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Purchasing Agent

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Veterans Health Administration-Supply Chain Management Service

Summary

The position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Logistics Service in a Veteran Affairs Health Care System (VA HCS) and supported catchment area.

Clarification for all special authorities is provided in the announcement questionnaire.
Special authorities include but are not limited to former overseas employees and foreign service employees.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
04/24/2026 to 05/04/2026
Salary
$40,948 - $59,339 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 5 - 6
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Spokane, WA
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
6
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
Yes
Announcement number
CBSV-12938117-26-DC
Control number
866587300

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

First consideration will be given to current, permanent employees of the Mann-Grandstaff Department of VAMC The second area of consideration is permanent VISN20 employees. The third area of consideration is permanent VA Wide employees. All other statuses' will be considered after internal merit promotion VA employees are exhausted.

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Duties

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Duties include but are not limited too:

  • Advises approving officials and purchase card holders on purchase card program, procurement procedures and responsibilities.
  • Answer telephone and refer calls if necessary
  • Conduct follow up actions on undelivered orders and aged purchase card transactions to close out purchase orders
  • Provide clerical support and coordination to approving officials and administrators
  • Respond to requests and/or complaints.
  • Conduct purchasing under the micro purchase threshold
  • Coordinates sources of supplies and acceptable substitutions
  • Use web-based portals to order items from awarded contracts to include the Department of Defense's Electronic Catalog (ECAT) and the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor.
  • Make purchases involving specialized and/or commercial requirements.
  • Initiates and provides training to acquisition and technical staff on the procurement process.
  • Provides procurement support throughout the procurement cycle.
  • Conducts open market research for purchases of routine equipment, supplies, and services.
  • Examines incoming procurement requests for completeness.
  • Performs program analysis function.
  • Utilizes departmental software to produce printouts for logistic and medical staff.
  • Utilizes various web-based applications to identify required sources of supply.
  • Collects data to determine price reasonableness.
  • Identifies factors to determine the best offer applicable for procurement.
  • Maintains accountable procurement records and auditing information.
  • Maintains inventory of supplies or equipment.
  • Obtains facts for making decisions or recommendations.
  • Monitors purchase requests and active and delinquent invoices, and processes receipts.
  • Monitors purchases and reconciles credit card billing statements.
  • Maintains catalogs, contract files, and lists of firms offering specific equipment, supplies, and services.
  • Develops reports and spreadsheets, obtains and organizes files, and retrieves reports for briefings and presentation purposes.
  • Reviews, assembles, and maintains procurement related files and related systems.
  • Analyzes descriptions and characteristics to identify problem areas.
  • Resolves minor disputes and informal complaints.
  • Identifies needs or problems and determines recommended corrective actions, alternatives or solutions.
  • Applies conventional practices to solve problems in a procurement transaction.
  • Plans and coordinates actions to prevent, correct, or resolve delays or misunderstandings in the purchasing process.
  • Plans and manages workload sufficiently in advance to adequately address competing priorities.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:00am-3:30pm
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD99896S and PD55048A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
  • 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, 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 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 05/04/2026.

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 GS04.
  • For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS05.
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/education as described below:

GS 5 LEVEL:
  • Specialized experience includes: ability to perform 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; ability to resolve a variety of shipment, payment, or other discrepancies in support of procurement programs and operations ;ability to purchase various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of a purchase card NOTE: 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.
  • Education: 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. Transcripts are required.
  • Combination: 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 GS-05, only education in excess of 60 semester hours (2 years) is creditable. If you qualify by combination, your experience must be detailed in your resume and transcripts are required.

GS-6 LEVEL:
  • Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 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. NOTE: 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.
  • There is no educational substitution at this grade level.
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

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.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Receiving Service Credit for 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.

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

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and 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 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/.

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.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

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


Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

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.

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.

Veterans Health Administration

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans?

Spokane is a family-oriented city located in beautiful eastern Washington with a regional population of 470,000. Our four season climate and pristine surroundings offer an abundance of exceptional recreation opportunities. Spokane is known for its affordable housing and excellent schools and universities, as well as being the regional arts and cultural center. Set an early tee time at any of the scenic and well-designed golf courses in the area, then walk, bike or canoe along the Centennial Trail. Cool off in one of 76 regional lakes, camp in gorgeous state parks, wrestle with whitewater rapids and ski through fresh powder. Enjoy the vibrant arts and entertainment scene. Take a walk around Riverfront Park and then catch a performance of the Spokane Symphony, see a show at the Opera House or take in a play at the Civic Theater. The indoor and outdoor possibilities are limitless!

Agency contact information

Danielle Callinder
Phone
253-582-8440 X75465
Email
Danielle.Callinder@va.gov
Address
Mann-Grandstaff Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
4815 North Assembly Street
Spokane, WA 99205
US

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