Skip to main content
U.S. flag
 

Purchasing Agent

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
VA Caribbean Healthcare System

Summary

The incumbent is assigned to the Prosthetics & Sensory Aids Services (PSAS) withing the San Juan VA Medical Center. The position supports inpatient implant care coordination, outpatient treatment program and inventory management activities. Perform direct medical supply Purchasing and Inventory Management support to the administrative and clinical services of the VA. Responsibilities include maintaining accountability for supplies, equipment, and sensory aids services to Veterans.

Overview

Help
Accepting applications
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—Ad-hoc
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$45,409 - $59,031 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
CBTC-13028873-26-VI
Control number
879496900

This job is open to

Help

Clarification from the agency

The area of consideration is current, permanent employees of VISN 8, Sunshine Healthcare Network. ICTAP is outside of this area of consideration.

Videos

Duties

Help

  • Select the most appropriate cost-effective source to deliver the items/service in the most reliable manner.
  • Manages the collection of data to be used in numerous reports to ensure adequate resource funding and compliance.
  • Research the use of different solicitation methods, ordering or reporting procedures, and purchasing methods to distinguish between different purchasing strategies.
  • Documents the services required per the contractual agreement and monitors, tracks, and trends contractor performance.
  • Conduct face-to-face and telephone conversations with patients, family members, and private medical staff, contractors, vendors, and co-workers.
  • Speaks calmly and compassionately to severely disabled patients from all walks of life.
  • Provides patient care and support services to an adult population and serves as the point of contact for external customer service inventory needs and support.
  • Resolves conflicts in administering purchase orders, such as protests, claims, duplicate billing & terminations for convenience or default.
  • Examines contracts, purchasing policies, equipment sources, shipping procedures and corresponding terminology to rapidly find the most reasonably priced item to meet requirement.
  • Works independently to complete purchase orders and reconcile charges.
  • Maintains accurate records of transactions and completes all adjustments to computerized system before final payment to vendor is certified.
  • Maintains an inventory of all purchased and consignment equipment with expiration date, imitate exchange and/or replacement of expired stock.
  • Performs technical level purchasing support adhering to the Service Directives and Handbooks, policy and memorandums to acquire patient specific medical equipment, supplies and services.
  • Initiates procurement of all outpatients medical requirements.
  • Initiates recall action of identified recall products provided and communicates all findings to the appropriate offices.
  • Verifies accountability of all prosthetics expenditures in both the purchase menu and the prosthetics program and associates all obligations to the individual patient.


Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Ad-hoc.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD13436T
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Approved

Requirements

Help

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
  • 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, 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, 08/13/2026.

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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-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. General Adjustment SF-50's with the effective date of within the last year do not provide the information to reflect time-in-grade requirement has been met and therefore cannot be the only SF-50. If you are currently serving in a Hybrid Title 38 position, your SF-50's must reflect you have been in the position longer than one year

Selective Placement Factor
Must be proficient in spoken and written English.

Preferred Experience

  • Experience of medical disorders and the prosthetic devices utilized in the treatment of the same.
  • Purchasing, purchasing regulations and hierarchy experience.
  • Knowledge of Medical terminology, Medicare Healthcare Common Procedure Coding (HCPCS) used to identify DME equipment's, general anatomy.
  • Computer programs Microsoft office excel, word and outlook. Knowledge of inventory.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below:
  • Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:verifies accountability of all prosthetics expenditures in both the purchase menu and the prosthetics program and associates all obligations to the individual patient. Dealing with a large community base, vendors, hospital staff and the public is required to display a positive image of the organization. Works independently to complete purchase orders and reconcile charges. Initiates procurement of all outpatient medical requirements.

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. 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 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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

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.

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.

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?
The VA Caribbean Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA Sunshine Health Care Network. We're an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 (VISN 8), which includes medical centers and clinics in Florida, Georgia, and the Caribbean. The VA Caribbean Healthcare System provides you with outstanding health care, trains America's future health care providers, and conducts important medical research. We provide you with health care services at 11 locations, serving Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Facilities include our San Juan VA Medical Center and 10 community-based outpatient clinics: 8 Puerto Rican clinics in Arecibo, Ponce, Comerio, San Juan, Guayama, Mayaguez, Utuado, and Vieques; and 2, St. Croix and St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Agency contact information

Vilnalys Irizarry-Brisueno
Phone
(787) 641-7582 X126196
Email
Vilnalys.Irizarry-Brisueno@va.gov
Address
San Juan VA Medical Center
10 Calle Casia
San Juan, PR 921
US

Visit our careers page

Learn more about what it's like to work at Veterans Health Administration, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers.

https://www.va.gov/jobs/

Your session is about to expire!

Your USAJOBS session will expire due to inactivity in 8 minutes. Any unsaved data will be lost if you allow the session to expire. Click the button below to continue your session.