Supervising Purchasing Agent

Orange-County-Fire-Authority; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) is seeking a Supervising Purchasing Agent to lead the Purchasing Division, oversee staff, and ensure compliant procurement processes in a public-safety context. This role emphasizes ethics, transparency, and timely contracting to support emergency response operations.

Ideal candidates will understand competitive bidding, RFPs, RFQs, IFBs, contracts, vendor management, and cooperative purchasing, with experience in public procurement policies and

Qualifications

• Five (5) years of professional level purchasing experience in a public sector environment.
• One (1) year of supervisory experience in a public sector environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, finance, accounting, supply chain management, or a related field (highly desired).

Skills

Public procurement

Vendor management

Contract administration

Staff supervision

Bid evaluation

Analytical skills

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Procurement software

ERP systems

Job description

THE POSITION

The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) is recruiting to fill one (1) Supervising Purchasing Agent position which will provide full supervisory responsibilities to the Purchasing Division. This recruitment will fill the current vacancy and establish an eligibility list for future vacancies.

IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate for the Supervising Purchasing Agent position with the OCFA will be an experienced, ethical, and service-oriented procurement professional with a strong background in public sector purchasing, contract administration, and staff supervision. The successful candidate will demonstrate sound judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to ensure purchasing activities are conducted in a fair, transparent, timely, and legally compliant manner.

The ideal candidate will have a thorough understanding of competitive bidding, requests for proposals, purchase orders, vendor management, contract terms, cooperative purchasing agreements, and applicable public procurement policies and procedures. Experience supporting a fire authority, public safety agency, or other governmental organization is highly desirable, particularly where purchasing decisions directly support emergency response, operations, fleet, facilities, technology, equipment, or professional services.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Recruitment Closes: Tuesday, October 13, 2026 @ 11:59 pm

Oral Interviews: Scheduled for the week of October 26, 2026

Selection Interviews: Scheduled for the week of November 9, 2026

CLASS SUMMARY

Incumbents are responsible for supervising purchasing staff and performing a variety of professional level buyer duties.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

The Supervising Purchasing Agent is the third level in a four level purchasing series. The Supervising Purchasing Agent is distinguished from the Assistant Purchasing Agent by its full supervisory responsibilities. The Supervising Purchasing Agent is distinguished from the Purchasing Division Manager, which has division management responsibilities.

(These duties are intended to be representative samples of the duties performed by the class.)

To view the essential functions, knowledge, and skills for this position, please use the link to the classification specification provided below.

Supervising Purchasing Agent

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

An equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job, such as those listed above.

EDUCATION? (position requirements at entry):

• High School Diploma, or General Equivalency Diploma (GED).

EXPERIENCE? (position requirements at entry)

• Five (5) years of professional level purchasing experience in a public sector environment.
• One (1) year of supervisory experience in a public sector environment.

LICENSE AND CERTIFICATIONs? (position requirements at entry):

• None required.

HIGHLY DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, finance, accounting, supply chain management, or a related field
• Strong knowledge of public procurement laws, policies, and competitive bidding practices, including RFPs, RFQs, IFBs, purchase orders, contracts, and cooperative purchasing agreements.
• Contract development and administration experience, including vendor negotiations, scope review, insurance requirements, renewals, amendments, and compliance monitoring.
• Experience purchasing specialized goods and services, such as emergency response equipment, fleet parts, technology, professional services, facilities-related services, uniforms, or public safety equipment.
• Knowledge of ERP or financial systems, purchasing modules, workflow approvals, vendor records, and electronic requisition/purchase order processes.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including evaluating bids, conducting cost analysis, reviewing specifications, and resolving vendor or internal customer issues.
• Professional certification, such as CPPB, CPPO, CPSM, NIGP-CPP, or similar procurement certification
• Demonstrated experience supervising, mentoring, and developing procurement staff; assigning and reviewing work; managing competing priorities; and ensuring consistent compliance with procurement policies and procedures.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Positions in this class typically require finger dexterity, grasping, talking, hearing, seeing, and repetitive motions.

Sedentary Work:Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Incumbents work in a standard office environment.

NOTE: The above job description is intended to represent only the key areas of responsibilities; specific position assignments will vary depending on the needs of the department.

PRE-HIRE REQUIREMENTS

Before an employee is hired, he/she must successfully complete pre-employment requirements including, but not limited to fingerprinting and background check, reference check, DMV check, licensure/certification check, Oath of allegiance to the United States of America and the State of California, and proof of eligibility to work in the United States in accordance with Immigration and Reform Control Act of 1986. All job offers are contingent upon the successful completion of a pre-employment medical exam, including a drug screen through the OCFA's designated physician.

SELECTION PROCEDURES

INITIAL SELECTION REVIEW: The Human Resources Division reviews all initial application materials to identify qualified applicants. Applicants meeting minimum qualifications will be invited to the first phase of the recruitment process. The OCFA reserves the right to refer only the better qualified applicants if the number of applicants is high. If the number of applicants is high, the review process may include a secondary screening (by a panel of job knowledge experts) of the applications and/or supplemental questionnaires in which the better qualified applicants are referred to the next phase of the recruitment process. Because recruitment processes vary, applicants are advised to thoroughly review the job announcement before submitting their online application materials.

TESTING:
Testing for this position or any other position may include, but is not limited to the following: written exam, practical exam, panel interview, physical ability test, assessment center, oral presentation, project assignment, etc. If a revision is made to a testing component during a recruitment process, the assigned recruiter will notify by email all affected applicants.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) ACCOMMODATION

In accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, anyone who needs an ADA accommodation for the purposes of employment testing should contact Duke Steppe, Human Resources Manager at [e-mail]?upon opening of a recruitment.

ELIGIBLE LIST

The duration of an Eligible List is one year, unless otherwise specified in the job announcement.

WITHDRAWING FROM RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Whenever an applicant chooses to withdraw from a recruitment process, he/she is required to submit an email notification to the assigned recruiter requesting a withdrawal from the process. The email to the recruiter must include the applicant's current phone number.