Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Open to current permanent employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (including the facility where this vacancy is located) including VA Title 38, Title 38 Hybrid, current permanent other federal employees and U.S. Citizens (Public).

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This position carries dual responsibilities as both the Dietetic Internship Program Director and the Inpatient Clinical Nutrition Manager. The incumbent oversees the daily operations of the dietetic internship program and ensures that education, curriculum, policies, and procedures are compliant with ACEND® requirements and compatible with regulations and procedures for Allied Health Trainees as set forth by the VA Office of Academic Affairs (OAA). The incumbent also serves as a consultant within Nutrition and Food Services (NFS) and with other facility health care professionals on current nutrition systems issues, including evaluating health care delivery to patients and designing nutrition-related research or performance improvement initiatives.

• Develops, documents, tracks, and assesses program goals to ensure measurable results through evaluation of data, improved program outcomes, and enhanced customer experience.
• Writes the self-study for re-accreditation and facilitates the ACEND® site visit.
• Maintains up-to-date program information accessible through online sources.
• Coordinates program marketing events, including intern open houses and community outreach events.
• Executes the intern selection process, including establishing a selection committee, defining selection criteria, and reviewing and evaluating all applications; maintains all records as required by ACEND®.
• Plans and coordinates rotations, class schedules, and outside seminars with preceptors, presenters, and community affiliations for cohorts of three (3) dietetic interns per year.
• Establishes, administers, maintains, and coordinates affiliations with community programs.
• Coordinates and maintains affiliation agreements between the VA facility and affiliated agencies.
• Provides direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, and ongoing educational programs related to the dietetic internship for interns and preceptors.
• Ensures timely completion of rotation evaluations.
• Meets regularly with interns to monitor progress toward program completion; develops action plans when issues arise to give interns every opportunity to meet graduation requirements.
• Issues trainee verification statements of internship completion and maintains permanent records as required by ACEND®.
• May perform other related duties as assigned which are appropriate for this grade and assignment.

Inpatient Clinical Nutrition Manager

• Serves as a professional and technical advisor to staff and other health care professionals.
• Represents the Clinical Nutrition Section on projects, committees, and/or workgroups within the department and facility.
• Collaborates with other managers to negotiate and/or make decisions on NFS-related matters affecting clinical operations.
• Exercises a full range of supervisory and personnel management authorities and responsibilities for the Inpatient Clinical Nutrition Section, including planning, directing, and assessing the work and competence of three (3) subordinate staff.
• Develops procedures and guidelines for acute care clinical operations and monitors compliance with regulatory standards, policies, and procedures.
• Participates in performance improvement efforts within the Clinical Nutrition Section; acts on quality improvement data and leads action planning to attain goals and resolve deficiencies.
• Identifies and prioritizes problems; sets long- and short-term goals and establishes action plans for the clinical section and nutrition programs.
• Executes the training plan for the clinical section and ensures staff remain current on advances and changes in medical nutrition therapy; orients and trains employees on Clinical Nutrition policies and procedures and assists with new employee onboarding.
• Ensures evidence-based guidelines are integrated into clinical practice and that all veteran education materials are grounded in current literature and research.
• Analyzes data to recommend the allocation of resources (e.g., event capture).
• May perform other related duties as assigned which are appropriate for this grade and assignment.

The majority of time is spent managing the internship program and its associated activities. Ancillary responsibilities that contribute to the overall function and operation of NFS may be assigned; however, those responsibilities will not compromise the incumbent's ability to successfully manage the internship program. This position may provide direct patient care as needed in support of clinical nutrition operations.

Work Schedule: Full-Time Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Ad-hoc Telework
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: PD99524S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year or 2-year trial 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 trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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)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 I, Chapter 4 of this Handbook will be followed when applying Veteran's preference.
• Exception for Dietitians who do not possess the RDN credential - Non-credentialed Dietitians who meet the basic qualification requirements and have fulfilled the requirements below, but do not possess the RDN credential, may be given a temporary full-time appointment not to exceed one year under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2).
  • Non-credentialed Dietitians must have fulfilled each of the following: A Earned a bachelor's or higher degree from a U.S. regionally accredited college, university or foreign equivalent (refer to ii below). B Completed an ACEND® accredited experiential or supervised practice program and provide a verification statement from the program director that conveys eligibility to take the CDR registration exam as a prospective RDN. A list of ACEND® accredited programs is located on the ACEND® website or at ACEND Accredited Programs Directory. ii Foreign Education. To be creditable, college and/or university degrees earned outside the U.S and its territories must be evaluated by ACEND® and meet ACEND®'s International Dietitian Education standards which are designed to provide graduates with the knowledge and competencies to sit for the CDR credentialing exam. (b) Non-credentialed Dietitians may only be appointed at the GS-07 or GS-09 grade level and may not be promoted/converted until they obtain their RDN credential. (c) Non-credentialed Dietitians must provide care under the supervision of a RDN at or above the full performance level. (d) Temporary appointments of non-credentialed Dietitian will not be extended beyond one year or converted to a new temporary appointment. (e) Failure to Obtain Registration. In all cases, Dietitians must actively pursue meeting registration requirements starting from their appointment date. At the time of appointment, servicing Human Resources (HR) staff in collaboration with the supervisor, will provide non-registered Dietitians the written requirement to obtain registration, the date by which they must acquire it and the consequences for not doing so by the deadline. Failure to obtain registration within one year from the date of appointment will result in removal from the Dietitian, GS-0630 occupation and may result in termination of employment.
  • Loss of Credential. In collaboration with HR Office staff, management officials must immediately relieve employees who fail to maintain the required registration/certification of duties and responsibilities associated with the occupation and/or assignment, which may also result in separation from employment.
  • Grandfathering Provision. Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held, including positive education and registration/certification, where applicable. Employees appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, either on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. The following provisions apply to employees who do not meet all the qualification requirements:
  • (1) Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to a lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or be newly placed in a supervisory or managerial position.
  • (2) Employees must meet the assignment-specific certification/education requirements to be placed in Dietitian (Advanced Level Practice) or Dietitian (Dietetic Internship Director) assignments.
  • (3) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or registration/certification that meet all the qualification standard's basic or assignment-specific requirements must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation/assignment.
  • (4) Employees retained in this occupation under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry in the occupation.
• English Language Proficiency. Dietitian candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Current VHA Dietitians that qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision may not be promoted to a higher grade if they do not meet the current RDN/RD requirements.

Grade Determinations:
Dietitian (Dietetic Internship Director), GS-12.
(1) Experience. Three years of experience post registration.
(2) Education. Master's degree or higher from an accredited university or college.
(3) Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
(a) Skill in utilizing data for program improvement to ensure compliance with various accrediting, regulatory and agency authorities.
(b) Ability to coordinate class schedules, training activities, seminars and supervised practice experience within the health care system and affiliated sites.
(c) Ability to implement all aspects of an internship program including developing program goals and objectives, curriculum and policies and procedures to ensure compliance with accreditation and regulatory requirements.
(d) Ability to oversee the process for the selection of students for the internship program.
(e) Ability to evaluate progress towards meeting core competencies.

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.

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 MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.