Summary The position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Supply Chain Management Service in the South Texas Veterans Healthcare System and supported catchment area. This position primarily performs Purchasing Agent work to acquire supplies, services, and construction by purchase, rental, or lease through delivery orders and/or small purchase procedures. Responsibilities 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 requester's 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 VHA's local vendor file. Utilizes various web-based portals to order items from awarded contracts, including the Department of Defense's Electronic Catalog (ECAT) and the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor's 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 Requirements Conditions of Employment 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's 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 interest. In 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. Qualifications 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 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. 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 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 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. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA 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 for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. 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/.
