Health Technician (Dietetic) - Nutrition Call Center

This position is located in the Nutrition and Food Service (N&FS) of the VA Medical Center in Madison, WI serving as a Nutrition Communication Center (NCC) Ambassador, providing administrative and customer service support for the VA hospital food service program.

Major duties and responsibilities will include:

• Has a broad knowledge of routing modified diets, combinations of diet modifications and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) dietetics software - Handles patient meal service orders in person or by phone
• Interacts with Veterans, dietitians, nursing staff, and other medical center employees
• Receives patient meal orders and preferences, meal and nourishment requests from nursing, clinical staff, and other members of the interdisciplinary team
• Takes whatever action necessary, within authority, to maximize patient satisfaction with meal service
• Completes select and non-select menus as required
• Retrieves computerized information to assist with tray and/or nourishment assembly such as standing orders, nourishment labels, tabulated recipe lists, and other simple information to assist in meal delivery
• Provides education and information on local facility therapeutic diets to patients, guests, and nursing staff
• Assists patients in selection of the proper foods according to their individual diet
• Performs clerical and administrative duties in support of the service
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Designated Drug-Testing Position: 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. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: 10:15am to 6:45pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Dietetic) - Nutrition Call Center/PD99855S

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/23/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-03 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-02. For a GS-04 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-03. For a GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility 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 time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

GS-03 LEVEL
Experience: Six months of general experience in any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation.
OR
Education: Successful completion of one year of study that included study in medical, health, or related fields. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED.
OR
Combination of experience and education: To calculate, first determine the percentage of the 6 months' experience required; then determine the percentage of the one year of education that meets the requirement. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED.

GS-04 LEVEL
General Experience: Six months of general experience in any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation.
AND
Specialized Experience: 6 months of specialized experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques to perform the duties of this position. Examples of specialized experience typically include, but are not limited to: proficiency in special food service and therapeutic diet procedures, a broad knowledge of routine modified diets, combinations of diet modifications and knowledge of Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) Dietetics software and required functions.
OR
Education: Successful completion of 2 years of study that included 12 semester hours in subjects related to the position TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED.
OR
Combination of experience and education: Must have equivalent combinations of successfully completed education and specialized experience that is directly related to the work of the Health Technician (Dietetic) position. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED

GS-05 LEVEL
Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: performing duties in food service in a hospital environment; knowledge of tray assembly area procedures; using dietetics software programs; familiarity with regular and modified diets; assisting with food selections; following verbal and written instructions; and using computer equipment, phone system, and printers. This position requires effective communication skills both verbally and in writing and good customer service.
OR
Education: Successful completionof a full four year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position (i.e. nutrition, dietary therapy, food and nutrition science, food service systems management, etc.). TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED
OR
Combination of experience and education: Must have equivalent combinations of successfully completed education and specialized experience that is directly related to the work of the Health Technician (Dietetic) position. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED

Physical Requirements: The work requires walking, standing, bending, lifting and carrying of light items, such as food trays, instruction materials, books, and manuals. NCC Associate functions require long periods of sitting and moving about in an office environment, including repetitive motion activities of the hands and fingers for extensive keyboard and computer mouse use, and office tasks such as answering and holding a telephone phone, and writing. The work may require walking indoors, outdoors or to and from other areas of the medical center. It may be necessary to lift and/or push equipment. Incumbent is subject to periods continuous standing, sitting, walking and frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, and bending. Frequently lifts or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds and pushing loaded carts of trays and/or nourishments.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• 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 Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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 probationary period 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 probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.