Purchasing Agent

Clarification from the agency

This is an internal job announcement only open to Current, Permanent Central Texas Veteran Health Care System (CTVHCS) Employees and CTAP eligible.

At the full performance level, this position performs a variety of duties, including but not limited to the following:

Receives and analyzes Prosthetic Consults, and prescriptions for items, services and home medical equipment.
Reviews requests for completeness, proper documentation and makes arrangements to procure these items.
Establishes workflow protocols to ensure the timely execution of work.
Advises other services on the policies and procedures to establish requisitions for services, equipment and commodities.
Reviews requests from various sources and makes substitutions if necessary (within scope).
Provides general guidance to potential vendors on requirements and information needed to be entered into the VHA's local vendor file.
Examines clinical health records and claims folders to determine eligibility and entitlement for items and services.
Advises Veterans and clinicians in relation to eligibility for entitlements for items and services.
Procures specialized medical equipment, supplies and services for Veterans. Examples include but are not limited to augmented speech devices specialized for veterans individual need such as eye tracking, custom wheelchairs built with measurements and specs unique to the veteran, vehicle modifications, specialized ramping with prep work and labor.
Procures specialized medical equipment with critical and unique characteristics and associated guidance from a variety of sources.
Purchases various equipment, supplies, and services with the government purchase card for micro purchase.
Utilizes various purchasing strategies, such as how to solicit, who to solicit, what clauses to include, which offers to accept or how much lead time.
Negotiates prices with sole source vendors, persuade reluctant vendors and collect data for requirements not previously required.
Authorizes and prepares complex purchase orders for a wide variety of devices, medical supplies and durable medical equipment.
Prepares complex purchase orders for a wide variety of devices, medical supplies and durable medical equipment.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD0826VS
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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
• 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 or trial 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, 09/29/2026.

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-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• GS-05: Experience and/or Education: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Basic knowledge of a body of purchasing regulations, methods, procedures, and business practices to make purchasing involving specialized medical equipment, supplies, and services and works toward gaining in depth, broad knowledge in those areas; facilitation for orders under $10,000 which includes, but not limited to: monitor, follow up with clinicians/patients, market research, create the purchase order, place the order with the vendor, validation of direct to patient deliveries and facility receipt of goods, reconciling the order, archiving all relative purchase documents electronically and hard copy, and uploading invoices for audit validation. OR have successfully completed 4 years above high school in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. If you are qualifying on education, transcripts are required. OR an equivalent combination of specialized experience and post high school education as described above that demonstrates my ability to perform the duties of this position. For the GS-05, only education in excess of 60 semester hours (2 years) is creditable. If you qualify by a combination, your experience must be detailed in your resume and transcripts are required.

• GS-06: Specialized Experience: I have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 grade level in the Federal Service. Examples of specialized experience for this position would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of a body of purchasing regulations, methods, procedures, and business practices to make purchasing involving specialized medical equipment, supplies, and services and works toward gaining in depth, broad knowledge in those areas; regularly and under supervision from the service Chief resolves conflicts in administering purchase orders, such as protests, claims, duplicate billing, and terminations for convenience applicably. handles deviation from established procedures, and resolves problems that arise in accordance with agency, or local standards, previous occupational, training, and experience, established practices or precedents, or other concepts or controls as they relate to each assignment.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Customer Service
• Quality Assurance
• Standards
• Writing
• Computer Skills

• Attention to Detail
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Reading Comprehension
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

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: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

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/.

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.

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

• Resume

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
• Other (1)
• Performance Appraisal
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

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.

Veterans' Preference does not apply to internal vacancy announcements.

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