Purchasing Agent

Purchasing Agent

This position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Logistics Service within the VA Health Care System performing work to acquire supplies, services, and construction by purchase, rental, or lease through delivery orders and / or small purchase procedures. Responsibilities include utilizing 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. Maintain 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 : purchasing support - conducts purchasing under the micro purchase threshold; reviews and edits purchase requests; resolves issues to ensure requests and bills are processed accurately and in a timely manner; identifies needs or problems and determines corrective action; utilizes federal and agency acquisition regulations to identify possible sources and other pertinent information related to purchases; tracks obligations / commitments and monitors expenditures to support recurring budget forecasts and identify potential fraud, waste and abuse based on procurement history and purchase trends; and procurement support - procures supplies and services to meet the purchase, rental, or lease needs of the organization; develops unique selection criteria for each purchase; prepare and issue contract modifications for changes in delivery schedule and sends formal correspondence to a variety of customers such as inventory management specialists, other service line contacts, and contracting officers as appropriate for the purposes of auditing documents, processing receiving reports, and payments.; conducting open market research and sole source small purchases for highly specialized medical items with critical product requirements; and administrative support - serves as the first line of contact for medical staff and customers in regard to procured items; develops reports and spreadsheets, obtains, organizes, files and retrieves reports for briefing and presentation purposes; performs a variety of receptionist, timekeeping, record keeping and miscellaneous duties in medical facility. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Work Schedule : Monday through Friday 0700 to 1530.

Telework : This position may be authorized for telework.

Position Description / PD# : Purchasing Agent / PD99896S

Relocation / Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI) : Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS) : Not Authorized

Requirements Conditions of Employment :

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this 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.

Qualifications :

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11 / 04 / 2025.

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.

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 includes : 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 :

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.

Physical Requirements and Work Environment : Requires some physical effort such as standing, sitting, walking, or bending. There are no special physical demands. The work is performed in an office setting involving everyday risks or discomforts. Normal safety precautions are adequate.