Purchasing Agent

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Purchases various equipment supplies and services through the use of the government purchase card for micro purchases.
• Reviews and edits purchase requests to ensure the item or service is adequately described based on the requesters need and the request is consistent with legal requirements.
• Obtains necessary product information price information and procedures for written or verbal purchase orders.
• Provides general guidance to potential vendors on requirements and information needed to be entered into the VHAs local vendor file.
• Utilizes various web-based portals to order items from awarded contracts including the Department of Defenses Electronic Catalog (ECAT) and the Medical Surgical Prime Vendors site for ordering tracking and monitoring procurement transactions.
• Reviews Fund Control Points and verifies the running balances to ensure procurement obligations are complete and approved prior to placing orders.
• Provides administration and oversight of orders and services.
• Represents the VA in discussions with vendors/contractors to obtain agreement on micro purchases and vendor/contractor compliance.
• Monitors vendor performance through personal contact reviews progress reports and discusses reasons for delays failures or price changes.
• 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.
• Researches reviews develops spreadsheets and prepares reports for procurement under the microthreshold to address departmental needs from the Supervisor.
• Compiles consolidates organizes and summarizes specific procurement information to support efforts related to annual budget estimates and a variety of one-time and recurring reports.
• Provides excellent customer service to medical staff customers vendors and contractors and expeditiously resolves issues 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 refers formal complaints to the immediate supervisor.
• Communicates tactfully and courteously with a variety of individuals with diverse backgrounds and levels of understanding.
• Procures supplies and services to meet the purchase rental or lease needs of the organization.
• Examines incoming requests for completeness including the presence of a purchase request number accounting codes item description estimated cost and quantity.
• Serves as the first line of contact for medical staff and customers regarding procured items.
• Provides clerical support and coordination to approving officials and administrators

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:00 am-3:30 pm or 7:30 am-4:00 pm
Telework: Ad-hoc only as determined by the agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD99896A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

• 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: You may be required to pass a pre-employment physical examination
• 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 ( Effective May 7 2025 drivers 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 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.

To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement 09/22/2026.

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 as required by the 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.

In addition to the Time-In-Grade Requirement you must also possess one year of specialized 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. 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. .

For more information on these qualification standards please visit the United States Office of Personnel Managements website at

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Required Experience:

Unclear Seniority