This position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System, at the Charles George VA Medical Center, located in Asheville, NC.

Duties

Duties include, but not limited to: Incumbent is assigned to the VA Medical Center and has an active inpatient implant care coordination and outpatient treatment program and inventory responsibility which includes, but is not limited to: Prosthetic and Sensory Aids, Fabrication Lab for Orthotic and Prosthetics, Audiology & Speech Pathology, Visual Impairment Services Team, Spinal Cord Injury, Cochlear Implant Team, Polytrauma Amputee Network Center, Rehabilitation Medicine, Medicine Service, Surgical Service, Ophthalmology, Dental Service, Podiatry, Women s Clinic and Orthopedic Services. PSAS has coordination responsibility of the Amputee Clinic, Rehabilitation Brace Clinic, SCI Brace Clinic, Wheelchair Evaluation Clinic, Diabetic Foot Clinic, Major Medical Equipment Committee, Specialty Bed Clinic, Prosthetics and Orthotics, Home Respiratory Care Team Committee and Care in the Community Requests for Service care coordination stemming from approved community authorizations for care. Additionally, the scope of the incumbent s duties falls to all Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) throughout the Network and specialized clinical referrals (all outside VA transfers from other facilities to VAMC from outside VISN. 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. 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. Incumbent reads, understands and adheres to VA Provider Prescriptions/Consult/ Electronic Health Orders, to determine eligibility and entitlement of a Veteran s status for prescribed equipment. Incumbent understands and follows acquisition regulations per VHA Directives and Handbooks, VISN policies and station memorandums, the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulations (VAAR). Account for all expenditures and inventory working between two separate programs--the purchase card and the prosthetics programs, which require the use and knowledge of unique 2237 or 1358 obligation methods. The incumbent balances expenditures against obligations between the programs and has the accountability to document all inventory and purchasing actions in the Veteran s medical record and make medical notes to update the clinical provider, PSAS staff, Veteran and his/her family. Major duties include complex and routine purchasing. Performs other duties as assigned. 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: 8:00AM-4:30PM Telework: Ad-hoc; at discretion of Supervisor Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD099434 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized 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, 02/14/2024. 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-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. 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: GS-05: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Equipment/Services/Benefits Consultant, Consult Management, and Procure Devices. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 4 years above high school. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total experience requirements at grades GS-5 and below, except for Reporting Stenographer, GS-5. For GS-5 level positions (except Clerk-Stenographer, which does not require specialized experience), only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. GS-06: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Equipment/Services/Benefits Consultant, Consult Management, and Procure Devices. GS-07: 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: Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Equipment/Services/Benefits Consultant, Consult Management, and Procure Devices. 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 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. 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

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 Charles George VA Medical Center 1100 Tunnel Road Asheville, NC 28805 US
• Name: Christina Trull
• Phone: 828-318-6521
• Email: [email protected]