The Lead Purchasing Agent is responsible for issuing, reviewing and or procuring prescribed items to Veterans in compliance with VHA guidelines and directives and leading a team of Purchasing Agents. The work requires knowledge of policies and procedures for delivery orders and small purchases. This work also requires knowledge of commercial supply sources and common business practices related to sales, prices, discounts, units of measurement, deliveries, stocks, and shipments.

Duties

Duties include but not limited to: Advises approving officials and purchase card holders on purchase card program, procurement procedures and responsibilities. Coaches and problem solves with team members. Delegate follow up action on undelivered orders and aged purchase card transactions to close out purchase orders. Provides advice on work methods, practices and procedures. Instructs Purchasing Agents in specific tasks and job techniques and make available written instructions, and reference materials. Ensures timely purchasing under the micro purchase threshold. Leads the coordination for sources of supplies and acceptable substitutions. Initiates sand provides training to acquisition and technical staff on the procurement process. Makes purchases involving specialized requirements and/or commercial requirements that have unstable price or product characteristics, hard-to-locate sources, or similar complicating factors. Provides procurement support throughout the procurement cycle. Conducts open market research for purchases of routine equipment, supplies, and services. Examines incoming procurement requests for completeness. Recommends or makes decisions based on analysis of various trade-offs (e.g. cost of renting vs. purchasing, free services included, vendor reputation or past performance). Reviews completed work to see that instructions on work sequence, procedures, methods and deadlines have been met. Identifies training needs and gives on the job training. Distributes and balances workload among employees and assure completion of assigned work. Identifies factors to determine the best offer applicable for procurement. Maintains accountable procurement records and auditing information. Instructs employees in specific tasks and job techniques and provide written instructions, reference materials and supplies. Estimates and reports on expected time of completion of work. Monitors purchase requests and active and delinquent invoices, and process receipts. Utilizes Microsoft Office to create, edit and aggregate data necessary for expense tracking and Supply Chain management reporting. Maintains catalogs, contract files, and lists of firms offering specific equipment, supplies, and services. Develops reports and spreadsheets, obtain and organize files, and retrieve reports for briefings and presentation purposes. Compiles, consolidates, organizes, and summarizes specific procurement information to support efforts related to annual budget estimates and a variety of one-time and recurring reports. Analyzes descriptions and characteristics to identify problem areas. Develops recommended alternatives or solutions prior to completion of the procurement action when problems are encountered and/or deviations are required. Resolves disputes and informal complaints among medical staff and customers. Assesses urgency of patient needs and recommends source adjustments to meet patient and medical center needs. Plans and coordinates actions to prevent, correct, or resolve delays or misunderstandings in the purchasing process. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Purchasing Agent/PD99879SRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/04/2023.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 GS 07: 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: procuring supplies and services to meet the purchase, rental, or lease needs of an organization; assisting in training new employees and answering questions on purchasing/procurement procedures, policies, etc.; purchasing various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of a purchase card; working with medical staff to determine procurement needs and priorities; resolving a variety of shipment, payment, or other discrepancies in support of procurement programs and operations; and, assembling and/or summarizing information from files and documents as required to create reports utilizing automated computerized supply/inventory management systems and Microsoft Office software programs such as MS Word and Excel. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Decision MakingManages and Organizes InformationManages ResourcesReasoning (Clerical/Technical)Technical 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/Working Conditions: Requires some physical effort such as standing, sitting, walking, or bending. There are no special physical demands. 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/.

Contacts

• Address Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center 3701 Loop Road East Tuscaloosa, AL 35404 US
• Name: Jeniqua Knuckles
• Phone: 843-577-5011 X201807
• Email: [email protected]