Lead Purchasing Agent Job in Sioux Falls, SD

Vacancy No. CBSY-12778144-25-LCS Department Veterans Health Administration
Salary $49,960.00 to $64,952.00 Grade 7 to 7
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 8/6/2025 Close Date 8/18/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Sioux Falls, SD


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.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

This is an internal announcement and is limited to current permanent employees of the Sioux Falls VA Health Care System and CTAP eligible. Current, permanent Veterans Canteen Service employees may apply, and will be considered in the same manner as a current VA employee.

Duties

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 < 20 pounds may be required.

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

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

  • Resume
  • SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action



The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.
  • Cover Letter
  • Performance Appraisal
  • Resume
  • Separation Notice (RIF)
  • SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action


SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):
  • Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
  • An SF-50 showing 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
  • Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
  • Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
    • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
    • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
    • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 08/18/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12778144.

  1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
  2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.


The 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 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/.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Agency contact information

Luther Smith Jr.
Address
Royal C Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital
2501 West 22nd Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57105
US

Next steps

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.

You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.

NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.