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

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, the work unit maintains a sanitary and safe work unit.

This position functions independently in performing a full range of responsibilities that include but are not limited to cooking meals in the main and satellite kitchens, serving residents, cleaning, sanitation, and related tasks. This includes following generally accepted and facility food service standards. This position performs a variety of heavy manual labor food service duties, including, but not limited to cleaning and sanitizing the kitchen, the kitchen equipment, utensils, dishes, pots, and pans. The position requires heavy lifting, manual labor, long periods of standing and walking, which includes delivering the food to the satellite kitchens. This position helps to stock and maintain par levels in the storeroom, coolers, and freezers.

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.

CDHS Selection Process Explanation

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. 

• Preferred Qualifications & Competencies:

  • Relevant years of state service experience.

Minimum Qualification Screening Process 

A Human Resources Analyst will review the work experience/job duties sections of the online job application to determine whether your experience meets the minimum qualifications for the position.  You must complete the official State of Colorado online application.  Cover letters and resumes WILL NOT be reviewed during the minimum qualifications screening process. You must specifically document your work experience and qualifications in the application form. Do not use "see resume" or "see attached."

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

Comparative Analysis Process – Structured Application Review 

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. 

Your Work Experience/Job Duties

Document your work experience/job duties to the extent that you possess the skills, education, experience, minimum qualifications, and preferred qualifications. 

If listed, answer all supplemental questions as your answers to these questions will be evaluated during this phase. Provide at least 4-8 sentences for each supplemental question.     

Supplemental Questions 

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).

Appeal Rights

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.

• You or your representative must sign and submit the official appeal form for review.  

• You can find the official appeal form here. 

• You must deliver the official appeal form to the State Personnel Board:

  • By email ([email protected]), or

  • Postmarked in US Mail to 1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver, CO 80203, or 

  • Hand delivered (1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver, CO 80203), or

  • Faxed (303.866.5038) within ten (10) calendar days from your receipt of notice or acknowledgement of the department’s action.

Contact the State Personnel Board for assistance:

• At (303) 866-3300, or

•  Refer to the  Colorado Code of Regulations (CCR) 801-1, State Personnel Board Rules, and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, Chapter 8, Resolution of Appeals and Disputes, within the Rules webpage.

• How to apply to the State of Colorado (YouTube Video, Runtime 3:59, Closed Captions Available)

• The Assessment Process

About Us: 

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 communities we serve. We commit to respect, fairness, and access in every decision, policy, and interaction. We engage client voices and experiences in the development and implementation of the services we provide.

• Balance creates quality of life: We want our team to be resilient through a supportive workplace that values flexibility, health and wellness, and employee engagement.

• We hold ourselves accountable: We take responsibility through our actions, programs, and results for the state of health and human services in Colorado.

• Transparency matters: We are open and honest with employees, our partners, the Coloradans we serve, and the public.

• We are ethical: We abide by what is best for those we serve by doing what is right, not what is easy.

• Collaboration helps us rise together: We work together with all partners, employees, and clients to achieve the best outcomes for Coloradans.

ADA Accommodations

CDHS is committed to a Colorado for ALL qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment. 

This includes completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or performing essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to [email protected].

EEO Statement

The State of Colorado is an equal opportunity employer

We are committed to increasing a “Colorado for ALL" of our staff and providing culturally responsive programs and services. Therefore, we encourage responses from people of all backgrounds and abilities.  The State of Colorado believes that a “Colorado for ALL” drives our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply. The State of Colorado is an equal opportunity employer committed to building inclusive, innovative work environments with employees who reflect our communities and enthusiastically serve them. Therefore, in all aspects of the employment process, we provide employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, medical condition related to pregnancy, creed, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, or military status (with preference given to military veterans), or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

Additional Support For Your Application

Toll-Free Applicant Technical Support

If you experience technical difficulty with the NEOGOV system (e.g., uploading or attaching documents to your online application) call NEOGOV technical support at 855-524-5627, Mon-Fri between 6 am and 6 pm (Pacific Time).  Helpful hints: if you are having difficulty uploading or attaching documents to your application, 1) ensure your documents are PDF or Microsoft Word files, and 2) close the document before you attempt to upload (attach) it.