Purchasing Agent
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Spokane, WA, United States
Summary
The position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Logistics Service in a Veteran Affairs Health Care System (VA HCS) and supported catchment area. Clarification for all special authorities is provided in the announcement questionnaire. Special authorities include but are not limited to former overseas employees and foreign service employees.
Qualifications To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by 30 days of the closing date of this announcement - 05/04/2026.
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 GS04. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS05. 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.
GS 5 LEVEL: Specialized experience includes: ability to perform 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; ability to resolve a variety of shipment - payment - or other discrepancies in support of procurement programs and operations; ability to purchase various equipment - supplies - and services through the use of a purchase card. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.
Education: 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. Transcripts are required. Combination: equivalent combination of specialized experience and post high school education as described above that demonstrates ability to perform the duties of this position. For GS-05 - only education in excess of 60 semester hours (2 years) is creditable. If you qualify by combination - your experience must be detailed in your resume and transcripts are required.
GS-6 LEVEL: 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: 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. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. There is no educational substitution at this grade level. 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
Advises approving officials and purchase card holders on purchase card program - procurement procedures and responsibilities
Answer telephone and refer calls if necessary; conduct follow up actions on undelivered orders and aged purchase card transactions to close out purchase orders; provide clerical support and coordination to approving officials and administrators; respond to requests and/or complaints
Conduct purchasing under the micro purchase threshold; coordinates sources of supplies and acceptable substitutions; use web-based portals to order items from awarded contracts to include the Department of Defense's Electronic Catalog (ECAT) and the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor
Make purchases involving specialized and/or commercial requirements
Initiates and provides training to acquisition and technical staff on the procurement process
Provides procurement support throughout the procurement cycle
Conducts open market research for purchases of routine equipment - supplies - and services
Examines incoming procurement requests for completeness
Performs program analysis function
Utilizes departmental software to produce printouts for logistic and medical staff
Utilizes various web-based applications to identify required sources of supply
Collects data to determine price reasonableness
Identifies factors to determine the best offer applicable for procurement
Maintains accountable procurement records and auditing information
Maintains inventory of supplies or equipment
Obtains facts for making decisions or recommendations
Monitors purchase requests and active and delinquent invoices; processes receipts
Monitors purchases and reconciles credit card billing statements
Maintains catalogs, contract files, and lists of firms offering specific equipment - supplies - and services
Develops reports and spreadsheets, obtains and organizes files, and retrieves reports for briefings and presentation purposes
Reviews, assembles, and maintains procurement related files and related systems
Analyzes descriptions and characteristics to identify problem areas
Resolves minor disputes and informal complaints
Identifies needs or problems and determines recommended corrective actions - alternatives or solutions
Applies conventional practices to solve problems in a procurement transaction
Plans and coordinates actions to prevent, correct, or resolve delays or misunderstandings in the purchasing process
Plans and manages workload sufficiently in advance to adequately address competing priorities
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:00am-3:30pm
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD99896S and PD55048A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
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Qualifications To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by 30 days of the closing date of this announcement - 05/04/2026.
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 GS04. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS05. 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.
GS 5 LEVEL: Specialized experience includes: ability to perform 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; ability to resolve a variety of shipment - payment - or other discrepancies in support of procurement programs and operations; ability to purchase various equipment - supplies - and services through the use of a purchase card. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.
Education: 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. Transcripts are required. Combination: equivalent combination of specialized experience and post high school education as described above that demonstrates ability to perform the duties of this position. For GS-05 - only education in excess of 60 semester hours (2 years) is creditable. If you qualify by combination - your experience must be detailed in your resume and transcripts are required.
GS-6 LEVEL: 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: 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. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. There is no educational substitution at this grade level. 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
Advises approving officials and purchase card holders on purchase card program - procurement procedures and responsibilities
Answer telephone and refer calls if necessary; conduct follow up actions on undelivered orders and aged purchase card transactions to close out purchase orders; provide clerical support and coordination to approving officials and administrators; respond to requests and/or complaints
Conduct purchasing under the micro purchase threshold; coordinates sources of supplies and acceptable substitutions; use web-based portals to order items from awarded contracts to include the Department of Defense's Electronic Catalog (ECAT) and the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor
Make purchases involving specialized and/or commercial requirements
Initiates and provides training to acquisition and technical staff on the procurement process
Provides procurement support throughout the procurement cycle
Conducts open market research for purchases of routine equipment - supplies - and services
Examines incoming procurement requests for completeness
Performs program analysis function
Utilizes departmental software to produce printouts for logistic and medical staff
Utilizes various web-based applications to identify required sources of supply
Collects data to determine price reasonableness
Identifies factors to determine the best offer applicable for procurement
Maintains accountable procurement records and auditing information
Maintains inventory of supplies or equipment
Obtains facts for making decisions or recommendations
Monitors purchase requests and active and delinquent invoices; processes receipts
Monitors purchases and reconciles credit card billing statements
Maintains catalogs, contract files, and lists of firms offering specific equipment - supplies - and services
Develops reports and spreadsheets, obtains and organizes files, and retrieves reports for briefings and presentation purposes
Reviews, assembles, and maintains procurement related files and related systems
Analyzes descriptions and characteristics to identify problem areas
Resolves minor disputes and informal complaints
Identifies needs or problems and determines recommended corrective actions - alternatives or solutions
Applies conventional practices to solve problems in a procurement transaction
Plans and coordinates actions to prevent, correct, or resolve delays or misunderstandings in the purchasing process
Plans and manages workload sufficiently in advance to adequately address competing priorities
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:00am-3:30pm
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PD99896S and PD55048A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
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