Purchasing Agent

Summary

The Purchasing Agent is a member of the Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) within the Prosthetic Service Line and performs direct medical supply Purchasing and Inventory Management support to the administrative and clinical services of the 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.

Duties

• Major duties and responsibilities include: Performs technical level purchasing adhering to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and Prosthetics Directives and Handbooks, Veterans Integrated Service 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 successfully 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). Provides patient care and support services to an adult population and serves as the point of contact for external customer service inventory needs and support. Must tailor the patient care/support services to meet the specialized need(s) of the individual patient and the clinical service it supports. Reviews for discrepancies or loopholes in lengthy specifications or statements of work that are very detailed, or otherwise difficult to understand. These situations often come up for custom in-home installation of complex pieces of medical equipment. Rental support requires necessary care coordination follow up initiation from Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) to requestor for additional days of rental and/or discontinued services from the VA to the Vendor. Coordinates under close direction and supervision, with appropriate vendor for device retrieval and reconciliation of acquisition days to ensure daily fund rental fiscal accountability. Utilizes Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) reporting tools to monitor and track Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) open purchase card orders, to ensure timely service is provided to Veterans. Quickly deduces from written prescriptions or oral requests what items or services are needed and/or conducts follow up information requests to the initiator to clarify the medical need or device specifications, based on the Veterans medical evaluation. Based on the urgency of the need, selects the most appropriate cost-effective source to deliver the items/service in the most reliable manner. Monitors, receives, tracks, interprets, and analyzes Prosthetic Consults, and prescriptions for items, services and home medical equipment from physicians, therapists, medical center personnel, patients, or their representatives. Reviews requests for completeness, comparing disability or diagnosis to equipment and/or services normally provided for the condition for which they are requested, and/or proper documentation has been provided to justify the issuance. Identifies and records all equipment by documenting the serial, model, manufacturer and other identifiable information for possible recall, and by expiration dates for necessary replacement. Maintains an inventory of all purchased and consignment equipment with expiration date, imitate exchange and/or replacement of expired stock. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved

Qualifications

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this Purchasing Agent position. Specialized experience includes: maintaining regular contact with vendors, contractors, medical center/facility professionals, and staff; purchasing for a variety of prosthetic and sensory aid devices, medical supplies, surgical implants, and durable medical equipment involving specialized requirements and/or commercial requirements; utilizing a variety of databases and computer systems to maintain accurate accounting of all actions; examining incoming procurement requests for completeness; maintaining computer security and access to files. 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. Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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/. Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary when conducting purchasing functions for the Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service. 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 a storage room is required. Climbing associated with stocking of equipment and other items in storage areas is necessary. 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.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Required Documents" below for details. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13045666. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 09/10/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit