Lead Purchasing Agent

Summary

The Lead Purchasing Agent serves as a Prosthetics Purchasing Specialist within the Sioux Falls VA Health Care System's Prosthetics & Sensory Aids (PSAS) Service and has responsibility for serving as PSAS equipment/services/benefits consultant, managing consults, and procuring devices.

Duties

Major duties include but are not limited to: Distribute and balance workload among employees in accordance with established work flow or job specialization. Provide situational technical advice to internal and external customers in order to ensure appropriate legal, regulatory, and policy requirements are met. Facilitate necessary linkages with other VA services to help expedite Veteran access to needed prosthetic and sensory aid devices and services. Interpret VA rules and regulations relating to determination of veteran eligibility for specialized medical equipment. Advise VA providers about availability, selection, and acquisition of a wide range of prosthetic and sensory aids devices and services. Ensure patients receive appropriate patient education/training and measurements for Prosthetic items prior to issuance. Utilize an inventory management program to perform stock issues to take care of walk-in and immediate patient needs. Receive and analyze electronic PSAS consults/prescriptions for items, services, and home medical equipment. Maintain accurate funding, billing, and subaccount balances. Understand procurement regulations, ensure compliance with national prosthetic contracts, and enter accurate purchasing data into prosthetic databases. Ensure purchase card reconciliations are accurate/timely. Authorize and prepare complex purchase orders for a wide variety of prosthetic and orthotic devices, medical supplies, and durable medical equipment. Collect data used in preparing and submitting numerous reports. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Compressed/Flexible: Available - May be further discussed in interviews. Telework: This position may be authorized for Ad-hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Purchasing Agent/PD23556A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being. Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications

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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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. You must 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-06) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Qualifying specialized experience includes: procuring supplies, equipment, and services using small purchase methods such as purchase cards and delivery orders; reviewing and processing purchase requests 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; utilizing automated procurement and inventory systems and common office software to complete transactions, create reports, and maintain accurate records; and assisting in training new employees and answering questions on purchasing/procurement procedures, policies, etc. 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/. Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination. Work requires movement throughout the medical center, standing, bending, sitting, reaching, and lifting up to fifty pounds. There exists prolonged periods of working at a computer terminal. Ability to retrieve equipment from a storage room is required. Climbing associated with stocking of equipment and other items in storage areas is necessary. Normal safety precautions are utilized as appropriate for office, hospital, and warehouse settings. The work involves moderate discomfort when visiting sites away from the office. At times, the employee may be required to wear personal protective equipment (i.e., mask and gown) when visiting work areas with other environmental exposures including wheelchair repair shop or Orthotic Laboratory. Work Environment: Incumbent works in a health care office and may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing appropriate to the health care environment. Normal duties are performed in an office setting, which has adequate heat, light, and ventilation; however, on a daily basis, the incumbent must retrieve prosthetics items from various storage areas. The incumbent may on occasion, accompany the manager and/or Prosthetic Representative on visits to the patient's homes or to a vendor for shop inspections. Incumbent has direct daily contact with patients and will handle equipment returned from veterans with contagious diseases; therefore, the incumbent is required to practice Standard Precautions on a daily basis. Standard precautions include wearing of gloves while handling disinfectants used daily on returned reusable medical equipment as well as wear of personal protective equipment used to reduce the risk of disease transmission. This position requires potentially long periods of continued sitting, with intermittent bending, pulling, and pushing. Movement between work areas within the health care system is expected. Occasional lifting of objects <20 pounds may be required.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level. How You Will Be Evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Reading Comprehension Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. 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, including volunteer experience. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. Other Information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.