Purchasing Agent

Veterans Health Administration; West Palm Beach (FL); On-site; USD 39,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

Veterans Health Administration in West Palm Beach seeks a Purchasing Agent in the Logistics Service. The role focuses on acquiring supplies, services, and construction through purchase, rental, or lease, using delivery orders or small purchases.

It requires knowledge of federal procurement procedures and VA rules. Applicants must meet all requirements by 09/21/2026, including time-in-grade considerations, SF-50 documentation, and demonstrated experience in procurement, vendor management, and

Qualifications

• Specialized experience in acquiring supplies, services, and construction through purchase methods and government processes.
• Knowledge of procurement regulations, internal controls, and federal policies.
• Time-in-grade requirements and SF-50 documentation procedures are essential for qualifying.

Responsibilities

• Acquire supplies, services, and construction by purchase, rental, or lease via delivery orders or small purchases.
• Monitor procurement transactions, validate pricing and product details, and issue orders.
• Ensure compliance with VA regulations and provide exceptional customer service to internal and external clients.

Skills

Customer service

Technical competence

Decision making

Information management

Resource management

Communication

Job description

This position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Logistics Service at the Veteran Affairs Health Care System in West Palm Beach. The Purchasing Agent primarily performs work to acquire supplies, services, and construction by purchase, rental, or lease through (a) delivery orders and/or (b) small purchase procedures. The work requires practical knowledge of procurement procedures, operations, regulations and programs.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/21/2026. 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-5 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-4. 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 as described below: 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: Acquire supplies, services and construction by purchase rental or lease through delivery orders using the government purchase card for micro purchases; ensuring these purchases are procured in accordance with federal and VA regulations policy and procedures; possessing knowledge of commercial supply sources and common business practices related to sales, pricing, discounts, units of measurement, deliveries, stocks, and shipments; reviewing and editing purchase requests; obtaining necessary product information, pricing details, and procedures for both written and verbal purchase orders; ordering, tracking, and monitoring procurement transactions; examining Fund Control Points and verifying current balances to ensure procurement obligations are complete and approved prior to placing orders; monitoring vendor performance through direct contact, reviewing progress reports, and discussing reasons for delays, failures, or price changes; procuring supplies and services to satisfy organizational needs for purchase, rental or lease; monitoring purchase activities and reconciling credit card billing statements, purchase requests, receipts, and active or delinquent invoices; overseeing order administration, services, timekeeping, and record-keeping functions; utilizing various automated systems to input, update, revise, sort, and calculate data; and delivering exceptional customer service to both internal and external clients through multiple communication channels. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service: Works and communicates with clients and customers (e.g., any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit provides, including individuals who work in your agency or in other agencies or organizations outside the Government) to satisfy their expectations. Committed to quality services. Technical Competence: Knowledge of how to perform one's job. Refers to specialized knowledge that is acquired through formal training or extensive on-the-job experience. Reasoning: Discovers or selects rules, principles, or relationships between facts and other information. Manages and Organizes Information: Identifies a need; gathers, organizes, and maintains information; determines its importance and accuracy, and communicates it by a variety of methods. Manages Resources: Selects, acquires, stores, and distributes resources such as materials, equipment, or money. Decision Making: Specifies goals and obstacles to achieving those goals, generates alternatives, considers risks, and evaluates and chooses the best alternative in order to make a determination, draw conclusions or solve a problem. 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,