Human Resource Services
Alameda Skyline

Senior Nutritionist

Recruitment #17-5794-01

Introduction

THIS IS A NEW ASSEMBLED EXAMINATION. The eligible list resulting from this examination will cancel any existing list and may last approximately one year, but can be extended.

Applications must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Applications will only be accepted on-line.

Supplemental Questionnaire: A properly completed Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted with each application. Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Failure to submit the Application or Supplemental Questionnaire will result in disqualification.

DESCRIPTION

HEALTH CARE SERVICES AGENCY
Alameda County's Health Services Program is administered by the Health Care Services Agency and includes the following program areas: Behavioral Health Care, Public Health, Environmental Health, and Agency Administration/Indigent Health. The ultimate mission of the Health Care Services Agency is to provide fully integrated health care services through a comprehensive network of public and private partnerships that ensure optimal health and well-being and respect the diversity of all residents. Health Care Services Agency currently has multiple career opportunities for experienced licensed professionals to become part of a service delivery team dedicated to the optimal health and well-being of Alameda County residents.

PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT (PHD)  
Alameda County Public Health Department has worked for over 80 years to improve the health and safety of its residents and the neighborhoods they live in. Traditional public health concerns such as disease epidemics and outbreaks, environmental health, health education and access to care and support have been joined by contemporary concerns: poverty, crime, violence, bioterrorism and natural disasters. Each of these poses a threat to public health and wellness and calls for short and long-term solutions that lie well outside traditional public health boundaries.  For more information about our Alameda County Public Health Department, please visit the Alameda County Public Health Department Website and latest Annual Budget document found on www.acgov.org

THE POSITION
Senior Nutritionists plan, organize and direct a nutrition program in either the Health Care Services Agency or the Social Services Agency, consult with agency and program personnel, and provide supervision and technical assistance to Nutritionists and unit staff.

THE VACANCIES
The current Senior Nutritionist vacancies are located in the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program. However the eligible list resulting from this recruitment may be used to fill future vacancies in other program areas.

WIC
The Women Infant and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Education Program is a supplemental food and nutrition program for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women and children under age five who have a nutritional risk. The goal of the WIC program is to decrease the risk of poor birth outcomes and to improve the health of participants during critical times of growth and development. To meet this goal, we provide nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion, medical care referrals, and specific supplemental nutritious foods.

IDEAL CANDIDATE
In addition to meeting the minimum qualifications below, the ideal candidate will possess the following critical attributes:

  • Experience in the direct delivery of WIC nutrition and breastfeeding services to a culturally diverse population;
  • Skill as a supervisor, exhibiting leadership qualities that elicit the trust of subordinates; training and mentoring staff, assigning work, and tracking and evaluating the performance of a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team;
  • Ability to prioritize tasks and establish systems to ensure work is completed efficiently;
  • Technical expertise; a proven track record of success as a resourceful professional who stays current with industry information, technology and trends;
  • Leadership disposition; aligning the organization’s vision and values by inspiring, advising, and instructing peers and subordinates, assigning and delegating work, identifying, prioritizing and managing resources, and tracking and evaluating performance;
  • Cultural sensitivity and ability to work effectively with individual from diverse cultures, interpersonal styles, abilities, motivations and backgrounds;
  • Skill as a strong collaborator, adept in identifying opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships to help achieve agency goals;
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences and in a variety of contexts;
  • Sound decision making and good judgment, with the ability to identify and understand complex problems, apply logical thinking to gather and analyze information, and exercise good judgment based on available data to design solutions to problems;
  • Capable of planning and organizing work activities; prioritizing tasks and working on multiple projects simultaneously; and establishing a course of action for self and others to ensure that work is completed efficiently;
  • Interpersonal sensitivity and compassion as a professional who actively seeks information to understand staff and client circumstances, problems, expectations, and needs; verifies understanding and provides support;
  • Possession of a Master’s degree in Nutrition, Public Health Nutrition, Dietetics is highly desirable.

 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Either I

The equivalent of two years full-time experience as a Nutritionist II in the Alameda County classified service.

Or II

Experience:

The equivalent of four years full-time professional experience in public health nutrition or dietetics, one year of which must have included program planning and evaluation. Supervisory experience is highly desirable.

Substitution:

Possession of a Master’s degree in Nutrition, Public Health Nutrition, Dietetics, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university may be substituted for one year of the required experience.

Licenses and Certificates:

Possession of a valid California Motor Vehicle Operator's license.
Possession of a current Registered Dietician (RD) certification or Registered Dietician Nutritionist (RDN) certification and good standing with the Commission on Dietetic Registration.

NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

The most suitably qualified candidates will possess the following competencies:

Knowledge of:


• Current principles and practices of nutrition, including nutritional requirements for diverse age, cultural or socio-economic groups.
• Human nutrition and its relationship to health and disease.
• Anatomy, physiology, chemistry and biochemistry as it relates to nutrition.
• Accepted educational methods in health and recent research on nutrition.
• Community resources in public health nutrition.
• Methods used to develop and direct technical, educational, and consultative programs and services in nutrition.
• Methods used to develop and implement policies and procedures to attain nutrition goals.
• Principles of effective administrative/financial management and work organization.
• Techniques of program planning and evaluation.
• Methods of policy analysis.
• Methods of data collection and analysis.
• Management and supervision.
• Computer applications related to the work.

Ability to:

• Plan and organize.
• Communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing with attention to linguistic and cultural proficiency.
• Provide leadership.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationship with others.
• Manage, assign, review and evaluate the work of unit staff.
• Train unit staff in work assignments/procedures.
• Exercise independent judgment within established policies and guidelines.
• Understand and incorporate the Agency and Department’s core values and ethical standards of practice into all interactions with individuals, organizations and communities.

EXAMINATION COMPONENTS

The examination will consist of the following steps: A review of candidates' applications to verify possession of minimum requirements. Those candidates who possess the minimum requirements for the class will move on to the next step in the examination process which is a review of candidates' Supplemental Questionnaires to select the best qualified applicants to continue in the process. Those candidates selected as best qualified will move on to the next step in the examination process, an oral interview which will be weighted as 100% of the candidate's final examination score. The oral interview may contain situational exercises. CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION. We reserve the right to make changes to the announced examination components.

Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit. Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position.  Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position. Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the “What You Need to Know” section of our website, www.acgov.org/hrs.  

Selection Plan

Applicants will be informed via email with reasonable notice in advance of any examination process which will require their attendance. The following dates are tentative and subject to change based on the needs of the Agency:

TENTATIVE SELECTION PLAN

Deadline for Filing:                                                     5:00pm, Monday, February 5, 2018
                                                                               5:00pm, Thursday, February 15, 2018
Review of Minimum Qualifications:                                 Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Review of SQ for Best Qualified:                                                  Monday, March 5, 2018
Panel Interviews:                                                                        Monday, March 26, 2018

Updated 2/1/2018

*The combined oral examination/hiring interview, in addition to establishing an eligibility list, may serve as the final selection interview for vacancies in this classification.

Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and applicable statutes. To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the examination/selection process, please contact the assigned Human Resources Representative listed on the job announcement before the last date of filing. Alameda County requires applicants to provide supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. In order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and applicable statutes.

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures, please visit our website, www.acgov.org/hrs   

BENEFITS

Alameda County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many different employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall well being.  These benefits include but are not limited to*:

For your Health & Well-Being

  • Medical – HMO & PPO Plans
  • Dental – HMO & PPO Plans
  • Vision or Vision Reimbursement
  • Share the Savings
  • Basic Life Insurance 
  • Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees)
  • Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance 
  • County Allowance Credit
  • Flexible Spending Accounts - Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance
  • Short-Term Disability Insurance
  • Long-Term Disability Insurance
  • Voluntary Benefits - Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services
  • Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

  • Retirement Plan - (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
  • Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan)

For your Work/Life Balance

  • 11 paid holidays
  • Floating Holidays
  • Vacation and sick leave accrual
  • Vacation purchase program
  • Management Paid Leave**
  • Catastrophic Sick Leave
  • Employee Mortgage Loan Program
  • Group Auto/Home Insurance
  • Pet Insurance
  • Commuter Benefits Program
  • Guaranteed Ride Home
  • Employee Wellness Program (e.g. At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
  • Employee Discount Program (e.g. theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
  • Child Care Resources
  • 1st United Services Credit Union 

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement.  This provides a brief summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.

** Non-exempt management employees are entitled to up to three days of management paid leave. Exempt management employees are entitled to up to seven days of management paid leave.

Conclusion

All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @acgov.org and alamedacountyHR@acgov.org as accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the "My applications" button on the Current Job Openings page.

Please take the steps recommended above to ensure you do not miss any notices about a recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any applicant for a County recruitment.

NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box alamedacountyHR@acgov.org are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. If you have questions please go to our website at www.acgov.org/hrs. You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the job announcement for the recruitment for which you have applied.

Lindsay Christopher, Human Resources Analyst
Human Resource Services, County of Alameda
510-272-6393 | Lindsay.christopher@acgov.org

Alameda County is an Equal Opportunity Employer