Purchasing Agent

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) at the VA Medical Center in Salt Lake City, UT, seeks a Purchasing Agent to manage medical supply purchasing and inventory for prosthetic and sensory aids services to veterans.

Responsibilities include initiating procurement for outpatient medical needs, working with veterans and clinicians, and maintaining accurate records. This role requires handling purchases of durable medical equipment, coordinating with vendors,

Qualifications

• High school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite.
• Education alternatives include combinations of education and specialized experience as described for GS-5/GS-6.
• Copies of transcripts required at time of application

Responsibilities

• Perform direct purchasing of durable medical equipment and provide administrative support to clinical services within the VA.
• Initiate procurement of outpatient medical requirements including stock purchases and rentals.
• Maintain contact with veterans, vendors, and clinicians to resolve needs and issues.
• Document inventory and purchasing actions in the Veteran's medical record.
• Develop RFQs, solicit bids, evaluate offers and proposals, and reconcile expenditures.

Education

Four years above high school in any field

Job description

Summary

The Purchasing Agent position is located in the Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) in the VA Medical Center in Salt Lake City - UT. The primary purpose of this position is to perform 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.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 09/25/2026. 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. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-5 LEVEL: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience - equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal Service (GS-4) - that equipped you with the particular knowledge - skills - and abilities to successfully perform the duties of a Purchasing Agent. Specialized experience for this position includes performing administrative duties in a healthcare setting; completing training or assisting in routine and complex specialized purchases for clinics including medical equipment and medical appliances; communicating with internal and external customers via various methods. OR - EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE GS-5 LEVEL: You must have successfully completed four (4) years above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business - secretarial or technical school - junior college - college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours - 45 quarter hours - or the equivalent in a college or university - or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business - secretarial - or technical school. (COPY OF TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION) OR - COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: You must possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education beyond two (2) years and specialized experience as described above that demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of this Purchasing Agent position. 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. (COPY OF TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION) SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-6 LEVEL: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience - equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal Service (GS-5) - that equipped you with the particular knowledge - skills - and abilities to successfully perform the duties of a Purchasing Agent. Specialized experience for this position includes interpreting prescriptions and requests for medical equipment and services; maintaining regular contact with vendors - contractors - medical center professionals and staff; purchasing equipment - supplies and services using an agency/organization purchase card; and reconciling charges and preparing and submitting reports. (THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY YOUR RESUME TO BE CREDITABLE.) 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

• Major duties and responsibilities include: Perform direct purchasing of durable medical equipment and providing administrative support to clinical services within the VA
• Initiate 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
• Inbound customer service calls and providing resolutions to veterans - vendors - and clinicians
• Reading - understanding - and adhering to provider prescriptions/consults to determine eligibility and entitlement of a Veteran's status for prescribed equipment
• Accounting for all expenditures and inventory working between the purchasing card and prosthetics program
• Balance expenditures against obligations
• Document all inventory and purchasing actions in the Veteran's medical record
• Develop request for quotation - soliciting competitive offers - evaluating responds to bids and requests for proposal
• Performing 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: Monday - Friday - 8:00am - 4:30pm - Telework: Ad-hoc telework
• Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION