Duties

• Receives and analyzes prescriptions and requests for prosthetic appliances, services, and medical equipment received from physicians, therapists and other medical center personnel, patients and/or their representatives.
• Utilizes office automation equipment and Microsoft Office software.
• Ensures pending requests are posted to the suspense log and enters data to verify the workload statistics used to determine facility funding for Prosthetic activities.
• Formulates a variety of correspondence and memorandum for review and signature.
• Advises physicians and other professional staff as to the availability, selection and acquisition of prosthetic devices or services.
• Maintains a regular associate with vendors, medical center professionals and staff to ensure timely acquisition and provision of item or service to the Veteran.
• Reconciles all invoices timely within 10-days for certification of payment.
• Plans and coordinates actions to prevent, correct, or resolve delays or misunderstandings in the purchasing process.
• Identifies needs or problems and determines recommended corrective actions, alternatives or solutions.
• Maintains accurate records of transactions and complete all adjustments before final payment to vendor is certified.
• Resolves any discrepancies with vendor.
• Advises Veteran, family member/caregiver, or other representative of equipment safety and maintenance, and how to obtain repairs.
• Answers telephones and refers calls.
• Properly prepares correspondence to Veteran, when required and generate mailing labels for package mail out.
• Properly posts notes (comments) to consults, forwards consults to appropriate medical sections (i.e. , PM&R, Primary Care, etc.) when required.
• Completes purchase card order entry on same day the purchase card order is placed with the merchant.
• Resolves minor disputes and informal complaints.
• Analyzes descriptions and characteristics to identify problem areas.
• Conducts follow up action on undelivered orders and aged purchase card transactions to close our purchase orders.
• Collects data to determine price reasonableness.
• Identifies factors to determine the best offer applicable for procurement.
• Applies conventional practices to solve problems in procurement transactions.
• Develops reports and spreadsheets, obtains and organizes files, and retrieves reports for briefings and presentation purposes.
• Maintains electronic accountable procurement records and auditing information.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM until 4:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time Zone)
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: Available (Ad Hoc)
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD026620 and PD02662A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/30/2022.

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-5 position, applicants may advance up to two grades above lowest grade held within the past 52 weeks since last non-temporary appointment from register or direct hire. Example: An employee hired from register at GS-2 receives a new appointment, 6 months later, from register at GS-3. Employee meets TIG for GS-4 and 5. 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.

***Purchasing experience strongly preferred***

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: Possess one (1) year of specialized experience at the GS-04 level or equivalent for this position. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant 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 position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. The incumbent performs the following duties to include, but not limited to: Receives and analyzes prescriptions and requests for prosthetic appliances, services, and medical equipment received from physicians, therapists and other medical center personnel, patients and/or their representatives. Ensures pending requests are posted to the suspense log and enters data to verify the workload statistics used to determine facility funding for Prosthetic activities. Maintains a regular associate with vendors, medical center professionals and staff to ensure timely acquisition and provision of item or service to the Veteran. Plans and coordinates actions to prevent, correct, or resolve delays or misunderstandings in the purchasing process. Maintains accurate records of transactions and complete all adjustments before final payment to vendor is certified. Resolves any discrepancies with vendor. Completes purchase card order entry on same day the purchase card order is placed with the merchant. Conducts follow up action on undelivered orders and aged purchase card transactions to close our purchase orders. Develops reports and spreadsheets, obtains and organizes files, and retrieves reports for briefings and presentation purposes; OR
• Education: Successfully completed four (4) academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree, or bachelor's degree, in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. An academic year is computed as follows: At the undergraduate level, successfully completed education that has not led to possession of a degree is credited based on its relationship to 120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours. For example, 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours is comparable to 1 year of undergraduate education. Four years of progressive study or 120 semester hours meets the degree requirements. Additional credit cannot be given for duplicate course work. For study at a business or technical school, 36 weeks of study (20+ classroom hours per week) is comparable to 1 academic year above high school. When academic credit is expressed in contract months, units, or other terms that differ from conventional semester or quarter hours, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide an interpretation of such credits from the appropriate institution in order to equate them to the semester or quarter hours specified in the standard; OR
• Combination: Possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience. For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. The following are examples of how education and experience may be combined. They are examples only, and are not all inclusive: The position to be filled is a Purchasing Agent, GS-5. The applicant has 9 months of specialized experience and 75 semester hours of college (15 semester hours beyond the second year and the equivalent of 3 months of specialized experience). The applicant meets 75 percent of the required experience and 25 percent of the required education. The applicant meets 100 percent of the requirement for 1 year of specialized experience and is qualified for the position.

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

• Budget Administration
• Computer Skills
• Contracting/Procurement
• Decision Making
• Medical Information
• Speaking

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: Work is primarily sedentary and is carried out in an office setting. 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. Incumbent may carry/lift items weighting up fifty (50) pounds. Normal safety precautions are adequate. The work involves moderate discomfort when visiting sites away from the office. At times the employee may be required to wear protective clothing when Visiting the wheelchair repair shop or Orthotic Laboratory.

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

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ . If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Additional information

VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. 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. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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/ .

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

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .