Purchasing Agent(Typing)

Company: Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration
Location: Montgomery
Posted on: January 15, 2022

Job Description:

Summary This position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Logistics Service in a Veteran Affairs Health Care System and supported catchment area. 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. Responsibilities The Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) is a consolidated health care system that includes VA Medical Centers in Montgomery and Tuskegee Alabama as well as Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) in Dothan Alabama, Ft. Rucker Alabama, Monroeville, Alabama, Columbus Georgia and Montgomery VA Clinic. The incumbent will be required to work on site at the other locations as required. 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: Duties include: Conducts purchasing for the VA Medical Center and supported catchment area under the micro-purchase threshold. Reviews and edits purchase requests to ensure the item or service is adequately described based on the requester's need. Ensures all information has been provided and the request is consistent with legal requirements. Obtains necessary product information, price information and procedures for written or verbal purchase orders. Utilizes different ordering, reporting procedures, and purchasing methods depending on the type quantity, dollar value, and urgency of the requirement. 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. Performs work in support of general management and/or program analysis function in which knowledge of the purpose, operation, methodology and techniques. Applies conventional practices to solve any problems in the procurement transaction. 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. 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; and, Performs other related duties as assigned. Duties include: Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent(Typing)/PD99896S Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 08:00am - 4:30pm Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/18/2022. 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. 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 and/or education 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 the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), VA Acquisition Regulations (VAAR) and other federal procurement laws. Knowledge of or experience with utilizing the government purchase card for micro purchases of equipment, supplies or services. Experience utilizing various web-based applications to conduct market research to gather product information, pricing information, and available vendors. Experience creating purchase card requisitions or reconciling credit card billing statements and maintaining procurement records and auditing information. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed 4 years of education above high school. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first 60 post-high school semester hours (i.e. beyond the second year). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Decision MakingManages and Organizes InformationManages ResourcesReasoning (Clerical/Technical)Technical CompetenceExperience 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. 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 A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. Additional Information 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. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Pandemic Telework Program: Due to COVID-19, the VA is currently in an expanded telework posture. If selected, you may be expected to temporarily telework, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Once employees are permitted to return to the office, you will be expected to report to the duty station listed on this announcement. [Management officials will provide information about returning to the official, pre-pandemic worksite, when applicable.] At that time, you may be eligible to request to continue to telework depending upon the terms of your organization's telework policy and the duties of the position. 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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.

Keywords: Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Montgomery , Purchasing Agent(Typing), Sales , Montgomery, Alabama