Easter Seals Jobs

Summary This position is located in the Nutrition and Food Service at American Lake Veteran Affairs Medical Center. Nutrition and Food Services is responsible for providing meals and nutritional care to Veteran patients at the Medical Center. The primary purpose of the Cook, WG-8, is to independently prepare nutritious, high quality meals for service to the Veterans. Responsibilities Independently prepares all types of food for regular and modified diets. Incumbent prepares, cooks, seasons, and portions food for all meals so that the completed food products are ready at the appropriate temperature and time and are visually appealing to customers. Prepares menu items using special or difficult recipes that require numerous interrelated steps, many ingredients, and lengthy preparation time. The incumbent prepares a variety of menu items using several different and complex methods of preparation such as cook/chill and cook/serve. Follows menus, production sheets and recipes to prepare items in the quantity needed. Calculate and determine serving portions from quantities of food issued to include meats, poultry, seafood, vegetables, fruits, sauces, and gravies for regular and modified diets. Prepare or coordinate the preparation of entire meals and prepare, season, and determine serving portion food for all meals by following standardized, special, or difficult recipes. May serve as person in charge for oversight of food safety activities. Follows sanitary food handling procedures; covers, labels and dates food items; utilize or discard ingredients by expiration date. Receives, rotates and stores perishable and non-perishable items according to service policies. Removes outdated or damaged goods from stock. Labels all food items with contents and dates per labeling guidelines. Advises lower grade food service workers and cooks on tray assembly issues, dishwashing procedures, and quality control issues, such as plating techniques, tray arrangements, and practices to maintain temperatures and safety of food. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm Position Description Title/PD#: Cook/PD99817S Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Requirements 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 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Pre-employment physical required Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. 5 CFR § 330.502 - General restriction on movement after competitive appointment applies. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 06/27/2024. 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. The screen-out element is the ability to perform as a Cook without more than normal supervision. Examples include: Organizing and coordinating the work of lower level cooks in a hospital/healthcare environment, in order to accomplish a variety of quantity cooking operations. Developing and modifying standardized recipes. Advising lower grade food service workers and cooks on tray assembly issues, dishwashing procedures, and quality control issues, such as plating techniques, tray arrangements, and practices to maintain temperatures and safety of food. Independently prepares a variety of large quantities of food, including preparing and cooking regular and therapeutic diet (diabetic, low sodium, low protein, gluten free, etc.) entrees and dessert items, planning cooking processes to produce meals on time and at the proper temperature which may require coordination of cooking several items with different cooking times. Cooking a variety of menu items including regular and special diet entrees and dessert items; portioning and serving food into standard service sizes; roast, broil, bake, fry, boil, steam, and stew meats, fish, and poultry. Prepare soups, stocks, broths, gravies, sauces, and puddings without the use of packaged mixes. Adjust standardized recipes for the number of servings required in large quantity cooking. Maintain the proper temperature for all foods during holding, transport, reheating, and serving to assure quality control and food safety. 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) Materials Technical Practices Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment Without more than normal supervision 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. Physical Requirements/Working Conditions: Is subject to 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. 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. Performs work in patient care settings where there may be exposure to contagious disease. May have contact with patients who demonstrate verbally and /or physical aggressive behavior. Required to wear proper hair covering and clean uniform. Wear disposable gloves when handling food for service and proper protective equipment when completing cleaning activities. Education Additional Information The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. 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.