Lead Purchasing Agent

Summary The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is recruiting for a Lead Purchasing Agent. The Lead Purchasing Agent will function in Logistics Service. Responsibilities The Lead Purchasing Agent duties include, but are not limited to: Advises approving officials and purchase card holders on purchase card program, procurement procedures and responsibilities. Coaches and problem solves with team members. Delegate follow up action on undelivered orders and aged purchase card transactions to close out purchase orders. Provides advice on work methods, practices and procedures. Instructs Purchasing Agents in specific tasks and job techniques and make available written instructions, and reference materials. Ensures timely purchasing under the micro purchase threshold. Leads the coordination for sources of supplies and acceptable substitutions. Initiates sand provides training to acquisition and technical staff on the procurement process. Makes purchases involving specialized requirements and/or commercial requirements that have unstable price or product characteristics, hard-to-locate sources, or similar complicating factors. 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. Recommends or makes decisions based on analysis of various trade-offs (e.g. cost of renting vs. purchasing, free services included, vendor reputation or past performance). Reviews completed work to see that instructions on work sequence, procedures, methods and deadlines have been met. Identifies training needs and gives on the job training. Distributes and balances workload among employees and assure completion of assigned work. Identifies factors to determine the best offer applicable for procurement. Maintains accountable procurement records and auditing information. Instructs employees in specific tasks and job techniques and provide written instructions, reference materials and supplies. Estimates and reports on expected time of completion of work. Monitors purchase requests and active and delinquent invoices, and process receipts. Utilizes Microsoft Office to create, edit and aggregate data necessary for expense tracking and Supply Chain management reporting. Maintains catalogs, contract files, and lists of firms offering specific equipment, supplies, and services. Develops reports and spreadsheets, obtain and organize files, and retrieve reports for briefings and presentation purposes. Compiles, consolidates, organizes, and summarizes specific procurement information to support efforts related to annual budget estimates and a variety of one-time and recurring reports. Analyzes descriptions and characteristics to identify problem areas. Develops recommended alternatives or solutions prior to completion of the procurement action when problems are encountered and/or deviations are required. Resolves disputes and informal complaints among medical staff and customers. Assesses urgency of patient needs and recommends source adjustments to meet patient and medical center needs. Plans and coordinates actions to prevent, correct, or resolve delays or misunderstandings in the purchasing process. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telework: 1-2 Days/PP Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Purchasing Agent/ Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/02/2024. 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. 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 GS06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: procuring supplies and services to meet the purchase, rental, or lease needs of an organization; assisting in training new employees and answering questions on purchasing/procurement procedures, policies, etc.; purchasing various equipment, supplies, and services through the use of a purchase card; 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; 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service Technical Competence Reasoning Manages Resources Manages and Organizes Information Decision Making 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. Note: 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. Physical Requirements: Requires some physical effort such as standing, sitting, walking, or bending. There are no special physical demands. 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/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience.. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal 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 (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and 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/. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act (or the Act) prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from requesting applicant criminal history record information before extending a conditional or tentative offer of employment. In accordance with 5 U.S.C § 9202(c) and 5 C.F.R § 920.201 certain positions are exempt from the provisions of the Act. Applicants who believe they have been subjected to a violation of the Act, may submit a written complaint within 30 calendar days of the date of the alleged non-compliance to VA at vacofairchanceact@va.gov.