Inventory Management Specialist NX

Summary

This position serves as Inventory Management Specialist in the Material Management Division in the Logistics Service t the Montana VA Health Care System, with responsibility for the inventory and lifecycle management of all the non-expendable (NX) equipment.

Duties

• Duties include but or not limited to: Ensures equipment accountability and appropriately managed, assigned and monitored. Schedules and conducts physical inventories. Analyzes data impacting procurement decisions. Develops and supports the creation of acquisition strategies and standardization initiatives to acquire and purchase durable medical equipment. Researches and conducts analysis of potential cost savings, efficiencies and process improvements using quantitative analysis and historical usage patterns. Initiates and reviews reports for lost, damaged, or stolen property. Maintains equipment inventory lists. Ensures accuracy of all personal property records and property documents. Manages and controls all inventory transactions for non-expendable medical equipment requests and transactions. Maintains inventory management and control of non-expendable assets. Must possess a valid state drivers license or commercial drivers license (CDL), if required to operate a motor vehicle or commercial vehicle. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: 7:30am - 4:00pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Telework: This position is not authorized for telework. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Inventory Management Specialist NX/PD99824S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/18/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement GS 7: 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 this GS 7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 5. Time-In-Grade Requirement GS 9: 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 this GS 9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 7. 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 for GS 7: 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: managing a variety of expendable items and durable medical equipment; forecasting short and long range inventory needs; analyzing inventory management reports and the effectiveness of various options proposed to provide supply support; utilizing automated inventory management systems to maintain current inventory data; researching and analyzing information to resolve questions and issues, and implementing federal and agency programs for the return and reutilization of medical supplies. Contracting and Procurement: Knowledge of various types of contracts, techniques for contracting or procurement, and contract negotiation and administration. Planning and Evaluating: Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- of long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes. Technical Competence: Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or extensive on-the-job experience to perform one's job; works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues. Effective Communication: Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately. Technology Application: Uses machines, tools, or equipment effectively; uses computers and computer applications to analyze and communicate information in the appropriate format. Problem Solving: Identifies problems; determines accuracy and relevance of information; uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives, and to make recommendations.OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience. Specialized Experience for GS 9: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS 7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: managing a variety of expendable items and durable medical equipment; developing and supporting the creation of acquisition strategies to acquire and purchase durable medical equipment; implementing federal and agency programs for the return and reutilization of medical supplies; utilizing best practices, principles and tools, concepts and methodologies to determine and evaluate supply system performance; and serving as a point of contact for the coordination of material support and the resolution of logistics problems. Experience in maintaining inventory control records in an automated system Skills in determining required sources of equipment procurement Experience in using barcode scanning equipment and appropriate tagging equipment. NOTE: 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. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience. 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/.

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 Physical Requirements: 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. 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) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial 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 period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

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/13059468. 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, 09/18/2026. 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