Purchasing Agent (OA)

This position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service within the VA Health Care System Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center. This position will perform medical supply purchasing and inventory management support to the administrative and clinical services of the Veterans Affairs (VA) to initiate the obligation for all related requirements necessary to provide prosthetic and sensory aids services, to include durable medical equipment and supplies directly to Veterans.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/30/2026.

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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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-5 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 a variety 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; and 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.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Attention to Detail
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Reading Comprehension
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: Requires some physical effort such as standing, sitting, walking, or bending. There are no special physical demands.

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:

This position utilizes knowledge of policies and procedures for delivery orders and small purchases and knowledge of commercial supply sources and common business practices related to sales, prices, discounts, units of measurement, deliveries, stocks, and shipments. The Purchasing Agent maintains responsibility for work leading to the purchase of a wide variety of complex and highly specialized services, supplies, equipment, and systems that support the full range of programs and activities. Major duties and responsibilities include:

Complex Purchasing:

• Performs technical level purchasing adhering to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulations (VAAR), Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Prosthetics Directives and Handbooks, Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN) policy and station memorandums to acquire Veteran specific medical equipment, supplies and services based on a medical providers' clinical assessment and evaluation of the Veterans' medical condition.
• Obtains all necessary procurement information to submit Acquisition Plans and Procurement Packages for stock and Veteran specific needs to the Network Contracting Office and uploads quotes, bids, invoices, consults, and other important documents to the Electronic Contract Management System (eCMS/FORCE).
• Performs research to find alternate vendor resources not available in the System for Award Management (SAM) to meet the needs of specific purchase situations.
• Independently documents the services required per contractual agreement and monitors, tracks and trends contractor performance.

Routine Purchasing:

• Performs independent technical level purchasing support to acquire Veteran-specific medical equipment, supplies and services based on a medical providers clinical assessment including rentals to meet outpatient medical needs, outpatient durable medical equipment and supplies, rehabilitation equipment, mobility, and daily living aids, neuro-sensory, home oxygen, inpatient surgical implants, and supplies.
• Monitors, receives, tracks, interprets, and analyzes Prosthetic Consults, and prescriptions for items, services and home medical equipment from physicians, therapists, medical center personnel, Veterans, or representatives.
• Independently examines clinical health records and claims folders to determine eligibility and entitlement for items or services based on adopted criteria.
• Uses and is proficient with all office automation equipment such as, computer, word processor, facsimile/scanner machines, automatic data processing (ADP) equipment (keyboard and visual display), barcode scanners, label makers, calculator, copiers, and telephones to effectively communicate with others, place purchase orders, produce forms and complete correspondence.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Full-Time, 8am - 4:30pm EST, Monday - Friday, Rotating Schedule. (subject to change based on agency needs)
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent (OA)/PD11378A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.

Salary : $45,409