Purchasing Agent

Veterans Health Administration • Memphis, TN

4d • Onsite

About The Position

This position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Prosthetics and Sensory Aid Department at the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr VA Medical Center in Memphis, TN. This position primarily performs Purchasing Agent work to acquire supplies, services, and construction by purchase, rental, or lease through (a) delivery orders and/or (b) small purchase procedures. The work requires knowledge of policies and procedures for delivery orders and small purchases.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Must complete all required steps in the process, including an online application, questionnaire, and online assessment.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Acceptable forms of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Must serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period.
• 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.
• Specialized Experience: One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-5) in the Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the Purchasing Agent at the full performance level (GS-06).
• 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.
• Applicants wishing to receive credit for specialized 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.

Nice To Haves

• Purchasing and customer service experience.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Conducts open market research and sole source small purchases for highly specialized medical items with critical product requirements.
• 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.

Benefits

• A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package.
• As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.
• Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent.
• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed