Summary This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. Responsibilities This position serves as a Supervisory Dietitian overseeing the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) Clinical Dietitian team. The Supervisory Dietitian is responsible for the execution of clinical nutrition programming within the facility, community-based clinics, and local community. They provide administrative management and direction of the clinical nutrition section of HBPC and ensures proper coordination between the delivery of clinical nutrition services and overall delivery of health care. This position will assist with patient care responsibilities including in-home assessments, food service inspections, and team coverage. The Supervisory Dietitian duties include, but are not limited to: - Serves as a professional and technical advisor to staff and other health care professionals - Represents the Clinical Nutrition Section on projects, committees and/or workgroups within the department and facility. - Assumes full responsibility for planning, directing, and assessing the work and competence of subordinate staff. - Collaborates with other managers in the medical center to negotiate and/or make decisions on NFS related matters affecting clinical operations. - Provides Clinical Nutrition Section specific leadership and exercises a full range of supervisory and personnel management authorities and responsibilities. - Develops procedures and guidelines for clinical operations and monitors compliance with regulatory standards and policies and procedures. - Participates in performance improvement efforts within Clinical Nutrition section, acting on quality improvement data and plans. - Leads the action planning process to attain goals and resolve deficiencies. - Identifies and prioritized problems, sets long and short-term goals, identifies action plans for the clinical section and nutrition programs. - Builds and implements contingency plans within the section, ensuring continuity of clinical operations in all internal and external emergency situations. - Executes the training plan for the clinical section and ensures staff remain up to date on advances and changes in medical nutrition therapy. Orients and trains employees related to clinical nutrition and appropriate policies and procedures. Assists with new employee onboarding. - Ensures that materials utilized in Veteran education are evidence-based, using current literature and research. - Analyses data (i.e., event capture, clinic utilization) to recommend allocation of clinical nutrition resources. - Ensures evidence-based guidelines are integrated into clinical practice. - Ensures Veteran education materials are written with based on evidence-based guidelines, current literature, practice, and research. - Collaborates with the food operations staff, bridging the work of the clinical nutrition staff to the food services provided to Veterans. - May perform other related duties as assigned which are appropriate for this grade and assignment. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday (8:00am-4:30pm). Telework: Telework Eligible as determined by agency policy. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required. Incentives: Not Authorized Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP)- Authorized PCS: Not Authorized Functional Statement Title/#: Supervisory Dietitian -Clinical Nutrition GS-0630-12 / 99521-S. This position is at the GS-12 - Above Full Performance (Supervisory) Level. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this 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. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. You may be required to serve a probationary period. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. May be required to pass pre-employment physical examination. 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. Qualifications Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: a. Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified candidates in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.) b. Registration. (1) All applicants must hold the RDN credential from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) the credentialing agency of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Note: Applicants who hold the RDN credential have met the education requirement (e.g. bachelor's degree or higher) of CDR, as such this occupation is considered professional and scientific with a positive education requirement and the procedures in Part I, Chapter 4 of this Handbook will be followed when applying Veteran's preference. (2) Exception for Dietitians who do not possess the RDN credential. (a) Non-credentialed Dietitians who meet the basic qualification requirements and have fulfilled the requirements below, but do not possess the RDN credential, may be given a temporary full-time appointment not to exceed one year under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2). i. Non-credentialed Dietitians must have fulfilled each of the following: A. Earned a bachelor's or higher degree from a U.S. regionally accredited college, university or foreign equivalent (refer to ii in the Education Section below). B. Completed an ACEND® accredited experiential or supervised practice program and provide a verification statement from the program director that conveys eligibility to take the CDR registration exam as a prospective RDN. A list of ACEND® accredited programs is located on the ACEND® website or at ACEND Accredited Programs Directory. c. Registration/Certification. All applicants must be registered with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) the credentialing branch of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics formerly known as the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Advanced Level Practice Dietitians must possess a minimum of one advanced practice credential relevant to the area of practice, (e.g. Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC), Board Certified Specialist in Renal Nutrition (CSR), Board Certified Specialist in Gerontological Nutrition (CSG), Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), or Board Certified Specialist in Oncology Nutrition (CSO)). (1) Exception. Non-CDR registered applicants who otherwise meet the minimum qualification requirements may be appointed, pending CDR registration, as a temporary full-time graduate dietitian under 38 U.S.C. 7405(a)(1)(B). In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7405(c)(2), this appointment may not exceed 2 years. Applicants appointed under this exception must provide care under the supervision of a registered dietitian at or above the full performance level. Applicants who fail to obtain CDR registration during this temporary full-time appointment may be terminated. The exception only applies to positions at the GS-7 and GS-9 level. For grade levels at or above the full performance level the candidate must be registered with the CDR. (2) Failure to Obtain Registration. In all cases, dietitians must actively pursue meeting registration requirements starting from the date of their appointment. At the time of appointment, the supervisor will provide the unregistered dietitian with the written requirement to obtain registration, the date by which the registration must be acquired, and the consequences for not becoming registered by the deadline. Failure to become registered within 2 years from date of appointment will result in removal from the GS-0630 Dietitian series and may result in termination of employment. (3) Loss of Credentials. An employee who fails to maintain the required registration must be removed from the occupation, which may also result in termination of employment. At the advanced level practice assignment, an employee who fails to maintain the required board certification must be removed from the assignment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may remain at an appropriate assignment in the occupation when the credential is not a requirement and a placement opportunity exists. d. Grandfathering Provision. All persons employed in VHA as a dietitian on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and registration requirements or board certification, if applicable. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following apply: (1) Such employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journeyman) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. (2) Dietitians who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. (3) Dietitians initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. (4) Employees who are retained as a dietitian under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry as a dietitian. e. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. f. English Language Proficiency. Dietitians must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d). GRADE DETERMINATION, GS-12 (Supervisory Dietitian): (a) Experience. Completion of 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-11. (b) Credentials ; RDN credential from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) (c) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA's). REFER TO THE EDUCATION SECTION BELOW FOR KSA's. (3) Assignment. REFER TO THE EDUCATION SECTION BELOW Education IMPORTANT: 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/. (d) Supervisory Dietitian (Clinical Nutrition), GS-12 KSAs: Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of accrediting requirements in clinical nutrition to assess staff compliance and implement performance improvements. (b) Skill as a nutrition expert to provide technical guidance, direction and staff development. (c) Skill in Evidence-Based Nutrition Practice Guidelines to develop, implement and coordinate best practices. (d) Skill in establishing goals and objectives to coordinate activities, evaluate accomplishments and solve problems. (e) Ability to supervise subordinate staff (i.e., plan, organize, delegate, direct, control and review activities and performance). (f) Ability to analyze data in order to recommend allocation of resources. (3) Assignment. For all supervisory assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity, difficulty, variety and be performed by the incumbent as a major duty at least 25% of the time. The incumbent must spend 25% or more of their time providing administrative and technical supervision over staff at the full performance level or below and may supervise advanced practice and/or program coordinator Dietitian(s). Supervisory Dietitians Clinical Nutrition in this assignment oversees the Clinical Nutrition Section and serve as the professional and technical advisors to staff and other health care professionals. They represent the Clinical Nutrition Section on projects, committees and/or workgroups. Supervisory Dietitians provide Clinical Nutrition Section-specific leadership and exercise a full range of supervisory and personnel management authorities and responsibilities in planning, directing and assessing the work and competence of subordinate staff. They provide administrative management and direction of the clinical nutrition section. Supervisory Dietitians develop procedures and guidelines for clinical operations and monitor compliance with regulatory standards and policies and procedures. They lead the action planning process to attain goals and resolve deficiencies. Supervisory Dietitians build and implement contingency plans within the section, ensuring continuity of clinical operations in all internal and external emergencies. They execute the training plan for the clinical section and ensure staff remain updated on advances and changes in medical nutrition therapy. Supervisory Dietitians analyze data (i.e., event capture, clinic utilization) to recommend the allocation of clinical nutrition resources. They ensure evidence-based guidelines are integrated into clinical practice. Supervisory Dietitians collaborate closely with the food service section to enhance the Veteran dining experience and support the strategic goals of the food service section. Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. This vacancy is a non-bargaining unit position VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. 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.