Purchasing Agent

Purchasing Agent

This position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Logistics Service within the Nebraska-Western Iowa-Omaha 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 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 :

• 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;
• 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 - Friday, 7 : 00am - 3 : 30pm Telework : This position is not authorized for telework. Virtual : This is not a virtual position.

Position Description / PD# : Purchasing Agent / PD99896S Relocation / Recruitment Incentives : 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. 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 may 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.

Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11 / 21 / 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. 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.

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 level in the Federal service in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a Purchasing Agent, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. 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 :

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 : Requires some physical effort such as standing, sitting, walking, or bending. There are no special physical demands. You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position.

Work Environment : The work is performed in an office setting involving everyday risks or discomforts. Normal safety precautions are adequate. 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 / .

Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level.