The New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network has 1 vacancy for an Acquisition & Utilization Specialist (A&US) in the VISN 2 Network Logistics Office. The A&US leads the network Supply Chain Management (SCM) program as a liaison and advisor on contract and micro-purchase requirements related to critical clinical and healthcare services, supply acquisition, equipment, and support services required by stakeholders on all aspects of procurement for a wide variety of items for the VISN 2.

Duties

Major duties include but are not limited to: The incumbent is involved in planning relating to all key procurement actions, including medical/surgical supplies, equipment, and other operating supplies and consumables within the VISN 2. Establishes, expedites, and reviews consolidation of all VISN 2 SCM procurement packages, including unique, emergent, and complex requirements to meet timely and technical needs of assigned acquisitions. Independently develops performance work statements and objectives, cost-benefit analysis, gap analysis, sole source justifications, past performance, quality assurance surveillance plans, market research, independent government cost estimates (IGCE), evaluation criteria, options, funding, delivery schedules, lead times, and reporting requirements. Reviews procurement documents for accuracy, adequacy, and completeness and assists service line managers as needed to ensure the final documents are acceptable. Provides oversight, guidance, program management, and leadership in operations and planning activities for all VISN 2 facilities' SCM programs, including standardization of business processes, performance measurement and management, quality assurance and compliance, and reporting within the VISN 2. Coordinates communication within the business, strategic sourcing, and commodity standardization communities (within the network, between networks, and between the networks and VA/VHA). Prepares and processes requisitions and procurement packages to the Network Contracting Activity (NCA) for the award for facility-wide fund control activities. Develops sole source justifications in relation to cost, limited availability, or unusual nature, when health care resource need is either unique in the medical community or is subject to maximum utilization only through health care resources contracting. Strategic Sourcing Analytics: 40% Analyzes and manages the performance and measurement of strategic sourcing support functions for the VISN 2 SCM program in all aspects of procurement and acquisitions, including government purchase card programs. Supports Supply Chain audits, compliance reviews, and program effectiveness and efficiency reviews of all VISN 2 activities to ensure strategic sourcing opportunity goals. Contract Liaison: 20% Advises the contract specialist/contracting officer on contract modifications, change orders, supplemental agreements, and delivery order processes, including requirements, definition, justification, and approval for a service contract extension, method of contracting, evaluation of proposals, and all phases of contract administration. Reviews contracts, work directives, orders instruments to extract deliverable items, services schedules, maintains records of performance and delivery against those schedules. Monitors contract expenditures requiring funds control (e.g., monitoring labor-hour contracts to ensure funding levels are not exceeded). Develops and implements processes and procedures as changes are made to the VHA Procurement Manual. Verifies all licensed independent practitioners providing resident care, treatment, and services have appropriate privileges that may vary based on geographical and state boundaries. Procurement Management: 20% Provides direct management to employees performing various procurement duties supporting the SCM program throughout the VISN 2. This responsibility includes developing performance standards, writing position descriptions, evaluating work performance, counseling employees whose performance is marginal or unsatisfactory, and initiating disciplinary actions when necessary. Financial Management: 10% Ensure the SCM program recommendations are financially viable and adept in preparing business case analyses (BCA) and return on investment (ROI) calculations. Monitor all network and facility budgets devoted to SCM and related areas. Assess facility business processes to provide facility leadership with recommendations to maximize performance and strategic use of resources within the network SCM program. Operation Readiness and Emergency Management: 10% The incumbent is responsible for, but is not limited to, the following: Supports VISN 2 Supply Chain management operations by evaluating Supply Chain actions required to support VHA's operational readiness efforts and Regional Readiness Center (RRC) program; Assists the VCLO's team with monitoring inventory control systems needed for the RRC program; and Supports Supply Chain audits, quality assurance, and compliance reviews for the VISN 2. Work Schedule: M-F 8:00AM - 4:30PM Telework: Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Acquisition & Utilization Specialist/PD48889O

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/03/2023. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Extensive working knowledge and understanding of the functions and processes required to maintain healthcare, maintenance operations, supply, equipment, and support services. Strong knowledge of Procurement Acquisition Lead Times (PALT), procurement plans and contract administration principles and practices, monitor contract performance over the life of contracts, and solve problems relating to proposals for change and claims payments and similar problems. Expert knowledge of Federal, departmental, and agency contracting laws, regulations, principles, and procedures, contracts and provisions, financing, and methods of contracting applicable to the acquisition and management of services, construction, supply, and miscellaneous contracts. Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of acquisition statutes, regulations, directives, and procedures, as well as business practices associated with supporting VA services. effectively analyzes, advises, and serves as the liaison with a medical center and the supported catchment area. Comprehensive knowledge of contract termination functions to review and analyze settlement proposals, audit reports, technical evaluations, and subcontractor claims; to determine allowable costs, proper profit to be allowed, and similar issues; and negotiate settlements. Strong knowledge of Supply Chain and commonly-used contracting methods and contract types relating to the pre-and post-award contract functions to administer and monitor contractor compliance. Strong knowledge of cost and pricing data and contract proposals to evaluate the offers for responsibility and evaluate contractor responsibility and performance. The ability to perform a cost-benefit analysis, conduct gap analyses, and understanding cost elements that go into the production, management, or delivery of a healthcare resource service or product. In-depth knowledge of facility-wide service and supply contracts to analyze complex contracting issues and identify alternative courses of action, modify standard contracting procedures and terms to satisfy specialized requirements, and solve various contracting problems, including those requiring significant departures from previous approaches. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationContracting/ProcurementControl of FundsNegotiationReasoningTechnical 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: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying light items, such as papers, books, or small parts, or driving an automobile. Long hours, excessive travel, and quick turn-around may require some physical exertion. However, generally, no special physical demands are required to perform the work. 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 Biomed - Syracuse VA Medical Center 800 Irving Ave Syracuse, NY 13210 US
• Name: Erika Weisbrod
• Phone: 680-216-8337
• Email: [email protected]