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Veterans Health Administration is Hiring a Purchasing Agent Near Anchorage, AK

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/19/2024.

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 and/or education, 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.

Preferred but not required:

• Providing medical supplies
• Purchasing (GPC Representative holder)
• Contracting Officer experience certification
• Experience stock rotation
• Inventory management
• Mailroom operations

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

• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Decision Making
• Manages and Organizes Information
• Manages Resources
• Reasoning (Clerical/Technical)
• Technical Competence

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:

• Advises approving officials and purchase card holders on purchase card program, procurement procedures and responsibilities.
• Answers telephones and refers calls.
• Conducts follow up action on undelivered orders and aged purchase card transactions to close our purchase orders.
• Conducts purchasing under the micro purchase threshold.
• Coordinates sources of supplies and acceptable substitutions.
• Initiates and provides training to acquisition and technical staff on the procurement process.
• Conducts open market research for purchases of routine equipment, supplies, and services.
• Examines incoming procurement requests for completeness.
• Performs program analysis functions.
• Collects data to determine price reasonableness.
• Identifies factors to determine the best offer applicable for procurement.
• Maintains accountable procurement records and auditing information.
• Monitors purchase requests and active and delinquent invoices, and processes receipts.
• Monitors purchases and reconciles credit card billing statements.
• Maintains catalogs, contract files, and lists of firms offering specific equipment, supplies, and services.
• Analyzes descriptions and characteristics to identify problem areas.
• Applies conventional practices to solve problems in procurement transactions.
• Resolves minor disputes and informal complaints.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD99896S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Job Summary