Purchasing Agent

Is a member of Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) within the Prosthetic Service Line under the medical center. Assigned to the VA Medical Center and has an active inpatient implant care coordination and outpatient treatment program and inventory responsibility.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/10/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:

Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Experience performing clerical or assistant duties in support of purchasing and procurement.
• Procuring supplies and services to meet the purchase, rental, or lease needs of an organization.
• Working with medical staff to determine procurement needs and priorities.
• Resolving of shipment, payment, or other discrepancies in support of procurement programs and operations.
• Purchasing various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of a purchase card.
• Assembling and/or summarizing information from files and documents as required to create reports utilizing automated computerized supply/inventory management systems and Microsoft Office software programs such as MS Word and Excel.

Preferred Experience: Basic computer skills, VISTA, CPRS, Microsoft Office, Excel, One Note and Customer Service.

• Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary when conducting purchasing functions for PSAS. However, while conducting inventory management functions, the incumbent may work comfortably in a warehouse environment, sitting, standing, walking, bending, lifting, carrying, retrieving and managing inventory. Prolonged periods of working at a computer terminal is required. Ability to retrieve equipment from storage room is required. Climbing associated with stocking of equipment and other items in storage areas is necessary. Incumbent may carry/lift items weighing up to twenty-five (25) pounds. Normal safety precautions are adequate. The work involves moderate discomfort when visiting sites away from the office. At times, the employee may be required to wear protective clothing when visiting the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Fabrication Laboratory. Often, walking between the main medical center and other parts of Prosthetics to conduct professional duties. The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
  
  For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Responsibilities:

• Provides either direct or in direct patient care and support services.
• Verifies accountability of all prosthetics expenditures in both the purchase menu and the prosthetics program.
• Knowledge and experience with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, One Note, and Outlook).
• Plans and coordinates actions to prevent, correct, or resolve delays or misunderstandings in the processes.
• Resolves minor disputes and informal complaints.
• Applies conventional practices to problem solving.
• Provides face to face contact with patients and their families to meet outpatient medical needs.
• Serves as a contact for external and internal customers regarding service needs and support.
• Handles conflict and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately.
• Deals with issues such as organizational conflict, competing objectives, or resource problems to find solutions.
• Recommends a variety of issues that affect the effectiveness and efficiency of healtcare delivery in an innovative team treatment approach.
• Provides guidance to assist in developing policy or process recommendations.
• Ability to read and process consults and can work with various VHA computer programs (CPRS, VISTA).
• Collaborates with requester to resolve questions of equipment i.e. priority, variation of design, function, size and appropriateness of prescription.
• Identifies and records all equipment by documenting the serial, model, manufacturer, and other identifiable information as needed.

Work Schedule: 7:30-4:00pm Monday-Friday, subject to change based on the needs of the facility.
Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PDS01002-A and PDS01002A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Salary : $45,409