Purchasing Agent

Summary The incumbent is a member of the Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) within the Prosthetic Service Line at Mountain Home, TN. The incumbent is assigned to the VA Medical Center and has an active inpatient implant care coordination and outpatient treatment program, and inventory responsibility. This is a critical direct patient care Veteran facing position; incumbent must work directly with the Veteran, his/her family, surgeon or clinical provider, and community care discharge planning staff. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/11/2026. 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. 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; you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one‑year time‑in‑grade. 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, 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. 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. Work Environment: The work is performed in an office setting involving everyday risks or discomforts. Normal safety precautions are adequate. Duties The Purchasing Agent 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. Track 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, prepares and issues 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. Conduct open market research and sole source small purchases for highly specialized medical items with critical product requirements. 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 – 07:45 AM-4:30 PM. Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD60565A. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized. #J-18808-Ljbffr