Summary This position primarily performs Purchasing Agent work to acquire supplies, services, and construction by purchase, rental, or lease through (a) delivery orders and/or (b) small purchase procedures. The work requires knowledge of policies and procedures for delivery orders and small purchases. This work also requires knowledge of commercial supply sources and common business practices related to sales, prices, discounts, units of measurement, deliveries, stocks, and shipments. Responsibilities Duties include, but not limited to: Purchasing Support: Conducts purchasing for a VA Medical Center, and supported catchment area, under the micro purchase threshold and must have knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), VA Acquisition Regulations (VAAR) and other federal procurement laws. Utilizes different ordering, reporting procedures, and purchasing methods depending on the type quantity, dollar value, and urgency of the requirement. As a subject matter expert, the incumbent will provide general guidance to potential vendors on requirements and information needed to be entered into the VHA's local vendor file. Provides administration and oversight on orders and services. Represents the VA in discussions with vendors/contractors to obtain agreement on micro purchases and vendor/contractor compliance. Monitor vendor performance through personal contact, review progress reports, and discuss reasons for delays, failures, or price changes. Provides excellent customer service to medical staff, customers, vendors, and contractors and resolves issues in an expeditious manner to ensure requests and bills are processed in a timely and accurate manner. Resolves minor disputes and informal complaints among medical staff and customers and refer formal complaints to the immediate supervisor. Procurement Support: Procures supplies and services to meet the purchase, rental, or lease needs of the organization. Examines incoming requests for completeness including presence of purchase request number, accounting codes, item description estimated cost, and quantity. Ensures all critical information is included in the solicitation package and develops unique selection criteria for each purchase. A particular procurement action involves the use of many different kinds of equipment, services and trades. Conducts open market research for purchases of routine equipment, supplies, and services. A particular procurement action involves the use of many different kinds of equipment, services and trades within a VA medical center. This often requires conducting open market research and sole source small purchases for highly specialized medical items with critical product requirements. Will encounter unstable prices, hard to locate sources, or similar complicating factors. Incumbent must be able to assess urgency of patient needs and recommend source adjustments to meet patient and medical center needs. Conducts follow up action on undelivered orders and aged purchase card transactions to close out purchase orders. Advises approving officials and purchase card holders on purchase card program, procurement procedures and responsibilities while conducting random reviews in accordance with established Logistics and other departmental policy. Administrative Support: Serves as the first line of contact for medical staff and customers in regard to procured items. Provides clerical support and coordination to approving officials and administrators. Performs a variety of receptionist, timekeeping, record keeping and miscellaneous duties in medical facility. As the subject matter expert, the incumbent continuously reviews policies and regulations related to time and leave. They obtain data from section supervisors and submits employees' requests for overtime and prepares staffing and overtime reports. Answers telephones and refers calls to appropriate staff. Uses departmental software to produce printouts for logistic and medical staff. Establishes office files and record systems. Utilizes a variety of automated systems to enter, update, revise, sort, and calculate data; monitor purchase requests; process receipts; and monitor active and delinquent invoices. Develops reports and spreadsheets, obtains, organizes, files and retrieves reports for briefing and presentation purposes. Performs other duties, as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:00AM-3:30PM Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework, on an Ad-hoc basis. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD99896A Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/23/2024. 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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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 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 would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of solicitation and purchasing methods; Experience using a VA issued credit card for purchases; Knowledge of price analysis techniques; Knowledge of various acquisition clauses such as those pertaining to inspection, acceptance, packaging, or testing to select or tailor clauses for purchases that involve special handling; Ability to work and negotiate with requestors, technical representatives, and vendors in analyzing these descriptions and administering the order. 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/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.