Food Service Worker

About the role

This Food Service Worker position is located within the Nutrition & Food Service at the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City, OK.

What you will do

• This is an open continuous announcement until February 1, 2027.
• Qualified applicants will be considered and referred as vacancies become available.
• This announcement may close without advanced notice.
• Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Cleans serving areas by sweeping and mopping floors, cleaning/sanitizing work surfaces, and other food service equipment, such as refrigerators, toaster, and coffee machines; Cleans production equipment including steam jacketed kettles, tilt skillets, etc. using appropriate and safe sanitation techniques; Loads and operates dishwashers and cart washing station; Performs necessary preventative maintenance on equipment; Transports tray carts to wards and individually delivers trays directly to the patient's bedside or assists patients with transport of their meal trays; Sets-up serving areas with hot and cold foods, keeping foods appropriately stocked during meal service; Identifies discrepancies between the prescribed diet and/or listed food allergies and the food items listed on the tray ticket; Assembles a variety of items while working in cold food preparation and nourishment area; Make cold sandwiches using prepared ingredients; Performing other duties as assigned.
• Work Schedule: Full time or Part time; Work schedule will be determined upon selection.
• Position Description Title/PD#: Food Service Worker/PD99921-S Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of existing pay, higher or unique qualifications, or special needs of the VA.
• 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 Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience.
• 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).
• Remote: This is not a remote position Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Physical Requirements: Physical Effort and Work Conditions: Work is performed in kitchen areas where the steam and heat from cooking and dishwashing equipment often cause uncomfortably high temperatures and humidity.
• Performs work requiring light to moderate physical.
• May be required to perform heavy work, such as scouring and scrubbing large size cooking utensils and pushing heavy carts and trucks in unloading, storing, and delivering supplies.
• Subject to continuous standing and walking, and frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, and bending.
• Frequently lifts or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds unassisted and occasionally lift or move objects weighing more than 40 pounds with the assistance of others.

Requirements

• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. 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 All 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.
• 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 (***).
• 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.
• 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 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.

How you will be evaluated

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. Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview.

Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

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.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion.

The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Financial disclosure not required. 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.

Documents you must provide

• To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes: Resume (and/or curriculum vitae) which must include the following information for each job listed: Contact Information: Your name and how best to contact you, including email address and phone number.
• Job Title/Employer Name: For each relevant work experience, be sure to include the Job Title and Employer/Company name.
• Pay Plan and Grades/Step Held: (for Federal positions) Duties: Please be as detailed as possible.
• We recommend that you include information directly related to the position you are applying to.
• Good examples of specific information can be found in the Duties and Qualifications sections of the announcement.
• Brief descriptions of job duties should demonstrate your ability to perform the tasks at the required level as stated in the job announcement - If you have performed any of those duties or have any of that experience, we are looking for that detail on your resume.
• We make no assumptions about prior work experience based on job title.
• We make no assumptions about prior work experience if you don't include the types of duties or tasks which would qualify you for the position.
• Experience must be listed on the resume under the position in which the duties were performed.
• For Federal applicants, this experience must be listed under the proper grade level to count towards qualifications.
• Month & year start/end dates: Include both month and year for each position start and end dates (example: June 2007 to April 2008) Full-time or part-time status: Include the average number of hours you worked per week (example: 40 hours per week; 32 hours per week, 20 hours per week, etc.).
• Resume Length: Maximum resume length is two (2) pages.
• Applicants with resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration.
• (If applicable) SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action: Your most current SF-50, if you are a current or former Federal employee (VA or any other Federal Agency) must be provided.
• Please note the following; SF 50 showing your time-in-grade eligibility/length of experience/tenure 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 of specialized experience, as required by the announcement.
• In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year of specialized experience.
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of additional/appropriate SF-50's include: Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.
• Required Document(s) for Applying: Resume Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application.
• Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).You will not be contacted for additional information.
• Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.
• The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position.
• Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc. Documents Accepted: Cover Letter DD-214/ Statement of Service Disability Letter (Schedule A) Disability Letter (VA) Other (1) Resume Separation Notice (RIF) SF-15 SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action Transcript Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply.
• Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position and are encouraged to submit documentation supporting their claim.
• Applications are accepted online.
• Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.
• DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority VHA OPM DHA - VA010 PACT ACT [5 CFR 337.205(b) (1)-(4)] {FWS} . for this occupation.

What to expect next

After the vacancy announcement closes, applicants are evaluated to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email.

Additional information

NOTICE ON TRIAL/PROBATIONARY PERIODS: The first year of service of an employee who is given a career or career conditional appointment in the competitive service under the Civil Service Regulations is a probationary period unless specifically exempted by the appointing authority.

At least 60 days prior to the end of each employee's initial probationary or trial period, management officials shall, to the extent practicable, meet to discuss the employee's performance and conduct (based in part on input from the employee's supervisor), the needs of the agency, and whether their continued employment would advance the public interest, the organizational goals of the agency, and the efficiency of the service.

Within 30 days prior to the end of each employee's probationary or trial period, management officials shall determine whether to finalize the employee's appointment to the Federal service, or whether to terminate their service. Before the employee is terminated, they shall be notified in writing of the effective date of the action.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies.

To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at ***

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service.

This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.