Purchasing Agent

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Brockton (MA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Brockton, MA, is seeking a Purchasing Agent within the Logistics Service of the Boston VA Health Care System.

The role focuses on acquiring supplies, services, and medical items through purchase, rental, or lease methods. You will apply federal procurement rules, review purchase requests, resolve discrepancies, prepare reports, and coordinate with medical staff to meet procurement needs.

Qualifications

• At least one year of specialized experience in purchasing/procurement or related work.
• Experience procuring supplies/services and coordinating with medical staff.
• Familiarity with MS Office and reporting requirements.

Responsibilities

• Acquire supplies, services, and medical items by purchase, rental, or lease.
• Review and process purchase requests, ensuring accuracy.
• Resolve discrepancies to ensure timely payments.
• Track obligations and monitor expenditures for budget forecasts.
• Coordinate with medical staff to determine procurement needs.
• Prepare reports and maintain documentation.
• Apply federal procurement regulations in daily operations.
• Provide administrative support as needed.

Skills

Procurement

Vendor management

Reporting

Regulatory knowledge

Tools

MS Word

Excel

MS Outlook

Job description

Summary

Employee will serve as a Purchasing Agent for the Logistics Service within the Boston VA Health Care System located in Brockton - MA.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position at the GS-6 level - you must have: At least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge - skills - and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a Purchasing Agent - and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Specialized experience includes: experience performing clerical or assistant duties in support of purchasing and procurement; procuring supplies and services to meet the purchase - rental - or lease needs of an organization; working with medical staff to determine procurement needs and priorities; resolving a variety of shipment - payment - or other discrepancies in support of procurement programs and operations; purchasing various equipment - supplies - and services through the use of a purchase card; and assembling and/or summarizing information from files and documents as required to create reports utilizing automated computerized supply/inventory management systems and Microsoft Office software programs such as MS Word and Excel. 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/.

Duties

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION - YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** The primary purpose involves performing work to acquire supplies - services - and construction by purchase - rental - or lease through (a) delivery orders and/or (b) small purchase procedures
• This position utilizes knowledge of policies and procedures for delivery orders and small purchases and knowledge of commercial supply sources and common business practices related to sales - prices - discounts - units of measurement - deliveries - stocks - and shipments
• The Purchasing Agent maintains responsibility for work leading to the purchase of a wide variety of complex and highly specialized services - supplies - equipment - and systems that support the full range of programs and activities
• Major duties and responsibilities include: Purchasing Support - Conducts purchasing under the micro purchase threshold
• reviews and edits purchase requests
• resolves issues to ensure requests and bills are processed accurately and in a timely manner
• identifies needs or problems and determines corrective action
• utilizes federal and agency acquisition regulations to identify possible sources and other pertinent information related to purchases
• tracks obligations/commitments and monitors expenditures to support recurring budget forecasts and identify potential fraud - waste and abuse based on procurement history and purchase trends
• and - Procurement Support - Procures supplies and services to meet the purchase - rental - or lease needs of the organization
• develops unique selection criteria for each purchase
• Prepare and issue contract modifications for changes in delivery schedule and sends formal correspondence to a variety of customers such as inventory management specialists - other service line contacts - and contracting officers as appropriate for the purposes of auditing documents - processing receiving reports - and payments.
• conducting open market research and sole source small purchases for highly specialized medical items with critical product requirements
• and - Administrative Support - Serves as the first line of contact for medical staff and customers in regard to procured items
• develops reports and spreadsheets - obtains - organizes - files and retrieves reports for briefing and presentation purposes
• performs a variety of receptionist - timekeeping - record keeping and miscellaneous duties in medical facility
• Performs other related duties as assigned
• Work Schedule: Full-Time - Monday-Friday - 7:00am - 3:30pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved