Food Service Worker (2604) - San Francisco Department of Public Health

The Department of Public Health prioritizes equitable and inclusive access to quality healthcare for its community and values the importance of diversity in its workforce. All employees at the Department of Public Health work to advance equity, inclusion, and diversity with a specific lens and focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexuality, disability, and immigration status. 

• Application Opening : Friday, March 21, 2025
• Application Deadline : Application filing will close on or after Tuesday, April 1, 2025.
• Salary: $57,382-$73,190 Annually
• Appointment Type: Permanent Civil Service
• Recruitment ID: CBT-2604-H00132

The Mission of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is to protect and promote the health of all San Franciscans. SFDPH strives to achieve its mission through the work of multiple divisions - the San Francisco Health Network, Population Health, Behavioral Health Services, and Administration. The San Francisco Health Network is the City’s only complete system of care and has locations throughout the City, including Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, and over 15 primary care health centers. The Population Health Division (PHD) provides core public health services for the City and County of San Francisco: health protection, health promotion, disease and injury prevention, and disaster preparedness and response. Behavioral Health Services operates in conjunction with SFHN and provides a range of mental health and substance use treatment services.

The 2604 Food Service Worker supports food preparation, service, and cleanliness in institutional and food service environments. This position performs a variety of tasks to ensure the efficient operation of food service facilities and adherence to safety and sanitation standards. 

Essential Duties: 

• Setting up food stations, counters, and tables for food service following established policies and procedures 
• Preparing regular diet foods (e.g., toast, cereal, sandwiches, salads) for customers and assisting with special diet preparation by cutting, slicing, and portioning food using commercial kitchen equipment (e.g., blenders, knives, toasters) 
• Assisting cooks with basic food preparation, including light cooking, panning food, and prepping food items 
• Preparing food products by measuring and weighing ingredients according to recipes, utilizing scales and measuring tools, and converting measurements as needed 
• Serving food to customers and patients in cafeterias, dining halls, and hospital wards
• Serving food using designated portion control utensils and properly selecting appropriate equipment and utensils during meal periods 
• Maintaining a daily supply of serving utensils and items needed for service 
• Performing routine auxiliary tasks, such as transporting supplies to and from storage rooms, managing meal card use, and distributing linen supplies 
• Assembling patient meals by reading menus that indicate dietary requirements and selecting appropriate food items for delivery 
• Lifting and transporting bulk foods weighing up to 50 lbs. (e.g., flour, sugar, beans, potatoes) to storage areas, and moving hot trays or pans weighing up to 40 lbs. with prepared foods to the tray line for patient meal preparation
• Handling cash transactions accurately by verifying the cash register, keying in charges, making change, accepting valid meal tickets/passes, and reconciling totals
• Receiving, storing, and issuing food and supply items according to invoices, requisitions, and guidelines, while verifying the quality and quantity of items received and issued
• Working in environments such as freezers, refrigerators, dry storage, chemical storage, and loading dock areas using pallet jacks, hand trucks, and flatbed carts 
• Maintaining department sanitation by washing and sanitizing pots, pans, griddles, steam kettles, ovens, hoods, drains, carts, dishes, utensils, storage spaces, equipment, food containers, tables, and other areas as required
• Ensuring cleanliness of work areas by using sanitation chemicals (which may be potentially hazardous) for tasks such as sweeping and mopping floors, wiping walls, and following established garbage, compost, and recycling protocols 
• Maintaining cleanliness of cookware and utensils by removing and disposing of food and waste, sanitizing items using dishwashers, and organizing them on drying racks
• Perform other duties as assigned

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS 

1. EDUCATION: Possession of a high school diploma or equivalent; 

AND

2. EXPERIENCE: At least six (6) months of food handling experience in the food service industry, such as working as a food service worker, kitchen helper, waiter, or busboy (or a similar position). 

Substitution: 
Completion of twelve (12) semester units or equivalent credits in Food Service, Culinary Arts, Dietetics, and/or Nutrition may substitute for the required experience. 

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.  

One-year fulltime employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week). 

Important Note: Please make sure it is absolutely clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications. Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. Please be aware that any misrepresentation of this information may disqualify you from this recruitment or future job opportunities.  

Selection Procedures: 
After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Assessment Component

Candidates that meet the minimum qualifications will be invited to participate in a Multiple Choice exam that is designed to measure the knowledge, skills, and abilities in job related areas including, but not limited to: 

• Knowledge of Sanitation and Safety Regulation Procedures;
• Interpersonal, Communication, and Customer Service;
• Critical Thinking and Food Preparation 

Written Exam: (Weight: 100%) 

Candidates must achieve a passing score on the written multiple-choice exam in order to continue in the selection process and will be placed on the confidential eligible list in rank order according to their final score. 

Your written exam score will be "banked" for three years. During this three-year time period, you will not be required to re-take this test for another 2604 Food Service Worker announcement. If another announcement is held within twelve months of the date of this examination, and it requires this written test, your score will be automatically applied to that announcement. However, after twelve months, you will have the option to either (a) apply your test score to the other announcement OR (b) re-take the test. Retesting is permitted no sooner than twelve months from the date of the examination and only in association with your eligibility for another announcement for which this test is used. 

Please note that, should you re-test, your re-test score would become your official score since it is the most recent. 

If you also applied and meet the minimum qualifications for the 2606 Senior Food Service Worker recruitment (CBT-2606-H00133), you will only be scheduled once for the Written Core Food Service Worker Examination. 

Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Certification
The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be the Rule of the List Scores.

Eligible List/Score Report:
Once you pass the exam, you will be placed onto an eligible list and given a score and a rank. For more information, visit https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/process/.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be 12 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

How to apply:

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit careers.sf.gov and begin the application process. 

Our e-mail communications may come from more than one department so please make sure your email is set to accept messages from all of us at this link. 

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment therefore, it is their responsibility to contact the Analyst if they update their email address. 

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:
Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. (Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/). The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at http://sfgov.org/civilservice/rules.  

Additional information regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco: 

• Information about the Hiring Process 
• Conviction History 
• Employee Benefits Overview 
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Workers
• Reasonable Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement
• Veterans Preference

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, Elaine Adams at [email protected] or (628) 271-6974.

We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. The first message will ask you to opt in to text messaging.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.