Acquisition Utilization Specialist
What you'd do
Serves as the Medical Center liaison and advisor on contract related services focusing on critical clinical and healthcare services, product acquisition and support services required by project managers, program managers, upper management and stakeholders on all aspects of procurement for a wide variety of items to include specialized services.
Major duties
The Cincinnati VA Medical Center (CVAMC) is a two-division campus located in Cincinnati, OH and Fort Thomas, KY serving 15 counties in Southwest OH, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana with 6 Community Based Outpatient Clinics located in Bellevue, KY; Florence, KY; Lawrenceburg, IN; Hamilton, OH; Clermont County, OH, and Georgetown, OH. The CVAMC also supports two off main campus locations in the Cincinnati area via an Eye Center and Mental Health Outreach Community Division. Major Duties: Develops procedures, policies, and supporting artifacts to ensure procurement activities are consistent with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), VA Acquisitions Regulations (VAAR) and other federal procurement laws and regulations. Coordinates with Network Contracting Activity (NCA) and VA HCS leadership, clinical service customers, Contracting Officers Representatives (CORs), logistics staff, and other stakeholders to develop and execute acquisition strategies. Conducts analyses and recommends courses of actions to ensure that various clinical and administrative service requirements have addressed considerations such as construction, budgeting, supporting manpower and other factors. Establishes, expedites, and reviews consolidation of, all procurement packages, including unique, emergent, and complex requirements, to meet timely and technical needs of assigned acquisitions. Independently develops performance work statements and objectives, cost benefit analysis, gap analysis, sole source justifications, past performance, quality assurance surveillance plans (QASP), market research, independent government estimates, evaluation criteria, options, funding, delivery schedules, lead times, and reporting requirements. Reviews procurement documents for accuracy, adequacy, and completeness, and assists service line managers as needed to ensure the final documents are acceptable. Develops sole source justifications in relation to cost, limited availability or unusual nature, when the health care resource need is either unique in the medical community, or is subject to maximum utilization only through health care resources contracting, and identifies other alternative sources that exist within the local, regional or national geographical areas. Develops and implements processes and procedures as changes are made to the VHA Procurement Manual, works collaboratively with clinical chiefs, healthcare professionals at affiliates or within the community to discuss clinical needs to develop health resources, direct sharing agreements with military treatment facilities (MTFs), and Department of Defense (DoD) organizational components. Develops and conducts presentations/recommendations to VA HCS senior leadership as well as other internal and external stakeholders. Furnishes instructions and explanations on new regulations and procedures. Develops and analyzes local and regional reports. Makes presentations / recommendations to senior management officials regarding the contracting support of the facility. Prepares reports or briefs, contract data for meetings, inspections, audits and in-progress reviews. Directs facility-wide procurements as assigned through the facility Equipment Committee in support of the three to five year strategic acquisition plan. Negotiates performance requirements among multiple sites and service lines in order to obtain agreement, standardize enterprise equipment, supply, and/or service requirements in support of facility strategic acquisition plans. Works independently with various personnel to resolve problems occurring in the administration of the contract. Monitors the procurement process from pre-award to final delivery of requirements. Advises on all phases of negotiation with the contract specialist/contracting officer for contract modifications, change orders, supplemental agreements, and delivery order processes including requirements, definition, justification, and approval for service contract extension, method of contracting, evaluation of proposals, and all phases of contract administration. Participates in negotiations as necessary. Monitors quality assurance surveillance plans to ensure that contracted services meet the expectations and needs of the facility. Verifies contract interim payments after verifying accuracy and may certify payments for services rendered. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:00am - 3:30pm or 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Acquisition Utilization Specialist/PD99810S Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary in nature. Requires occasional travel to conduct inspections of contract facilities or motor vehicles providing contracts for healthcare resources to ensure joint commission and safety requirements are met.
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/24/2026. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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 GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: I have one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of an Acquisition Utilization Specialist, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. Specialized experience includes: handling contract related services, product acquisition, and procurement of items in a healthcare environment; overseeing contracts including pre-award and post-award; preparing procurement packages with unique, emergent and complex requirements including development of requirement documents (e.g. performance work statements and objectives, cost benefit analysis, gap analysis, sole source justifications, past performance, market research, etc.); developing sole source justifications; developing and analyzing reports to make recommendations on acquisition and contracting issues; participating in negotiations with other officials throughout all phases of contract administration; and monitoring expenditures and reporting on deviations from contract terms. 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, Education: I have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related, that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered as satisfying the one (1) year of full-time study requirement). Note: If you select this option, a copy of your transcripts is required. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, Combination: I have an equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience, as described above, which meets the total qualification requirement for the GS-11 grade level. Note: If you select this option, a copy of your transcripts is required. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Your resume must indicate clearly the nature of your duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. 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/.
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