Cook

Summary

This position is located in the Nutrition and Food Service at Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Haven Connecticut. 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- 08, is to prepare nutritious, high quality meals for service to the Veterans.

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Duties

The incumbent in this position organizes and coordinates the work of lower grade cooks at one or more work centers in a production kitchen in order to accomplish a variety of quantity cooking operations.

The duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

• Independently prepares all types of food for regular and modified diets.
• 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.
• Calculates and determines serving portions from quantities of food issued to include meats, poultry, seafood, vegetables, fruits, sauces, and gravies for regular and modified diets.
• Coordinates the cooking of items prepared by other cooks at one or more work centers.
• Grills eggs, meat patties, pancakes, French toast; broils meats; makes cold sandwich fillings and assembles a variety of sandwiches.
• Uses a variety of methods to prepare meats, fish, and poultry including broiling, roasting, baking, frying, boiling, steaming, stewing, braising, and grilling.
• Slices meat items by hand, confirming to specific size requirements or weight specifications.
• Prepares fresh, canned, and frozen vegetables; bakes frozen potatoes, pre-made cookie dough, and muffin batters.
• Prepares and heats convenience items, and prepares pureed foods and adjusts consistency with thickeners.
• Washes, peels, and cuts fruits and vegetables; assembles and mixes salad ingredients and dessert items, including gelatin molds and fruit crisps.
• Makes a variety of desserts such as cobblers, brownies, cookies, and pastries. Tests and evaluates new food products. Develops and modifies standardized recipes
• Weighs, measures, assembles ingredients for regular and modified diets.
• Operates a variety of kitchen equipment: oven, steamer, grill, slicer, mixer, steam kettles, blender, food processor, scale; follows safety procedures regarding the operation of equipment.
• 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
• Disassembles and assembles component parts and accessories for cleaning
• Cleans, stores and maintains all kitchen utensils, equipment and work areas practicing a "clean as you go" concept
• Achieves certification in food safety such as ServSafe and is able to apply knowledge of food safety, food temperatures, etc.
• Maintain accurate food inventories
• Provides assistance to supervisor in ordering food in accordance with daily and weekly menu requirements
• 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.
  
  

Work Schedule: 40 Hours a week, Monday-Sunday, Rotating shift including alternating weekends.

Position Description Title/PD#: Cook/PD99817S

Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Applicable.

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.



NOTE:

• This is an AFGE Bargaining Unit position.
• 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.
• This position is in the Competitive Service.
• 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.
• This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay.
  
  

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation
• May serve a probationary period
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc.
• 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.
  
  

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)
• Materials
• Technical Practices
• Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment
• Without more than normal supervision
• Work Practices
  
  

Preferred Experience:

• One year experience in Culinary Arts, at a Health Care Facility.
• Servsafe Food Handler or Serve Safe Food Manager Certification.
  
  
  
  

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

No Educational Requirements.

Additional information

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 (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.

The following will be communicated to applicants for VA employment in a testing designated position and will also be included in all VA vacancy announcements for such positions: All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drugs use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.

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 https://www.opm.gov/.

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.

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