Purchasing Agent

Purchasing Agent

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Boise, Idaho

Salary Range: $40736 - $59031 Per Year

Job Summary: The position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) in Boise, Idaho. This is a critical, direct patient care, Veteran-facing position. The incumbent initiates procurement of all outpatient medical requirements, including direct individual purchases to the Veteran, stock purchases for immediate availability, all medical surgical implants used during surgery, and/or rental requirements associated with continual outpatient medical equipment and supplies.

Major Duties:

• This position involves a multi-grade career ladder. The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-6. At the GS-5 grade level, the employee performs assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. You will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-6. Promotion is at the discretion of the supervisor and is contingent upon satisfactory performance, availability of higher level work, and availability of funds. Major Duties include but are not limited to: Performs technical level purchasing to acquire Veteran-specific medical equipment, supplies, and services based on a medical provider's clinical assessment and evaluation of the Veteran's medical condition. Functions include but are not limited to rentals to meet the outpatient medical needs of the services, all outpatient, durable medical equipment and supplies, rehabilitation equipment, mobility and daily living aids, neuro-sensory, home oxygen, inpatient surgical implants, and supplies. Obtains all necessary procurement information to successfully submit 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/FORCE). Utilizes Unique Entity Identifier number (UEI) information and ensures each vendor is in the System for Award Management (SAM) and in good standing to do business with the Government. Research alternate vendor resources unavailable in SAM to meet the needs of specific purchase situations. Vetting and vendorization of following VHA Prosthetics guidelines to complete purchases for items that aren't available through established vendor networks. Seek additional vendor resources unavailable in SAM to meet the needs of specific purchase situations. 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. Tailor the patient care/support services to meet the individual patient's specialized need(s) and the clinical service it supports. Review of medical records when performing purchases. Resolves conflicts in administering purchase orders, such as protests, claims, duplicate billing, and terminations for convenience or default. Works directly with vendors to troubleshoot duplicate billing errors and resolve those errors to ensure appropriate reconciliation of purchase orders. During the award of purchase card orders, the purchasing agent may need to resolve disputes or claims related to billing or vendor selection directly with 3rd party vendors. The purchasing agent also works directly with 3rd party vendors on their objections to not being awarded certain projects after submission of bids. The purchasing agent must work with the vendor to explain the reasoning behind a purchase order for a different vendor or contractor, the reason behind the decision, when applicable, and when it is appropriate to disclose certain pieces of information. Conducts thorough market research by obtaining competitive bids/ Request for Quotation (RFQ) to determine fair and reasonable pricing. Requests for quotes (RFQs) are required for any custom fabricated Orthotic, prosthetic, or Veteran-specific medical equipment purchase. RFQs may also be required when contracts for certain medical devices or custom items are not in place, and the purchasing agent must use RFQs to determine the best value or product that will best meet the Veteran's clinical needs. The requirement is to gather multiple RFQs and evaluate them against the clinical request from the providers as well as evaluate the best value for the Government. Performs other duties as assigned. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm MST; Monday to Friday Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD10439A and PD10438A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet time-in-grade and specialized experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 05/05/2026. 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-05 position you must have held a GS-03 or higher. 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: GS-5: Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-04) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as Purchasing Agent. Qualifying specialized experience includes performing administrative duties in a healthcare setting; reviewing and working with patients' medical records; completing training or assisting in routine and complex specialized purchases for clinics including medical equipment, prosthetic and orthotic appliances; utilizing computer software programs; and communicating with internal and external customers via various methods. Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and year ending dates AND hours worked per week. OR, Education Substitute: Possess the successfully completed four (4) years above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university. Note: Transcripts required. OR, Combination of Experience and Education: Possess the equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education beyond two (2) years and specialized experience as described above that demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of this Purchasing Agent position. Note: Transcripts required. GS-6: Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-05) in the Federal Service, that is directly related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as Purchasing Agent. Qualifying specialized experience includes Specialized experience includes utilizing electronic contracting databases or systems, submitting plans and procurement packages to contracting offices; interpreting and analyzing prescriptions and requests for medical equipment and services; maintaining regular contact and resolving issues with vendors, contractors, medical center professionals and staff; purchasing equipment, supplies and services using an agency/organization purchase card; and reconciling charges and preparing and submitting reports. Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and year ending dates AND hours worked per week. 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 to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12942605. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 05/05/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit

Application Deadline: 2026-05-05