Inventory Management Specialist (Expendable Supplies) (GS-7/9)

Summary

This position is located in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6) within the Supply Chain Management Service at the Durham, NC VA Medical Center (VAMC). Serves as an Inventory Manager in the Commodity Management Division in a Veteran Affairs Health Care System (VA HCS) and supported catchment area, with responsibility for the inventory management of all expendable supplies and durable medical equipment (DME) in the assigned area(s).

Duties

Manages and controls an assigned class of expendable material for a VA HCS and supported catchment area. Recognized as an authority on expendable (EX) commodity management and serves as a subject matter expert to all services and service lines. Inventories managed include a wide variety of expendable items and durable medical equipment (DME) which may or may not be available through the Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor (MSPV) program or other negotiated or Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts. Uses a range of well-established and commonly applied inventory principles, standard and non­ standard methodologies, and concepts to determine need to intervene in the supply system in response to fluctuations in rates of usage, cost, availability for established suppliers, alternative sources of supply and other similar conditions. Applies knowledge of systems, techniques and underlying management concepts for determining, regulating and controlling the level and flow of supplies from the initial planning stages with service lines, through procurement, storage, issue, utilization and disposal. Develops acquisition strategies to acquire and purchase DME, displaying familiarity with contracting laws and regulations with industry practices. Supports customers and acquisition personnel in developing requirements, utilizing mandatory sources and standardization of sources. Manages inventory, independently sets initial stock and par levels and reorder points and resolves issues for a complete medical or service category. Authorizes significant changes in expenditure and stock levels based on usage requirements and budgeting considerations. Reviews and reports back to Fiscal on listings of delinquent payments and receipts of purchase orders. Corresponds with procurement officials, vendors, project engineers and other stakeholders to resolve inventory issues. Conducts wall-to-wall and periodic inventories on own initiative to identify potential shrinkage issues or other supply chain discrepancies. Utilizes automated inventory management system, such as General Inventory Package (GIP) or other equivalent system, to maintain current inventory data. Analyzes inventory management reports including due-in reports, pending backorder reports, outdated inventory reports, inventory balance reports and 90-day inactive reports. Assures that replenishment orders are approved and released in a timely manner by reviewing requisitions, documents, and other related reference material. Administers the EX inventory management program by planning and reviewing of all inventory processes, functions, and related systems; conducting efficiency reviews; compiling and analyzing performance measures and implementing process improvements based upon supply chain benchmarks and standardization initiatives from VHACO and the Network Office. Coordinates with various program managers of using activities and/or their representatives regarding sources of supply and acceptable substitutions when the standard items are too costly or unavailable from the normal source of supply. Implements federal and agency programs for the return and reutilization of medical supplies. Uses well established and commonly applied supply methods to maintain activity formulary inventory . Coordinates with the property managers for disposal of surplus or excess supplies in accordance with specific agency directives and procedures. Serves as the primary responder to the VA National Center for Patient Safety Recall Office for their area of responsibility. Makes emergent procurement decisions in coordination with stakeholders based on back order issues created by national recalls. Supports other elements of the organization and performs other duties as assigned. Must possess a valid, state driver's license or commercial driver's license (CDL) or be able to obtain prior to the closing of this announcement. 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 - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/16/2026. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5 grade level. For a GS 9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 7 grade level. 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 and/or education as described below: To meet the minimum qualifications for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must meet one of the following: Specialized experience: You must have one year equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Specialized experience includes: managing a variety of expendable items and durable medical equipment; forecasting short and long range inventory needs; analyzing inventory management reports and the effectiveness of various options proposed to provide supply support; utilizing automated inventory management systems to maintain current inventory data; researching and analyzing information to resolve questions and issues, and implementing federal and agency programs for the return and reutilization of medical supplies. 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. OR; Have successfully completed 1 full year of graduate level education. OR; Superior academic achievement that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR; Posses equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (in excess of the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required. To meet the minimum qualifications for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must meet one of the following: Specialized experience: You must have one year equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Specialized experience includes: managing a variety of expendable items and durable medical equipment; developing and supporting the creation of acquisition strategies to acquire and purchase durable medical equipment; implementing federal and agency programs for the return and reutilization of medical supplies; utilizing best practices, principles and tools, concepts and methodologies to determine and evaluate supply system performance; and serving as a point of contact for the coordination of material support and the resolution of logistics problems. 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. OR; Have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. of J.D., if related that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR; Possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (in excess of the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required. Physical Requirements and Work Environment: Work is normally accomplished in an office setting; however, due to the nature of the position and duties, may be called upon to assist in the receipt, storage and distribution of various supplies, primarily consisting of lifting light boxes generally less than 40 pounds, utilizing appropriate material handing devices, and placing items on shelves or carrying them elsewhere on station or within the catchment area. Must maintain applicable training and licensing to operate assigned equipment. Work is primarily performed in normal office surroundings involving everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions. Is required to use safe work practices with office equipment, avoid trips or falls and observe fire regulations and traffic signs. Frequent trips outside are required for visits to the other areas of the Medical Center; such as the warehouse and some patient care areas, in order to provide services, cover for other members in the unit, attend meetings and training. 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/.

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. Must maintain a Valid Driver's license. 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 or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. 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 Communication Contracting/Procurement Customer Service Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Planning and Evaluating Problem Solving Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management 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. NOTE: You must include qualifying specialized experience in mm/yyyy to mm/yyyy format on your resume and indicate Full-Time or Part-Time (if Part-time, must include # of hours worked per week). AND, if you have held a Government position, that position's grade level MUST be listed on your resume.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. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13109460. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 11/16/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us.To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit

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. Receiving Service Credit for 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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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.This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and 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 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/.