Food Service Specialist I

Food Service Specialist I

Agency: 650 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Supervisory Organization: Lawton/Ft. Sill Veterans Home

Job Posting End Date: July 12, 2025

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the posting end date above.

Full/Part-Time: Full time

Job Type: Regular

Compensation: $14.68/hr

Job Description:

Basic Purpose:

Positions in this job family are involved in handling, preparing, cooking and serving food for regular, modified and special diets at a state hospital, school, facility or institution. This includes maintaining clean and sanitary work, preparation and serving areas.

Typical Functions:

• Prepares foods, salads, and desserts; cooks or bakes a variety of items.
• Supplies unit with meat, fish or fowl as ordered; cuts and prepares meat, poultry or fish.
• Cleans and prepares foods using tools such as knives, slicers and peelers and equipment such as ovens and steamers; follows written diet orders.
• Operates dishwasher; gathers, cleans, stacks and hand washes or scours pots, pans, dishes, silverware and other cooking and baking utensils.
• Removes refuse from kitchen area; sweeps mops and scrubs kitchen, dining and storage areas.
• Labels, loads and delivers food carts or trays; picks up trays after use.
• Defrosts and cleans refrigerators, walk-in coolers and related equipment.
• Operates state-owned cars, vans, and/or other motorized transportation.

Level Descriptor:

This career level includes positions where employees are assigned responsibility for a variety of tasks involved in preparing and serving meals in a state hospital, school, facility or institution. This includes using items for cooking and baking, cutting and preparing meat, poultry or fish, frying, or roasting foods. Positions are also responsible for the direction of others performing simple and routine duties involving the handling and serving of food and maintaining a clean and sanitary work area. In this role they will make recommendations for future food needs, receive and store food, and assist with serving food.

Education and Experience:

None required.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Competencies:

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities required at this level include knowledge of basic food preparation techniques; of food service operations; of proper sanitation practices; of basic mathematics; of ingredients used in baking and cooking; of food storage, preparation and cooking; of recipe usage; of standard weights and measures used in cooking and calculating and measuring ingredients; of operation of kitchen equipment and utensils; of practices and problems of meat storage and preparation; of modern methods and materials used in large scale baking, cooking, and meat cutting; of cutting, mixing and adding ingredients to all types of meat; and of sanitary and health standards. Ability is required to carry out routine tasks to completion; to follow oral and written instructions; to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others; to prepare and cook foods, baked goods and meat; to follow written and oral instructions; to direct the work of food service personnel; and to use a variety of tools and knives to cut or slice meat and other foods.

Special Requirements:

Applicants must be willing and able to fulfill all job-related travel normally associated with this position. Where required by the Centers for Medicaid Services, incumbents will be required to pass the Surveyor Minimum Qualifications Test within eleven months of employment. The Oklahoma State Department of Health has determined that some positions in this job family are safety sensitive as defined by 63 O.S. 427.8.

Equal Opportunity Employment:

The State of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of genetic information, race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, or disability.