|
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
|
|
POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR JOB POSTING |
|
|
Position Number: 00070485 |
Description Activated On: 1/28/2026 12:58:43 PM |
Position Purpose: Describe the primary purpose of this position and how it contributes to the organization’s objectives. Example: Provides clerical and office support within the Division to ensure its operations are conducted efficiently and effectively. Through administrative and operational work, this position supports the Bureau of Laboratories’ (BOL) mission of testing human specimens and non-human samples to identify both infectious and non-infectious diseases and conditions for the purposes of aiding patient care and improving public health in Pennsylvania. Responsibilities include processing requests for laboratory supplies and equipment, ensuring timely payment of invoices and resolving barriers to payment, planning for upcoming procurements, coordinating engagement with vendors that provide services with BOL’s facility manager and other members of management, educating staff on procurement policies and limitations and BOL procedures for placing orders, resolving procurement issues, working with BOL managers and technical staff to develop documentation necessary to enter into contracts with vendors, and serving as a liaison with the Department of Health (DOH) Office of Procurement (OP). The incumbent assists in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of procurement activities and other functions of the Administrative Services Section of the Division of Operations and Quality Assurance. |
|
Description of Duties: Describe in detail the duties and responsibilities assigned to this position. Descriptions should include the major end result of the task. Example: Types correspondence, reports, and other various documents from handwritten drafts for review and signature of the supervisor. Develops and maintains a knowledge of Commonwealth and DOH policies and procedures related to procurement and other job duties Develops and improves BOL policies, processes related to procurement (e.g, internal ordering process, obtaining approval to utilize funds, combining multiple orders from the same vendor, how to correct problems with invoices and monitor for trends); includes processes that involve work with other bureaus (e.g., Bureau of Epidemiology, Bureau of Emergency Preparedness) that control BOL grant funding and offices (e.g., Office of Procurement (OP), Budget Office) Trains staff BOL staff on DGS, DOH, and BOL procurement policies, processes, and procedures; makes documented BOL policies and procedures available to staff Creates and uses forms, spreadsheets, email resource accounts, and SharePoint workflows to improve efficiency of procurement processes and the tracking of orders and payments Creates and maintains tracking mechanisms to monitor the status, spending threshold, and expiration dates of purchase orders and contracts to ensure timely payment of vendors and to ensure continuous coverage of services Utilizes procurement tracking data to inform management of anticipated periods of increased procurement activity and impact on routine purchasing functions budget Ensures timely payment of invoices, including the tracking of payments and resolving barriers to payment Serves as BOL’s primary liaison with DOH OP Submits required documents to the OP to fulfill purchasing needs Works with BOL staff to identify materials and services necessary for laboratory testing and supporting activities; helps define immediate procurement needs for existing activities; assists in planning for new or changing programs that require significant procurement considerations Assists in identifying available vendors; trains BOL staff on methods to identify vendors on state contract; provides advice on locating vendors not on state contract; explains limitations of state contracts and using vendors not on state contract Provides potential vendors with assistance in finding information on the Department of General Services (DGS) website and making connections with Commonwealth staff who can assist them in becoming Commonwealth vendors, obtaining state contracts, etc. Obtains quotes and/or assists BOL staff in obtaining quotes from vendors; trains BOL staff on information that must be present on quotes; reviews quotes for completeness and consistency with BOL staff orders; works with BOL staff and vendors to resolve issues with quotes Holds the BOL’s purchasing cards; follows Commonwealth and DOH policies and procedures for purchasing card use; works with supervisor to develop and update BOL purchasing card policies and procedures; follows procedures for reconciling purchasing card transactions Receives procurement requests from BOL staff, verifies that all required information, approvals, and attachments are present, and processes requests; creates Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) shopping carts and attaches required documentation such as Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing (SAP) forms and vendor quotations to enable the DOH OP to create purchase orders; utilizes purchasing cards; issues requests for non-purchase order payments (i.e., checks). Works with BOL staff and information technology (IT) staff to obtain quotes and complete orders for IT-related items in accordance with policies and procedures governing hardware and software purchases Works with the DOH OP staff to obtain advice on procurement policies and procedures, addresses issues with SRM shopping carts, SAP forms, quotations, purchase orders, and contractual documents; requests assistance from OP to resolve issues with rejected invoices; communicates with DGS through/with OP as needed Communicates with other organizational units (e.g., bureaus, offices, departments) that control funding used by the BOL to obtain approval for purchases made using those funds Utilizes spreadsheets and other tools to track the procurement process from receipt of BOL procurement request through delivery of materials in acceptable condition or completion of services, request for payment, complete processing, and payment of invoice Communicates with BOL staff to ensure individuals placing orders and those receiving goods or services are informed of the status of orders and any issues that need to be resolved Monitors the procurement workflow and resolves issues in the purchasing process, issues with vendors, and payment problems; obtains assistance from supervisor and other BOL staff as needed Understands funding code system that ensures procurement debits funds from the proper account and ties the expense to the correct organizational unit, program, activity, etc.; resolves issues with coding to ensure money spent on purchases is pulled from correct fund, tied to correct cost center, tied to correct grant or portion of a grant/project, identified using proper general ledger number; and accurately transfer coding between documents Contacts and works with BOL staff, the DOH OP, DGS, and vendors to gather or provide information on complaints related to procurement issues and provide support to reach resolutions Assists in the development of documentation required for soliciting bids and obtaining contracts; guides BOL scientific staff in preparing the technical portions of statements of work and other documents that define goods or service requirements; prepares forms and other documents that accompany statement of work; works with staff from BOL, DOH OP, and DGS to move documents through the approval and posting processes; aids in responding to questions from potential vendors; participates in the selection of vendor and process of establishing contact Maintains organized records of procurement activities and statuses; works towards moving away from processes that involve paper documents towards electronic documents and workflows Participates in gathering information needed to response to audits or reviews of Administrative Services’ activities Participates in training on topics related to job responsibilities and communicates important information to coworkers Assists staff with fiscal responsibilities in gathering information to support budget preparation; submitting requests for budget adjustments, budget revisions, encumbrance adjustments, expenditure adjustments, liquidations, carryover/carry-forward, and other modifications of budgets or accounting records; and building upon Commonwealth and DOH fiscal coding schemes to improve BOL’s ability to categorize expenses and improve tracking of materials use by funding source to ensure turnaround-times and deadlines are met and work can be coordinated across the entire Administrative Services Section Adheres to Commonwealth, DOH, and BOL safety policies. Performs related duties as required. Public Health Emergency Response – This position may be given an assignment to support the public health emergency response mission of the Department of Health. Emergency assignments could, at times, be received with little or no advance notice and may continue for any period of time - ranging from a few hours to several weeks, depending on the nature of the circumstance. The emergency assignments may at times be performed under adverse conditions and may require travel to another site other than the employee’s assigned headquarters for a period of time. |
Decision Making: Describe the types of decisions made by the incumbent of this position and the types of decisions referred to others. Identify the problems or issues that can be resolved at the level of this position, versus those that must be referred to the supervisor. Example: In response to a customer inquiry, this work involves researching the status of an activity and preparing a formal response for the supervisor’s signature. All work is assigned by the supervisor with instructions for finished product. Incumbent is expected to work independently when completing each work assignment. The supervisor will review all work for completeness, scope, accuracy, and sound judgment in discussion of alternatives. |
||||||||||||||||||||
Requirements Profile: Identify any specific experience or requirements, such as a licensure, registration, or certification, which may be necessary to perform the functions of the position. Position-specific requirements should be consistent with a Special Requirement or other criteria identified in the classification specification covering this position. Example: Experience using Java; Professional Engineer License Experience: Licenses, registrations, or certifications: 1. Class C Driver's License 2. N/A 3. N/A 4. 5. 6. |
||||||||||||||||||||
Essential Functions: Provide a list of essential functions for this position. Example: Transports boxes weighing up to 60 pounds.
|