Focus Area Working Group Member Requirements 

FAWGs will consist of a minimum of 8 industry* members, including the Lead. Co-leads may be appointed from other MAPS regions such as EMEA (European/Middle East/Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacific) at the discretion of the Lead/s and in consultation with the EPC. 

Members of the FAWG will:

• Have at least 4 years of direct Medical Affairs practice in life sciences companies, and ideally will have served in more than one role within their organizations. Their most recent role will be at the Associate Director level or higher.  
• Have demonstrated expertise in the FAWG topic.
• Be a current MAPS member in good standing.
• If an Independent Consultant, have significant leadership role and career in biopharma prior to going independent; ex-pharm exec; minimum 5 years senior role or VP in industry; and, must not be part of a consulting firm.  
• Serve a one-year term from appointment, with the option of renewal, at the discretion of the FAWG Lead/s.
• Actively participate on the FAWG and be willing to propose and help develop specific content and deliverables aligned with the strategic plan. NOTE: It is expected that each FAWG member will actively develop and present at least one initiative to support the strategic plan annually.
• Play a leadership role in implementation of the FAWG strategic plan. This might include working with other volunteers and solution providers to develop and present content. 
• Actively develop and present at least one initiative to support the strategic plan annually.
• Attend 80% of the FAWG team calls.
• Actively participate on relevant Community Portal sites.
• Proactively engage potential future MAPS members and volunteers to ensure a sustainable FA volunteer base.

As with all other MAPS committees or volunteer groups, FAWG members are volunteers and are not compensated for their time. They should be active ambassadors for the society by posting/sharing regularly on social media (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) and should be ambassadors at their companies, raising awareness about the society to their colleagues and encouraging participation in society and FA initiatives.   

The estimated time commitment for FAWG member participation is between 3-4 hours per month, including preparation time. 

*Industry is defined as those currently employed by a life sciences company (pharma, biotech, medical & diagnostic devices), MA professionals with prior employment at a life sciences company but currently in between jobs, or independent MA consultants with previous employment a life sciences company. 

Focus Area Working Group (FAWG) Accountabilities 

• Focus Area needs assessment and gap identification, to be conducted annually.
• Development of a three-year strategic plan.
• Development of an annual content creation and implementation plan, that will be supportive of the strategic plan.  
• Identification of subject matter experts, presenting faculty, and providers to support content creation and implementation. 
• Alignment of annual plan initiatives to develop at least:
• Two Elevate articles 
• Four MAPS eCademy webinars/podcasts
• One annual conference workshop or plenary session
• One eLearning module
• One White Paper or Standards & Guidance document
• At least quarterly, MAPS Community Portal discussions with the MAPS membership through updates, posting of questions and discussion topics.