Purchasing Agent

Purchasing Agent

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Shreveport, Louisiana

Salary Range: $40736 - $59031 Per Year

Job Summary: The position is a member of Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) within the Prosthetic Service Line under the medical center. Position is assigned to the VA Medical Center and has an active inpatient implant care coordination and outpatient treatment program and inventory responsibility. Performs direct medical supply Purchasing and Inventory Management support to provide prosthetic and sensory aids services, to include durable medical equipment and supplies directly to Veterans.

Major Duties:

• The position is assigned to the VA Medical Center and has an active inpatient implant care coordination and outpatient treatment program and inventory responsibility which includes, but is not limited to: Prosthetic and Sensory Aids, Fabrication Lab for Orthotic and Prosthetics, Audiology & Speech Pathology, Visual Impairment Services Team, Spinal Cord Injury, Cochlear Implant Team, Polytrauma Amputee Network Center, Rehabilitation Medicine, Medicine Service, Surgical Service, Ophthalmology, Dental Service, Podiatry, Women's Clinic and Orthopedic Services. Duties include but not limited to: The position performs independent technical level purchasing support adhering to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Veteran Affairs Acquisition Regulations (VAAR), all applicable Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Directives and Memorandums, Prosthetics Directives and Handbooks, VISN policy and station memorandums to acquire Veteran-specific medical equipment, supplies and services based on a medical providers 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. The position performs the process of vetting and vendorizing following Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Prosthetics guidelines to complete purchases for items that aren't available through established vendor networks. Independently using guidance, direction, and direct use of policies and guidelines, position 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. The position must tailor the patient care/support services to meet the specialized need(s) of the individual patient and the clinical service it supports. Independently, using guidance, direction and direct use of policies and guidelines, the incumbent reviews for discrepancies or loopholes in lengthy specifications or statements of work that are very detailed, or otherwise difficult to understand. The position must evaluate many different specifications or statements of work and work with the vendor on corrections to ensure the proper piece of medical equipment is purchased. 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. Total Rewards Brochure: Purchasing Agent Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 7:30am-4:00pm; Subject to change based on the needs of the facility. Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PDS0101A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized 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.

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/01/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: For a GS-05 position Candidates may be advanced without time restriction to position is up to GS-05 if the position to be filled is no more than two grades above the lowest grade the employee held within the preceding 52 weeks under his or her latest non-temporary competitive 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-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: assisting in reviewing or interpreting requests, prescriptions, or orders for medical equipment, supplies, or services; communicating with vendors, contractors, clinical staff, or administrative personnel to gather information, clarify needs, or support simple procurement actions; using computer systems, databases, or electronic tracking tools to enter, update, or retrieve purchase information or requests; assisting in preparing purchase card documentation, small procurement packets, or similar administrative purchasing documents; reconciling simple purchase card charges, maintaining logs, or helping prepare basic reports; supporting purchasing, logistics, prosthetics, or supply functions in a clinical, retail, customer service, or administrative environment; performing general administrative tasks such as maintaining files, organizing documents, scheduling appointments, or tracking information to support office operations; and providing customer service in person, by phone, or through email to gather information, answer questions, or route requests to the appropriate staff. 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) year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in a field related to this position that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (Transcript required). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an equivalent combination of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. This must be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required; and then adding the two percentages. (Transcript required). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Computer Skills Contracting/Procurement Customer Service Problem Solving 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/12940350. 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, 05/01/2026. 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: 2026-05-01