This position is serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) Management. The incumbent is responsible for fulfilling acquisition requests and purchasing a wide variety of complex and highly specialized services, supplies, equipment, and systems to support a range of programs at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center and supported catchment area.

Duties

Duties include but not limited to: Quickly deduce from written prescriptions or oral requests what items or services are needed, selecting the most appropriate cost-effective source to deliver the items/service in the most reliable manner. Manages the collection of data to be used in numerous reports to ensure adequate resource funding and compliance. Researches the use of different solicitation methods, ordering or reporting procedures, and purchasing methods to distinguish between different purchasing strategies. Documents the services required per the contractual agreement and monitors, tracks, and trends contractor performance. . Completes transaction on the patient's medical record to ensure documentation of exactly what was purchased and issued. Conduct face-to-face and telephone conversations with patients, family members, and private medical staff, contractors, vendors, and co workers. Speaks calmly and compassionately to severely disabled patients from all walks of life. Skills in dealing with a large community base, vendors, hospital staff and the public is required to display a positive image of the organization. Providing patient care and support services to an adult population and serves as the point of contact for external customer service inventory needs and support. Resolves conflicts in administering purchase orders, such as protests, claims, duplicate billing & terminations for convenience or default Examines contracts, purchasing policies, equipment sources, shipping procedures and corresponding terminology to rapidly find the most reasonably priced item to meet requirement. Works independently to complete purchase orders and reconcile charges. Maintains accurate records of transactions and completes all adjustments to computerized system before final payment to vendor is certified. Maintains an inventory of all purchased and consignment equipment with expiration date, imitate exchange and/or replacement of expired stock. Completes written procurement and support notes in medical records to ensure order status is provided to the clinical requester to reduce delivery delays. Performs technical level purchasing support adhering to the Service Directives and Handbooks, policy and memorandums to acquire patient specific medical equipment, supplies and services Initiates procurement of all outpatient medical requirements. Initiates recall action of identified recall products provided and communicates all findings to the appropriate offices. Verifies accountability of all prosthetics expenditures in both the purchase menu and the prosthetics program and associates all obligations to the individual patient. Ensures the services provided are documented as the type of service and duration. 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. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00am - 430PM subject to change depending on the needs of the Agency Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD10526A and PD10526A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): 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, 01/18/2024. 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-5 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-4. 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 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-4 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), VA Acquisition Regulations (VAAR) and other federal procurement laws. Knowledge of or experience with utilizing the government purchase card for micro purchases of equipment, supplies or services. Experience utilizing various web-based applications to conduct market research to gather product information, pricing information, and available vendors. Experience creating purchase card requisitions or reconciling credit card billing statements and maintaining procurement records and auditing information. NOTE: 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. . OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed 4 years of education above the high school level. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). . OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first 60 post-high school semester hours (i.e. beyond the second year). (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). .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: The work is basically sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items like papers or books. 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

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center One Freedom Way Augusta, GA 30901 US
• Name: Deborah Niebauer
• Phone: 228-523-5000 X40010
• Email: [email protected]