Purchasing Agent

Overview

Summary
:
This position serves as a Purchasing Agent for the Supply Chain Management within the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System - Chattanooga - TN performing work to acquire supplies - services - and construction by purchase - rental - or lease through (a) delivery orders and/or (b) small purchase procedures.

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 01/27/2026. 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-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 - as required by the announcement. In this instance - you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Examples of appropriate SF-50s include:
Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or SF-50s at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

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. The time-in-grade and specialized experience are separate requirements and must both be met by current Federal employees (unless using an external hiring authority to apply i.e. 30% or more - VRA or Schedule

A).

Applicants must have the following specialized experience:
Specialized

Experience:

To qualify for this position at the GS-6 level - you must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge - skills - and abilities to perform successfully the duties of a Purchasing Agent - and that is typically in or related to the work of this position.

Specialized experience is defined as: 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. Dates of employment must include month/year to month/year at a minimum to receive credit. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Decision Making Manages and Organizes Information Manages Resources Reasoning (Clerical/Technical) Technical Competence Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience - including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g.

- Peace Corps - Ameri Corps) 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.…