This position is located in the Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) at Tomah VA Medical Center, Tomah, WI. The Purchasing Agent has an active outpatient and inpatient treatment program and inventory responsibly. Performs direct medical supply, Purchasing and Inventory Management support to the administrative and clinical services of the VA to initiate the obligation for all related requirements necessary to provide prosthetic and sensory aids services.

Duties

Complex Purchasing: Performs technical level purchasing adhering to the FAR, VAAR, VHA, and 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 Veterans medical condition. 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). Performs the process of vetting and vendorizing following VHA Prosthetics guidelines to complete purchases for items that aren't available through established vendor networks. Required to find additional vendor resources not available in SAM to meet the needs of specific purchase situations. Provides Veteran care and support services to an adult population and serves as the point of contact for external customer service inventory needs and support. Reviews for discrepancies or loopholes in lengthy specifications or statements of work that are very detailed, or otherwise difficult to understand. 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. Coordinates with appropriate vendor for device retrieval and reconciliation of acquisition days to ensure daily fund rental fiscal accountability. Responsible for utilizing PSAS reporting tools to monitor and track PSAS open purchase card orders, to ensure timely service is provided to Veterans. The purchasing agent must independently interpret and review the implants used in a procedure and determine if they meet the requirement to be purchased using 8123 authorities at the higher micro purchase threshold. Performs purchasing methods which may include Veteran specific purchases in the Prosthetics Application Suite/graphical user interface (GUI) or the Prosthetics Official Purchasing Menu for Inventory support, which may require a 2237 request for unique Acquisition support or 1358 contracted obligations methods requiring additional documented accountability to the individual Veteran. PSAS staff is responsible for six different fund control points with accountability per individual Veteran for each obligation type. Managing data collection used in preparing and submitting numerous reports: Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), Cost Distribution Report (CDR), 1465, Delayed Orders, and Patient Satisfaction Survey, Quality Assurance and Needs/Excess. Routine Purchasing: Deduce from written prescriptions or oral requests what items or services are needed and/or conduct follow up information requests to the initiator to clarify the medical need or device specifications, based on the Veterans medical evaluation. Monitors, receives, tracks, interprets, and analyzes Prosthetic Consults, and prescriptions (VAF 10-2431) for items, services and home medical equipment from physicians, therapists, medical center personnel, Veterans, or their representatives. Review requests for completeness, comparing disability or diagnosis to equipment and/or services normally provided for the condition for which they are requested, and/or proper documentation has been provided to justify the issuance. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. AD-HOC ONLY Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD20204A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/15/2023. 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: receives, tracks, interprets, and analyzes Prosthetic Consults, and prescriptions; technical level purchasing adhering to the FAR, VAAR, VHA; interpreting prescriptions and requests for medical equipment and services; maintaining regular contact with vendors, contractors, medical center professionals and staff; utilizing a variety of databases and computer systems; purchasing equipment, supplies and services using an agency/organization purchase card; and reconciling charges and preparing and submitting reports; responsible for utilizing PSAS reporting tools to monitor and track PSAS open purchase card orders; tracks and trends contractor performance; managing data collection used in preparing and submitting numerous reports: Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), Cost Distribution Report (CDR), Delayed Orders; conducts thorough market research by obtaining competitive bids/Request for Quotation (RFQ) to determine fair and reasonable pricing; verifies accountability of all prosthetics expenditures in both the purchase menu and the prosthetics program and associates all obligations; reconciles all invoices for certification of payment. Preferred Experience: Government Purchase Card Experience You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to DetailControl of FundsCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Manages ResourcesTechnical Competence 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. Note: 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. 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 visiting the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Fabrication Laboratory. There may be frequent walks 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.

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.

Contacts

• Address Tomah VA Medical Center 500 East Veterans Street Tomah, WI 54660 US
• Name: Yasmin Scott
• Phone: 910-488-2120 X1499
• Email: [email protected]