 4/2/2026

Source: USAJOBS | ID: CAZP-12921209-26-LGA