Purchasing Agent

Veterans Health Administration; Temple (TX); On-site; USD 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Veterans Health Administration is seeking a procurement specialist to support Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) in purchasing and inventory management for medical equipment and supplies to Veterans. The role requires knowledge of purchasing regulations and thorough documentation.

Time-in-grade considerations apply for Federal employees. Responsibilities include PO creation, order follow-up with clinicians, market research, and invoice validation for audit readiness.

Qualifications

• Experience with purchasing regulations and medical equipment procurement.
• Ability to facilitate orders under various dollar thresholds and track deliveries.
• Transcript required if qualifying on education; 60+ semester hours creditable for GS-05.

Responsibilities

• Process purchasing for medical equipment and supplies.
• Prepare and place purchase orders; monitor deliveries.
• Maintain electronic and hard-copy purchase documents and archives.
• Validate invoices and support audit validation.

Skills

Purchasing Regulations

Customer Service

Attention to Detail

Interpersonal Skills

Reading Comprehension

Self-Management

Education

4+ years of education beyond high school

Tools

Procurement Systems

Record Keeping

Job description

This position is a member of Prosthetic & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) within the Prosthetic Service Line under the VISN and assigned to the Medical Center. 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.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/29/2026. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: GS-05: Experience and/or Education: 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: Basic knowledge of a body of purchasing regulations, methods, procedures, and business practices to make purchasing involving specialized medical equipment, supplies, and services and works toward gaining in depth, broad knowledge in those areas; facilitation for orders under $10,000 which includes, but not limited to: monitor, follow up with clinicians/patients, market research, create the purchase order, place the order with the vendor, validation of direct to patient deliveries and facility receipt of goods, reconciling the order, archiving all relative purchase documents electronically and hard copy, and uploading invoices for audit validation. OR have successfully completed 4 years above high school in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education was obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. If you are qualifying on education, transcripts are required. OR an equivalent combination of specialized experience and post high school education as described above that demonstrates my ability to perform the duties of this position. For the GS-05, only education in excess of 60 semester hours (2 years) is creditable. If you qualify by a combination, your experience must be detailed in your resume and transcripts are required.

GS-06: Specialized Experience: I have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-5 grade level in the Federal Service. Examples of specialized experience for this position would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of a body of purchasing regulations, methods, procedures, and business practices to make purchasing involving specialized medical equipment, supplies, and services and works toward gaining in depth, broad knowledge in those areas; regularly and under supervision from the service Chief resolves conflicts in administering purchase orders, such as protests, claims, duplicate billing, and terminations for convenience applicably. handles deviation from established procedures, and resolves problems that arise in accordance with agency, or local standards, previous occupational, training, and experience, established practices or precedents, or other concepts or controls as they relate to each assignment.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

Customer Service Quality Assurance Standards Writing Computer Skills Attention to Detail Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Reading Comprehension Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork 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 provid