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Mergers \& Transaction Services Advisory Lead, Software \& AI
West Monroe is seeking a Mergers \& Transaction Services, (MTS) Advisory Lead, Software \& AI to join our Technology \& Experience (TechEx) practice. This executive\-level technology leader partners with private equity firms, corporate development teams, and C\-suite executives to evaluate software companies and technology\-enabled businesses throughout the M\&A lifecycle. Serving as a trusted advisor, the Advisory Lead shapes investment decisions by assessing software products, AI capabilities, engineering organizations, enterprise architecture, and technology operating models while identifying opportunities to accelerate value creation. This role combines deep technical expertise with commercial acumen to lead complex engagements, originate new client opportunities, and advance West Monroe's Software \& AI transaction advisory capabilities.
What You Will Do
Client Delivery
- Serve as the executive advisor for complex software and AI technology due diligence engagements, guiding clients through acquisitions, divestitures, carve\-outs, integrations, and strategic investments.
- Evaluate software platforms, product architecture, AI capabilities, engineering organizations, cloud environments, and technology operating models to assess scalability, security, product maturity, and operational readiness.
- Evaluate AI\-enabled and agentic software development practices across the SDLC, advising clients on how coding agents, AI\-assisted engineering workflows, and emerging development models can accelerate delivery, improve quality, and reshape engineering organizations
- Advise executive stakeholders on technology risk, AI strategy, engineering effectiveness, product roadmaps, and value creation opportunities that support investment theses and post\-close transformation.
- Lead multidisciplinary teams across software engineering, cloud, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and data to deliver integrated technology assessments and strategic recommendations.
- Develop executive\-level presentations and board\-ready deliverables that translate complex technical findings into actionable business decisions.
- Leverage AI tools to accelerate analysis, synthesize complex information, and support data\-driven recommendations for clients, exercising sound judgment in evaluating outputs.
- Apply AI technologies (e.g., generative AI, automation tools, data models) to enhance insights, improve delivery efficiency, and elevate the quality of client outcomes.
Business Development
- Originate and grow executive relationships with private equity firms, strategic investors, and corporate technology leaders, serving as a trusted advisor throughout the deal lifecycle.
- Lead complex pursuits, shape solution strategies, and develop compelling proposals that position West Monroe's Software \& AI advisory capabilities in the marketplace.
- Identify follow\-on opportunities in technology modernization, AI strategy, post\-merger integration, and technology separation.
- Build West Monroe's market presence through thought leadership, speaking engagements, industry events, publications, and strategic alliance relationships.
Practice Development
- Define and evolve West Monroe's Software \& AI transaction advisory offerings, methodologies, and intellectual property.
- Mentor and develop consultants, architects, and technical leaders while fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence.
- Lead the development of reusable AI assessment frameworks, software due diligence accelerators, and delivery of assets that improve quality and scalability.
- Partner with practice leadership to recruit top talent, expand technical capabilities, and drive the continued growth of the Mergers \& Transaction Services practice.
What You Will Bring
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- 10\+ years of experience in technology consulting, software engineering, enterprise architecture, product engineering, or technology advisory, including leadership of complex client engagements.
- Deep expertise evaluating software products, engineering organizations, enterprise architecture, cloud platforms, AI\-enabled applications, and technology operating models.
- Experience advising private equity firms, strategic acquirers, or corporate clients on software and technology due diligence, technology strategy, or digital transformation initiatives.
- Demonstrated expertise in generative AI, agentic AI, large language models (LLMs), orchestration frameworks, AI governance, and emerging AI technologies.
- Strong understanding of AI\-enabled software engineering and agentic development across the SDLC, with experience using AI to improve engineering productivity, software quality, delivery, and developer workflows.
- Proven success originating business, leading executive client relationships, shaping large pursuits, and delivering strategic technology advisory services.
- Exceptional executive communication, facilitation, and presentation skills with the ability to influence senior business and technology leaders.
- Experience integrating AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) into day\-to\-day workflows to enhance productivity and insight generation, coupled with strong critical thinking to assess accuracy, mitigate bias, and ensure high\-quality outputs.
- Ability to travel 25 to 50%.
- Hybrid role with 2\+ days per week in a West Monroe office.
- A commitment to inclusion and diversity, and openness to new ideas and perspectives.
- Ability to work permanently in the United States without sponsorship.
Based on pay transparency guidelines, the salary range for this role can vary based on your proximity to one of our West Monroe offices (see table below).
Employees (and their families) are covered by medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance. Employees are able to enroll in our company’s 401k plan, purchase shares from our employee stock ownership program and be eligible to receive annual bonuses. Employees will also receive unlimited flexible time off and ten paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Eligibility for ten weeks of paid parental leave will also be available upon hire date.
Seattle or Washington, D.C.
$236,300 \- $277,700 USD
Los Angeles
$247,500 \- $291,000 USD
New York City or San Francisco
$258,800 \- $304,200 USD
A location not listed above
$225,000 \- $265,400 USD
### Other consultancies talk at you.
At West Monroe, we work with you.
We’re a global business and technology consulting firm passionate about creating measurable value for our clients, delivering real\-world solutions.
The combination of business and technology is not new, but how we bring them together is unique. We’re fluent in both. We know that technology alone is not the answer, but how we apply it is. We rely on data to constantly adapt and solve new challenges. Actions that work today with outcomes that generate value for years to come.
At West Monroe, we zero in on the heart of the opportunity, getting to results faster and preparing people for what’s next.
You’ll feel the difference in how we work. We show up personally. We’re right there in the room with you, co\-creating through the challenges. With West Monroe, collaboration isn’t a lofty promise, but a daily action. We work together with you to turn vision into clear action with lasting impact.
West Monroeis an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer
We believe in treating each employee and applicant for employment fairly and with dignity. We base our employment decisions on merit, experience, and potential, without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, religion, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic prohibited by federal, state or local law. To learn more about diversity, equity and inclusion at West Monroe, visit www.westmonroe.com/inclusion. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in our recruiting process, please inquire by sending an email to [email protected].
Please review our current policy regarding use of generative artificial intelligence during the application process.
If you are based in California, we encourage you to read West Monroe’s Notice at Collection for California residents, provided pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and linked here.
Salary Context
This $236K-$304K range is above the 75th percentile for AI/ML Engineer roles in our dataset (median: $175K across 2162 roles with salary data).
View full AI/ML Engineer salary data →Role Details
About This Role
AI/ML Engineers build and deploy machine learning models in production. They work across the full ML lifecycle: data pipelines, model training, evaluation, and serving infrastructure. The role has evolved significantly over the past two years. Where ML Engineers once spent most of their time on model architecture, the job now tilts heavily toward inference optimization, cost management, and integrating LLM capabilities into existing systems. Companies want engineers who can ship production systems, and the experimenter-only role is fading fast.
Day-to-day, you're writing training pipelines, debugging data quality issues, setting up evaluation frameworks, and figuring out why your model performs differently in staging than it did on your dev set. The best ML engineers are obsessive about reproducibility and measurement. They instrument everything. They know that a model is only as good as the data feeding it and the infrastructure serving it.
Across the 4,317 AI roles we're tracking, AI/ML Engineer positions make up 70% of the market. At West Monroe, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Demand for AI/ML Engineers has been strong and consistent. Unlike some AI roles that spike with hype cycles, ML engineering is a foundational need. Every company deploying AI models needs people who can keep them running, and the gap between research prototypes and production systems keeps growing.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week might include: debugging a data pipeline that's silently dropping 3% of training examples, running A/B tests on a new model version, writing documentation for a feature flag system that lets you roll back model deployments, and reviewing a junior engineer's PR for a new evaluation metric. Meetings tend to be cross-functional since ML touches product, engineering, and data teams.
Demand for AI/ML Engineers has been strong and consistent. Unlike some AI roles that spike with hype cycles, ML engineering is a foundational need. Every company deploying AI models needs people who can keep them running, and the gap between research prototypes and production systems keeps growing.
Skills in Demand for This Role
Python and PyTorch dominate the requirements. Most roles expect experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and familiarity with ML frameworks like TensorFlow or JAX. RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) has become a top-3 skill requirement as companies integrate LLMs into their products. Docker and Kubernetes show up in about a third of postings, reflecting the production focus of the role.
Beyond the core stack, employers increasingly want experience with experiment tracking tools (MLflow, Weights & Biases), feature stores, and vector databases. Fine-tuning experience is valuable but less common than you'd think from reading Twitter. Most production LLM work is RAG and prompt engineering, not fine-tuning. If you have both, you're in a strong position.
Companies that are serious about AI/ML hiring tend to post specific infrastructure details in the job description: the frameworks they use, their model serving stack, their data pipeline tools. Vague postings that just say 'ML experience required' without specifics are often companies that haven't figured out what they need yet.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI/ML Engineer roles pay a median of $214,900 based on 6,420 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $227,400. This role's midpoint ($270K) sits 26% above the category median. Disclosed range: $236K to $304K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($287,500) and Research Engineer ($272,100). By seniority level: Entry: $110,000; Mid: $194,400; Senior: $227,400; Director: $274,554; VP: $241,000.
West Monroe AI Hiring
West Monroe has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer. Based in Chicago, IL, US. Compensation range: $304K - $304K.
Location Context
AI roles in Chicago pay a median of $192,900 across 197 tracked positions. That's 10% below the national median.
Career Path
Common paths into AI/ML Engineer roles include Data Scientist, Software Engineer, Research Engineer.
From here, career progression typically leads toward ML Architect, AI Engineering Manager, Principal ML Engineer.
The fastest path into ML engineering is through software engineering with a self-directed ML education. A CS degree helps, but production engineering skills matter more than academic credentials. Build something that works, deploy it, and measure it. That portfolio project is worth more than a Coursera certificate. For career growth, the fork comes around the senior level: go deep on technical complexity (staff/principal track) or move into managing ML teams.
What to Expect in Interviews
Expect system design questions around ML pipelines: how you'd build a training pipeline for a specific use case, handle data drift, or design A/B testing infrastructure for model deployments. Coding rounds typically involve Python, with emphasis on data manipulation (pandas, numpy) and algorithm implementation. Take-home assignments often ask you to build an end-to-end ML pipeline from raw data to deployed model.
When evaluating opportunities: Companies that are serious about AI/ML hiring tend to post specific infrastructure details in the job description: the frameworks they use, their model serving stack, their data pipeline tools. Vague postings that just say 'ML experience required' without specifics are often companies that haven't figured out what they need yet.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 4,317 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 138 entry-level, 2,071 mid-level, 1,655 senior, and 453 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 15% of the market (635 positions). The remaining 3,657 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($287,500 median, 34 roles); Research Engineer ($272,100 median, 227 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($244,000 median, 23 roles).
Demand for AI/ML Engineers has been strong and consistent. Unlike some AI roles that spike with hype cycles, ML engineering is a foundational need. Every company deploying AI models needs people who can keep them running, and the gap between research prototypes and production systems keeps growing.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 4,317 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (3,004), Data Scientist (345), AI Software Engineer (309). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (138) are outnumbered by mid-level (2,071) and senior (1,655) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 453 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 15% of all AI roles (635 positions), with 3,657 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $215,000. Top-quartile roles start at $266,300, and the 90th percentile reaches $320,790. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $287,500 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $145,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (2,249 postings), Aws (1,224 postings), Azure (938 postings), Rag (915 postings), Gcp (660 postings), Pytorch (640 postings), Prompt Engineering (624 postings), Kubernetes (559 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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