Clarification from the agency

Current permanent employees of the Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Canteen Service employees, current permanent full-time Hybrid Title 38 and permanent full-time Title 38 employees.

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The Cook Supervisor is fully responsible to plan, produce, direct, coordinate and monitor all phases of food production. The major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Coordinates/directs the operation of the food service/production areas using standards, procedures, diet manual, modified menus and production sheets to guide the work.
• Establishes deadlines, priorities, and work sequences based on general work schedules, methods, and policies set by higher-level supervisors.
• Operates within a planned financial budget.
• Shares in the managerial responsibilities for the proper supervision of labor, allocation of subsistence and supplies and all other resources required to accomplish quality Veteran centered meal services.
• Informs higher level supervisors of the need to revise work schedules and re-estimate labor and other resources.
• Participates in meetings and discussions regarding initial planning of current and future work schedules, budget requests, staffing needs, estimates, and recommendations as to scheduling projected work.
• Prepares performance requirements and work schedules.
• Provides technical direction and training.
• Investigates work-related issues such as excessive costs or low productivity and determines causes and corrective actions.
• Prepares employee annual performance evaluations.
• Interviews applicants for positions in Food Production/Service areas.
• Investigates grievances and complaints.
• Oversees safety and sanitation program.
• Ensures compliance with food safety and sanitation based on HACCP guidelines and internal policies and procedures.
• Determines performance improvement and quality control activities.
• Evaluates training effectiveness and recommends methods for improving program.
• Performs duties in front line production/service when necessary due to staffing limitations, etc.
• Follows menus, production sheets and recipes to prepare items in the quantity needed.
• Prepares meats, fish, and poultry including broiling, roasting, baking, frying, boiling, steaming, stewing, braising, and grilling.
• Operates a variety of kitchen equipment.
• Experience working in health care setting and/or cook-chill food service operation is preferred.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday , Varied shifts.
Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description Title/PD#: PD99821S
Recruitment Incentives/Sign On Bonus: Not authorized
Relocation: Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement

NOTIFICATIONS:

• This position is not a Bargaining Unit position.
• Position is covered by a special rate.
• This position is in the Competitive Service.
• The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's.
• Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.
• Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.
• Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.
• Selectee may be required to serve one year supervisory/managerial probationary period.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation
• Selective Services Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

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

EXPERIENCE: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards.

SCREEN-OUT ELEMENT: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligibles are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements:

• Dexterity and Safety
• Interpret Instructions, Specifications (other than blueprint reading)
• Lead or Supervise
• Materials
• Technical Practices
• Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment
• Work Practices

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.

Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

Physical Requirements: Continuous standing, walking, frequent bending, reaching, pushing, and pulling.; Lifts or moves objects weighing up to 40 lbs. unassisted and occasionally lifts or moves objects weighing more than 40 lbs. with assistance of a lifting device or other workers.; Manipulates cumbersome, heavy objects, such as washing stainless steel mixing bowls, pushing heavy carts on casters or operating heavy equipment; Possesses manual dexterity to operate equipment and to handle sharp knives and blades safely and Utilizes eye-hand coordination and the ability to concentrate and react quickly to serve food and operate equipment. Performs work in areas of extremes of temperature, such as walk-in refrigeration or freezing units. Work is carried out in kitchen/dish room areas that are often hot, uncomfortable and noisy. Environment includes exposure to extreme cold while working in walk-in refrigerators and freezers for extended periods of time to complete duties. Works with other cooks, food service workers and supervisors; Is exposed to steam, cooking odors, and noise from equipment and conversation; Is subject to hazards of cuts, bruises, strains, burns and falls in kitchen environment.; Uses strong cleaning and sanitizing solutions which may frequently be skin and respiratory irritants.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received.