Department: Department of Veterans Affairs
Agency: Veterans Health Administration
Announcement: CBST-13050368-26-ST
Pay grade: GS 5-6
Closes: Sep 14, 2026
Open to: Competitive service, Excepted service, Internal to an agency, Career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL), Land and base management, Veterans, Military spouses, Students, Recent graduates, Individuals with disabilities, Family of overseas employees, Peace Corps & AmeriCorps Vista

Major duties include, but not limited to:

• Purchases prosthetic, orthotic, sensory-aid, durable medical equipment, medical supply, repair, rental, and service requirements for Veterans.

• Reviews clinical prescriptions, consults, purchase requests, and supporting documentation for completeness and accuracy.

• Conducts market research on products, vendors, contracts, prices, availability, specifications, and delivery requirements.

• Ensures purchases provide clinically appropriate items and the best value to VA.

• Coordinates with Veterans, clinicians, Prosthetic Representatives, vendors, fiscal staff, contracting staff, and other VA personnel.

• Uses authorized contracts, vendor resources, purchase orders, delivery orders, and Government Purchase Card procedures.

• Prepares, processes, modifies, and tracks purchase orders and related procurement documentation.

• Exercises delegated purchase-card and micro-purchase authority in accordance with VA Form 0242 and applicable policy.

• Tracks orders through delivery, receipt, issuance, invoicing, reconciliation, and payment.

• Resolves or refers order, delivery, billing, pricing, quantity, and vendor-performance discrepancies.

• Maintains accurate Veteran-specific purchasing, financial, inventory, equipment, and medical-record documentation.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm (Subject to change based on the needs of the agency.)
Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Purchasing Agent/PDS01001A and PDS01001B
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• 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
• 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, 09/14/2026.

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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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 for GS-05 based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

  • Performs routine purchasing support duties by reviewing purchase requests, obtaining price and availability information, preparing purchasing documents, and maintaining purchase files.

  • Applies established purchasing policies, procedures, regulations, and guidance to process routine purchases and identify missing or incorrect information.

  • Uses procurement, financial, and tracking systems to enter purchase information, maintain records, and track orders, deliveries, and invoices.

  • Provides administrative support to the purchasing office by maintaining files, preparing correspondence or reports, tracking assignments, and responding to routine customer questions.

OR,

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successful completion of four (4) years above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university (NOTE: transcripts required).

OR,

• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond post-high school education and specialized experience as described above that demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of this Purchasing Agent position. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience (NOTE: transcripts required).

You may qualify for GS-06 based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• 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:

  • Performs routine purchases for supplies and services by reviewing requirements, obtaining quotes, preparing purchase documentation, and placing orders within delegated authority.

  • Applies purchasing policies, procedures, and regulations to use competitive methods, authorized sole-source procedures, and established contracts or agreements.

  • Uses procurement, financial, and tracking systems to maintain purchasing records, monitor order status, and resolve routine delivery, receiving, or invoice discrepancies.

  • Resolves routine customer and vendor issues by researching purchase records, explaining purchasing requirements, coordinating corrective actions, and documenting results.

  • Experience selecting appropriate purchasing action under established procedures by resolving routine issues, and refer complex or unusual matters to a supervisor or higher-level purchasing official.

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: Work is primarily sedentary when conducting purchasing functions for PSAS. However, while conducting inventory management functions, the incumbent may work comfortably in a warehouse environment, sitting, standing, walking, bending, lifting, carrying, retrieving and managing inventory. Prolonged periods of working at a computer terminal is required. Ability to retrieve equipment from a storage room is required. Climbing associated with stocking of equipment and other items in storage areas is necessary. Incumbent may carry/lift items weighing up to twenty-five (25) pounds. Normal safety precautions are adequate. The work involves moderate discomfort when visiting sites away from the office. At times, the employee may be required to wear protective clothing when visiting the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Fabrication Laboratory. Often, walking between the main medical center and other parts of Prosthetics to conduct professional duties.

Work Environment: The incumbent works in a health care office with the possibility of contact with ill and diseased patients. Normal duties are performed in an office setting, which has adequate heat, light, and ventilation; however, the incumbent must retrieve prosthetic items from
various storage areas daily. The incumbent may on occasion, accompany the Site Manager and/or Prosthetic Representative on visits to the patients' homes or to a vendor for shop inspections. Incumbent has direct daily contact with patients and may handle equipment returned from Veterans with contagious diseases; hence, the incumbent is required to practice universal precautions in observance of normal safety practices with office equipment, prosthetics equipment & supplies; avoidance of trips and falls, and observance of fire regulations is required. The area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.