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Purchasing Agent

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Washington DC VA Medical Center

Summary

This position is organizationally located in the Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service within the Medical Center. The incumbent will work under the supervision of the Chief Prosthetics Agent.

Overview

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Accepting applications
Posted this week · Apply by 07/09/26
Due by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 9, 2026
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
No
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$51,957 - $67,543 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 6
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
Yes
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
CBTF-12991404-26-DM
Control number
874647900

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Open to Current, Permanent, Career/Career-Conditional Competitive or Excepted Service Employees, Veterans, Schedule A, and Status eligibles. First Priority Consideration - Current Facility and CBOC employees. Second Priority Consideration - VA Nationwide applicants. Third Priority Consideration - Other Status candidates.

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Duties

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Major Duties:

  • Receiving and analyzing Prosthetic Consults, and prescriptions for items, services and home medical equipment.
  • Reviewing requests for completeness, proper documentation and making arrangements to procure these items.
  • Establishing workflow protocols to ensure the timely execution of work.
  • Coordinating work for special circumstances.
  • Advising other services on the policies and procedures to establish requisitions for services, equipment and commodities.
  • Reviewing requests from various sources and making substitutions if necessary (within scope).
  • Providing general guidance to potential vendors on requirements and information needed to be entered into the VHA's local vendor file.
  • Examining clinical health records and claims folders to determine eligibility and entitlement for items and services.
  • Advising Veterans and clinicians in relation to eligibility for entitlements for items and services.
  • Reviewing clinical requests, determining sources and availability of replacement parts and alternatives for power mobility, artificial limbs and other pieces of medical equipment.
  • Reviewing unique requests to ensure the requesting entity has addressed any special prescribing procedure or guidance.
  • Reconciling all invoices for certification of payment by reviewing Veteran records against invoices to ensure that accurate cost is being charged for service/item rendered and verifies the correct total cost.
  • Following up in relation to parts and labor orders, returns shipping back to manufactures and accounting for warranty work.
  • Maintaining accurate records of transactions and to complete all adjustments to computerized system. Maintain accurate funding, billing, reconciling of accounts and sub-account balances to include the Prompt Payment Act as it affects vendors and the payment process between vendors and the VA Medical Center.
  • Procuring specialized medical equipment, supplies and services for Veterans.
  • Reviewing of various configurations and determine the most cost effective to meet the veterans need.
  • Procuring specialized medical equipment with critical and unique characteristics and associated guidance from a variety of sources.
  • Purchasing various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of the government purchase card for micro purchase.
  • Responsible and knowledgeable in various purchasing strategies, such as how to solicit, who to solicit, what clauses to include, which offers to accept or how much lead time.
  • Negotiating prices with sole source vendors, persuading reluctant vendors and collecting data for requirements not previously required.
  • Authorizing and preparing complex purchase orders for a wide variety of devices, medical supplies and durable medical equipment.
  • Preparing complex purchase orders for a wide variety of devices, medical supplies and durable medical equipment.
  • Executing price adjustments; resolve any discrepancies, modifications, amendments to purchase orders and cancelations of purchase orders.
  • Coordinating medical device orders that may require more than one vendor and more than one end user.
  • Coordinating work with local vendors.
  • Following up communication and amendments to purchase orders are required to adjust for parts and labor, shipping parts back to manufactures and accounting for warranty work.
  • Representing the VA in discussions with vendors/contractors to obtain agreement on micro purchases and vendor/contractor compliance.
  • Monitoring vendor performance through personal contact, review progress reports, and discuss reasons for delays, failures, or price changes.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD25005A
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 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 2-year probationary 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 the closing date of this announcement, 07/09/2026.

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-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:

  • 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: quickly deducing from written prescriptions or oral requests what items or services are needed, selecting the most appropriate cost-effective source to deliver the items/service in the most reliable manner; completing transaction on the patient's medical record to ensure documentation of exactly what was purchased and issued; working independently to complete purchase orders and reconcile charges; initiating procurement of all outpatient medical requirements; verifying accountability of all prosthetics expenditures in both the purchase menu and the prosthetics program and associates all obligations to the individual patient: performing technical level purchasing support adhering to the Service Directives and Handbooks, policy and memorandums to acquire patient specific medical equipment, supplies and services.
Preferred Experience: Experience in Federal or VA Purchasing Procedures: Hands-on experience with federal acquisition processes, micro purchases, purchase card workflows, and medical procurement practices, ideally within a VA or healthcare setting. Proficiency with VA Procurement Systems: Prior use of IFCAP, eCMS, or similar government purchasing platforms to create requisitions, manage purchase orders, upload documentation, and track order status. Background in Prosthetics or Medical Equipment Acquisition Experience ordering prosthetic devices, DME (Durable Medical Equipment), orthotics, sensory aids, or other clinically prescribed medical items. Vendor Coordination and Quote Management: Familiarity working with medical suppliers, obtaining competitive quotes, validating vendor eligibility, and resolving delays or discrepancies. Clinical Support Experience: Experience partnering with clinicians, therapists, or care teams to confirm specifications, interpret prescriptions, and ensure the correct item is sourced for the patient. Financial and Purchasing Card Management: Prior responsibility for reconciling purchase card transactions, tracking obligations, completing receiving reports, and maintaining accurate financial records. Document and Records Management: Experience preparing procurement packets, organizing compliance documents, and maintaining accurate electronic and physical purchasing files.

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

Whole Health is an approach to health care that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their life to the fullest. The VA is committed to Whole Health and values Veteran and Employee health and wellbeing. As a VA employee, you will practice Whole Health in an environment that supports personalized and proactive care.

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; 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.

Veterans Health Administration

Agency contact information

Denicia Moten
Phone
(202)745-8000 X28781
Email
Denicia.Moten@va.gov
Address
Washington VA Medical Center
50 Irving Street, Northwest
Washington, DC 20422
US

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