The Purchase Agent positions are located in the Prosthetic Department and will be purchasing various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of the government purchase card for micro purchases, and reviews and edits purchase requests to ensure the item or service is adequately described based on the requester's need.

Duties

Performs technical level purchasing support adhering to the FAR, VAAR, VHA, and Prosthetics Directives and Handbooks, VISN policy and station memorandums to acquire Veteran specific medical equipment, supplies and services. Obtains necessary procurement information to successfully submit Acquisition Plans Uploads quotes, bids, invoices, consults and other important documents to the Electronic Contact Management System (eCMS/FORCE) Performs the process of vetting and vendorizing following Veterans Health Administration Prosthetics guidelines to complete purchases for items that aren't available through established vendor networks. 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. Coordinates between the clinician, our vendor networks and the Veteran's specific circumstances. Makes decisions in the best interest of the Veteran by independently interpreting guidelines, adapting procedures and deciding the approach for each specific situation. This position has a high degree of visibility due to direct patient care contact with the Veteran population, many of whom are severely disabled; therefore, the incumbent should display a positive image and be highly motivated to seek ways to expedite patient processing, accomplish the VA mission, and adapt to the ever-changing world of health care. 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. Identifies priorities on pending requests to comply with VA Central Office mandated five (5) calendar day deadline. Ensures pending requests are posted to the suspense log and enters data to verify the workload statistics used to determine facility funding for Prosthetic activities. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm . Compressed/Flexible: No Telework: Adhoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: GS-5-99432-A, GS-6-99433-A, GS-7-99434-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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, 03/08/2024. NOTE: You must include qualifying specialized experience employment periods in mm/yyyy to mm/yyyy format on your resume and indicate Full-Time or Part-Time (if Part-time, must include # of hours worked per week). AND, if you have held a Government position, that position's grade level MUST be listed on your resume; Failure to include all requirements in your resume will result in disqualification. Please refer to https://www.usajobs.gov/help/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include/ for additional information on resume requirements. 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 level position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level. For a GS-7 level position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6 level. 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. For GS-5 level: 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-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience performing a variety of receptionist, timekeeping, record keeping and miscellaneous duties; procuring supplies and services to meet the purchase, rental, or lease needs of an organization; purchasing various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of a purchase card; utilizing a variety of automated systems to enter, update, revise, sort, and calculate data; and utilizing different ordering, reporting procedures, and purchasing methods. 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 in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite (Transcripts required). OR, Combination: 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. For GS-6 Level: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience performing a variety of receptionist, timekeeping, record keeping and miscellaneous duties; procuring supplies and services to meet the purchase, rental, or lease needs of an organization; purchasing various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of a purchase card; utilizing a variety of automated systems to enter, update, revise, sort, and calculate data; and utilizing different ordering, reporting procedures, and purchasing methods. There is no educational substitute at the GS6 grade level. For GS-7 Level: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience performing a variety of receptionist, timekeeping, record keeping and miscellaneous duties; procuring supplies and services to meet the purchase, rental, or lease needs of an organization; purchasing various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of a purchase card; utilizing a variety of automated systems to enter, update, revise, sort, and calculate data; and utilizing different ordering, reporting procedures, and purchasing methods. There is no educational substitute at the GS7 grade level. 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. The full performance level of this position is GS7. The grade level that an applicant may be selected is GS5, GS6, or GS7. 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. Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary when conducting purchasing functions for Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service (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

Education can only be substituted at the GS-5 grade level. There is no educational substitution at the GS-6 or GS-7 grade levels.

• For GS-5 level, 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.

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 Richard L Roudebush VA Medical Center 1481 West Tenth Street Indianapolis, IN 46202 US
• Name: Bryan Marvin
• Phone: 734-644-8237
• Email: [email protected]