Summary The incumbent's primary purpose is to serve as a Prosthetics Purchasing Specialist within the VISN 23 Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service. The incumbent has responsibility for serving as a Prosthetics and Sensory Aids equipment/services/benefits consultant, managing consults, and procuring devices. Incumbent is a member of a team providing patient care, services, and support to an adult Veteran population with specialized needs and whose level of disability increases each year. Responsibilities The Lead PA are responsible to their supervisors for ensuring that the work assignments of the other employees of the team are carried out by performing a range of duties such as: 1. Distribute and balance the workload among employees in accordance with established work flow or job specialization, assure timely accomplishment of the assigned workload, and assure that each employee has enough work to keep busy. 2. Keep in touch with the status and progress of work, and make day- to- day adjustments in accordance with established priorities, obtaining assistance from the supervisor on problems that may arise, such as backlogs which cannot be disposed of promptly. 3. Estimate and report on expected time of completion of work, and maintain records of work accomplishments and time expended and prepare production reports as requested. 4. Instruct employees in specific tasks and job techniques and make available written instructions, reference materials and supplies. 5. Give on the job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices; 6. Maintain a current knowledge and answer questions of other employees on procedures, policies, directives, etc. and obtain needed information or decisions from supervisor on problems that come up. 7. Check on work in progress or spot check work not requiring review (e. g., filing or direct services) and review completed work to see that supervisor's instruction on work sequence, procedures, methods and deadlines have been met. 8. Amend or reject work not meeting established standards, refer to supervisor questions or matters not covered by standards. 9. Monitor working conditions such as seating, ventilation, lighting, safety, etc. 10. Approve leave for a few hours or for emergencies. 11. Inform employees of available services and employee activities. 12. Resolve simple, informal complaints of employees and refer others to supervisor. 13. Report to supervisor on performance, progress and training needs of employees, and on behavior problems. 14. Provide information to supervisor as requested concerning promotions, reassignment. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: ADHOC-May be authorized (Employees who Telework on an occasional, episodic, or short-term, and have completed required telework training and telework agreement). Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Purchasing Agent/PD23556A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the @context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being. 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 You may be required to serve a probationary/trial period 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification 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) Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/18/2025. 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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. 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-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: procuring medical supplies, equipment, and services using small purchase methods such as delivery orders and purchase cards; managing purchasing requests and ensuring timely fulfillment of orders in accordance with applicable regulations; leading a team of purchasing agents by distributing and balancing workloads, monitoring team performance, and resolving daily operational issues; ensuring compliance with purchasing policies and procedures; utilizing procurement and inventory systems to complete transactions and maintain records; coordinating with vendors and internal stakeholders to confirm order details and resolve discrepancies; and protecting sensitive information in accordance with applicable privacy and data security laws. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Customer Service Decision Making Manages and Organizes Information 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. You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination. Physical Demands: Work requires movement throughout the medical center, standing, bending, sitting, reaching, and lifting up to fifty pounds. There exists prolonged periods of working at a computer terminal. Ability to retrieve equipment from a storage room is required. Climbing associated with stocking of equipment and other items in storage areas is necessary. Normal safety precautions are utilized as appropriate for office, hospital, and warehouse settings. The work involves moderate discomfort when visiting sites away from the office. At times the employee may be required to wear personal protective equipment (i.e., mask and gown) when visiting work areas with other environmental exposures including the wheelchair repair shop or Orthotic Laboratory. Work Environment: Incumbent works in a health care office and may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing appropriate to the health care environment. Normal duties are performed in an office setting, which has adequate heat, light and ventilation; however, on a daily basis the incumbent must retrieve prosthetics items from various storage areas. The incumbent may on occasion, accompany the Manager and/or Prosthetic Representative on visits to the patient's homes or to a vendor for shop inspections. Incumbent has direct daily contact with patients and will handle equipment returned from veterans with contagious diseases; therefore, the incumbent is required to practice Standard Precautions on a daily basis. Standard precautions include wearing of gloves while handling disinfectants used daily on returned reusable medical equipment as well as wear of personal protective equipment used to reduce the risk of disease transmission. This position requires potentially long periods of continued sitting, with intermittent bending, pulling, and pushing. Movement between work areas within the health care system is expected. Occasional lifting of objects
