Cook (Dining Services III) - Veterans Community Living Center Fitzsimons - Aurora, CO

Dining Services III (Cook)

This position is open to current Colorado residents only. This recruitment may be used to fill multiple vacancies. Office of Adult, Aging, and Disability Services Colorado Veterans Community Living Center at Fitzsimons Colorado Veterans Community Living Center (VCLC) at Fitzsimons is a beautiful 180-bed, skilled nursing facility serving Colorado's veterans. We strive to honor and respect those living in our community through companionship and person-centered care while providing a comfortable and safe place to live. At Fitzsimons, we provide long-term care, short-term rehab, and have a secured memory care neighborhood, and are conveniently located on the medical campus with UC Hospital and the Aurora VA Medical Center. Fitzsimons celebrates a low 14% staff turnover rate and substantial longevity among staff.

The work unit exists to provide quality care to residents by meeting or exceeding the standards as prescribed by the Veterans Administration and the Colorado Department of Public Health. This work unit exists to provide full dining services for 180 nursing home residents, catering, and staff meals. Responsible for three balanced, nutritious meals daily, meeting all dietary needs of all residents as per physician orders, ensuring meals are served timely at the correct temperature, and accurately maintaining diet cards, within state and federal regulations. Additionally, as a Dining Services III (Cook) you can expect to:

• Provide excellent customer service to all internal and external customers.
• Communicate immediately and directly with the food service director regarding any department concerns.
• Main kitchen sanitation. Cleans each piece of equipment after each use, and cleans the kitchen, equipment, and floors at the end of each shift. Washes and sanitizes pots and pans wash down walls, racks, and floors in walk-in refrigerators. Cleans and sanitizes all kitchen food service equipment. Cleans dining room tables and sanitizes, cleans chairs, washes dishes and silverware, and puts them away
• Collects and disposes of trash and maintains the dumpster trash area.
• Follows standardized recipes to prepare meals to appropriate temperatures and textures: pureed, mechanical, regular, hot, and cold items. Prepares all aspects of meals to food safety standards, visual appeal, and palatability for residents.
• Prepare enough of all menu items for residents and prepare enough therapeutic diets in the appropriate texture and temperature. Follows the therapeutic worksheets for correct portion sizes and texture.
• Monitors all food temperatures and records on proper form while food is removed from the oven/ cooling unit before the items leave the main kitchens and provides solutions to aid(s) for discrepancies in food temps.
• Prepare and serve residents in private dining rooms as needed and on special occasions, and deliver food as required to the proper units
• Monitors the aides when they clean and sanitize the satellite kitchens and unit areas.
• Assist the food service supervisor in inventorying supplies and foods (perishables and non-perishables), freezer, and storeroom.
• Monitors temperatures of the main kitchen, satellites, and other appropriate areas where food is served, and maintains daily records.
• Check all storage areas for labels and dates, check all leftover food in refrigerators for expiration dates, and discard all outdated food and snacks as required by policies and procedures.
• Attend scheduled in-services, trainings, and meetings, train new employees on the functions of the job, and provide feedback to the food service Manager on the proficiency of the new employee
• Other duties as assigned.

Experience Only:

• Two (2) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned to this position

Preferred Qualifications & Desirable Competencies:

• Experience in food service
• Certification of ServSafe Class
• Experience working in a hospital or living center
• Knowledge of health operational requirements, hazards, and precautionary measures taken within a food service unit,
• Knowledge of institutional food service procedures and practices,
• Knowledge of weights, measures (e.g., food scales, measuring cups, and spoons), and food measurement techniques
• Knowledge of techniques used in mixing food (e.g., gelatin, pancake batter, salad dressing, scrambled eggs, etc.)
• Knowledge of meat and vegetable preparation methods (clean, cut, cube, grind, peel, dice, grate, slice, chop, and tenderize)
• Knowledge of cooking methods (e.g., frying, deep-fat frying, boiling, or baking)
• Knowledge of the use of kitchen utensils in serving or portioning meals
• Knowledge of food safety related to handling and storing cooked foods, serving and storing temperatures, or reading food thermometers,
• Ability to read English at the level necessary for interpreting, understanding, and scaling written recipes, menus, nourishment labels, diet slips, portioning sheets, and policies and procedures,
• Ability to understand and execute oral and written instructions
• Ability to use and operate a gas, rotary, or convection oven safely and effectively.
• Interpersonal skills and teamwork skills

Conditions of Employment:

• CDHS employees (all Direct contact with vulnerable persons): CBI name check and fingerprint check, ICON Colorado court database, Medicare fraud database, Reference Checks, Professional License verification (licensure requirements), Drug Screen, PREA (Division of Youth Services), Trails check (direct contact with children), CAPS (direct contact with adults Mental Health Institutes, Regional Centers, Veterans Community Living Centers)
• Must be willing to test for Tuberculosis (TB) test.
• Shift work, including days, evenings, weekends, or holidays.
• Use, Handling, or Exposure to hazardous materials: oven cleaner, sanitizer, and bleach
• Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must:
• Disclose that information on the application.
• Explain why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify you from the current position.
• Provide your employee number from your prior State employment. Absent extraordinary circumstances, prior disciplinary termination or resignation in lieu of termination, and failure to provide this information will disqualify the applicant from future State employment with CDHS.

Employment history is calculated on a full-time basis (40/hrs per week). Part-time employment is calculated on a prorated basis to determine qualifications. Be sure your application specifically addresses your qualifications, experience, work products, and accomplishments as they relate to the position and minimum requirements.

You must meet the minimum qualifications to continue in the selection process. Part-time work experience will be prorated.

After minimum qualification screening, the comparative analysis process will involve reviewing and rating of all the information you submit. The comparative analysis step may also include your results from standardised testing.

Answer the supplemental questions completely and thoughtfully. We will rate your answers based on the content of your response and your writing skills (spelling, grammar, and clarity of your writing).

You may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board or request a review by the State Personnel Director if your application is eliminated. You will find the appeals process, the official appeal form, and how to deliver it on the State Personnel Board website.

If your goal is to build a career that makes a difference, consider joining the dedicated people of the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS). Our professionals strive to design and deliver high-quality human and health services that improve the safety, independence, and well-being of the people of Colorado. Each of us is committed to contributing to a safe and accessible CDHS. In addition to a great location and rewarding and meaningful work, we offer:

• Strong, secure, yet flexible retirement benefits, including a PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan plus 401(k) and 457 plans
• Medical and dental health plans
• Employer-supplemented Health Savings Account
• Paid life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability coverage
• 11 paid holidays per year, plus vacation and sick leave
• State of Colorado Employee BenefitHub Resource Center
• Employee Wellness program
• Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, training, and more
• Remote work arrangements for eligible positions
• *Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

Our Values:

• We believe in a people-first approach: We prioritize the needs, well-being, and dignity of the individuals, families, and