Clarification from the agency

The first area of consideration is current, permanent employees of the Orlando VA Medical Center. Status Candidates {Current and former competitive service Federal employees, and people eligible under special hiring authorities. This includes all Merit Promotion sources: Status (Transfers, Reinstatements), VEOA, Permanent Canteen (VCS) employees, CTAP, ICTAP, Non-Competitive Eligible and certain Excepted Service Employees (i.e., Interchange Agreements).

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As a Purchasing Agent, you perform technical level purchasing support adhering to the FAR, VAAR, VHA, and Prosthetics Directives and handbooks, VISN policy and station memorandums to acquire patient specific medical equipment, supplies and services. Duties include, but are not limited:

• Rentals to meet the outpatient medical needs of the services, which include all outpatient durable medical equipment and supplies, rehabilitation equipment, mobility and daily living aids, neuro-sensory, home oxygen, inpatient surgical implants and supplies.
• Submits Acquisition Plans and Procurement Packages for stock and Veteran specific needs to the Network Contracting Office and uploads quotes, bids, invoices, consults, and other important documents to the Electronic Contract Management System (eCMS).
• Verifies Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) and Bradstreet information and ensures each vendor is in the System for Award Management (SAM) and in good standing to do business with the government.
• Verifies accountability of all prosthetics expenditures in both the purchase menu and the prosthetics program and associates all obligations to the individual Veteran.
• Ensures the services provided are documented as the type of service and duration.
• Verifies adherence to training and other contractual agreements.
• Follow-up action on the status of all these orders is required weekly until purchased and direct patient care is completed.
• Written notes must be completed in the Veteran's medical record to ensure order status is provided to the clinical requestor.
• Provides patient care and support services to an adult population and serves as the point of the contact for external customer service inventory needs and support.
• Tailors the patient care/support services to meet the specialized need(s) of the individual patient and the clinical service it supports.
• Displays a positive image and be highly motivated to seek ways to expedite patient processing, accomplish the VA mission, and adapt to the ever-changing world of health care.
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD07427-T and PD07428T
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
• 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
• 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)

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, 10/14/2025.

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-6 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:

GS-05 Position: Carefully read the following descriptions of the required specialized experience for the position. Your resume must support your response. Applicants must have one (1) full year of specialized experience related to this position. This experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-04 grade level in the Federal Service.

• Specialized experience Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: purchasing of equipment, supplies, and services through simplified acquisition procedures, formal competitive bid (sealed bid) and negotiated procedures; screening purchase requests for completeness and adequacy to determine how a purchase should be made; ordering against an existing contract (e.g., Federal Supply Schedules) or through open market/small purchase procedures; soliciting quotes either orally or by issuing requests for quotation (RFQ); selecting and using the appropriate method (e.g., delivery order, purchase order, blanket purchase agreement, impressed funds, and credit cards) to confirm and place an order.

~OR~

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed four (4) years above high school. As general rule, education is not creditable about GS-05; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the position. (Transcript required)

~OR~

• Combination of Experience & Education: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an appropriate combination of specialized experience and education. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One (1) full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to six (6) months of specialized experience. (Transcript required)..

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


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 when conducting purchasing functions for PSAS. However, while conducting inventory management functions, the incumbent may work comfortably in a warehouse environment, sitting, standing, walking, bending, lifting, carrying, retrieving and managing inventory. Prolonged periods of working at a computer terminal is required. Ability to retrieve equipment from a storage room is required. Climbing associated with stocking of equipment and other items in storage areas is necessary. 20 Incumbent may carry/lift items weighing up to twenty-five (25) 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 Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Fabrication Laboratory. There may be frequent walks between the main medical center and other parts of Prosthetics to conduct professional duties

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.