Purchasing Agent

About the role

This position primarily performs Purchasing Agent work to acquire supplies, services, and construction by purchase, rental, or lease through delivery orders and/or small purchase procedures. The work requires knowledge of policies and procedures for delivery orders and small purchases, as well as knowledge of commercial supply sources and common business practices related to sales, prices, discounts, units of measurement, deliveries, stocks, and shipments.

Responsibilities

• Purchases various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of the government purchase card for micro purchases
• Reviews and edits purchase requests to ensure the item or service is adequately described based on the requester's need
• Obtains necessary product information, price information, and procedures for written or verbal purchase orders
• Utilizes different ordering, reporting procedures, and purchasing methods depending on the type, quantity, dollar value, and urgency of the requirement
• Provides general guidance to potential vendors on requirements and information needed to be entered into the VHA's local vendor file
• Utilizes various web-based portals to order items from awarded contracts, including the Department of Defense's Electronic Catalog (ECAT) and the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor's site for ordering, tracking, and monitoring procurement transactions
• Represents the VA in discussions with vendors/contractors to obtain agreement on micro purchases and vendor/contractor compliance
• Examines incoming requests for completeness including presence of purchase request number, accounting codes, item description, estimated cost, and quantity
• Prepares and issues contract modifications for changes in delivery schedule and sends formal correspondence to a variety of customers such as inventory management specialists, other service line contacts, and contracting officers as appropriate for the purposes of auditing documents, processing receiving reports, and payments
• Advises approving officials and purchase card holders on purchase card program, procurement procedures and responsibilities while conducting random reviews in accordance with established Logistics and other departmental policy
• Serves as the first line of contact for medical staff and customers in regard to procured items
• Performs other duties as assigned

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement (10/05/2026).

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. For a GS-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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; in this instance you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. 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: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience 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
• 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

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-qu