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, to include durable medical equipment and supplies directly to Veterans.

Duties

This position is organizationally aligned to the Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) at Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center, Iron Mountain, ML This is a critical direct patient care, Veteran facing position. The incumbent must work directly with the Veteran, his/her family, surgeon or clinical provider, and community care discharge planning staff. Initiates procurement of all outpatient medical requirements to include: 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: A purchase card holder and complies with all the acquisition regulations, both Federal, VA and local to include 8A, small business, Javits Wagner 0-Day Act, and mandatory sources Makes individual purchases not exceeding $10,000 unless specifically authorized to do so by the VISN HCA. Reconciles purchase charges within the established time limits Communication and interpersonal relations, including the ability to appropriately and courteously relate to internal and external customers Performs technical level purchasing support adhering to the FAR, VAAR, VHA, and Prosthetics Directives and Handbooks, VISN policy and station memorandums to acquire patient specific medical equipment, supplies and services 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 Quickly deduce from written prescriptions or oral requests what items or services are needed 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, patients or their representatives Examines clinical health records and claims folders to determine eligibility and entitlement for items and services based on adopted criteria and advises Veteran of the same Purchases specialized equipment or services that have an unstable price or product characteristic, hard-to-locate sources, have critical characteristics, or similar complicating factors and resolves a variety of purchasing problems, such as inadequate or restrictive specifications, lack of multiple suppliers, urgent need, or insufficient price history, or with continual requirement changes and updated products; to include life threating or life sustaining supplies and equipment, Veterans requiring hospice care in need of immediate supplies and equipment, emergent services and surgical implants with short suspense, and rehabilitation equipment to allow the Veterans to leave the facility Responsible for data collection used in preparing and submitting numerous reports Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full-time; Monday-Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Telework: N/A Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD99434S Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/06/2023. 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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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. Specialized Experience GS-06 Level: Must possess (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-5) that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as work that involved purchase cards, computer skills, inventory responsibility, processing of product orders, work in a hospital or clinical supply area, and work in repair of hospital or patient equipment and supplies. Ability to multitask and pay attention to details. Specialized Experience GS-07 Level: Must possess (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-6) that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as a working knowledge of medical disorders and the prosthetic devices utilized in patient treatment. Familiarity with the rehabilitation procedures and support equipment necessary in that process. A broad knowledge of purchasing regulations, methods/procedures, and business practices to make purchases involving specialized requirements and commercial requirements or similar compliance factors. Knowledge and the ability to interpret policies, procedures, manuals, and regulations. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to DetailCustomer 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 conducing 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. Often, walking 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.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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 Oscar G Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility 325 East H Street Iron Mountain, MI 49801 US
• Name: Cosby Johnson
• Phone: 515-323-7575 X3239
• Email: [email protected]