Health Technician (Dietetic)
Amarillo, TX - USA
Job Summary
Summary
This position is in the Nutrition and Food Service at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Amarillo Texas. The Health Technician (Dietetic) provides administrative and customer service support for the hospital food service program.
Major duties and responsibilities include:
- Handles patient meal service orders and enters meal orders into Dietetics Software system
- Provides professional and courteous customer service via telephone e-mail and in-person
- Collaborates with Dietitians regarding Food/Drug Interactions notifying clinical staff of potential issues with meal service and delivery
- Interprets and processes diet orders
- Prints prepares and reviews meal tickets
- Triages calls from inpatient units or outpatient clinics and procedure areas relating to patient meal trays or nourishments
- Retrieves computerized information/printouts 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 basic-level education and information on therapeutic diets
- Correctly interprets diet activity and patient information to ensure meals trays contain food items adhering to patient requests and preferences and current therapeutic diet order
- Communicates patient concerns with registered dietitian or dietetic technician
- Verifies physician orders for unusual diets conflicting modifications tube feeding orders and nutritional supplements
- Uses a computer to record retrieve and print recipes menus and inventory reports
- Performs other related duties as assigned
Work Schedule: 5:30am - 2:00pm and 10:30am - 7:00pm Five days a week including weekends and holidays with two consecutive days off within the week.
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Dietetic)/PD99796S
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
- 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
- Physical Required
- 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 ( Effective May 7 2025 drivers 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)
- 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.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 02/06/2026.
You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
- Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-4 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: Experience where you applied knowledge of quantity food service operations proper nutrition food items and appropriate quantities; working with clients patients and/or customers to assess their needs provide information or assistance resolve their problems or satisfy their expectations; use computers software applications databases and automated systems to accomplish work. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title duties month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. OR
- Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-05 level: Completion of a full four (4) year course of study leading to a bachelors degree with a major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to this position (i.e. nutrition dietary therapy food and nutrition science food service systems management etc.). This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school junior college college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR
- Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-05 level: Equivalent combination of successfully completed post-high school education (beyond the second year) and specialized experience as listed above. The education portion must include courses directly related to the work of the position (i.e. nutrition dietary therapy food and nutrition science food service systems management etc.). This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Your experience must be documented in your resume and transcripts are required.
Work Environment: Work is performed in a hospital and involves some exposure to contagious diseases. The employee must observe ergonomics pertaining to working in an office setting with electrical and stationary equipment. Employee must be alert to wet floors gas steam electrical equipment and general safety precautions including correct lifting techniques in all potential work areas. Discomfort may exist due to changes in temperature and/or humidity. Standard precautions may necessitate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in situations of potential exposure.
For more information on these qualification standards please visit the United States Office of Personnel Managements website at
Education
A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicants 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. A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits. Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
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: 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: If your school has changed names or is no longer in existence you must provide this informationin your application.
Beginning September 27 2025 Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge skills abilities and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.
Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration.
Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF JPG JPEG PNG RTF TXT PDF ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato if available. Other widely available options are Calibri Helvetica Arial Verdana Open San Source Sans Pro Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume:
Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at
Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e. physical or mental) covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position after notification of the adjudication of your request you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.
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 employees 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.
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 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 for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPMs Career Transition Resources website at should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Required Experience:
IC