Senior Manager, Mergers & Acquisitions; exit readiness Chicago; Dallas; Los Angeles; Minne

Senior Manager, Mergers & Acquisitions (exit readiness)

Are you ready to make an impact?

Our expert and award-winning Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) practice seeks a Senior Manager to join our rapidly growing Sell‑Side Advisory (SSA) team. WM SSA consultants specialize in exit readiness, advising companies on the strategic and operational factors that can impact a potential recapitalization, financing, or exit to a strategic or financial buyer.

WM’s model leverages the insights of experienced entrepreneurs, seasoned operators, and veteran deals professionals to proactively identify and act on both risk and opportunity, empowering management with precise coaching, and collaborating with investment banks to refine narratives around technology and operations.

In this dynamic role, you will work with our national M&A practice, primarily serving portfolio companies of venture capital and private equity firms. Senior principals/senior managers lead operational and technology assessments in a due diligence context and conduct exit readiness exercises for portfolio company leadership and their investors.

You will be an integral part of our team, helping shape our team culture and participating in the entrepreneurial process of growing a rapidly expanding offering (strategy formulation, recruiting, team building, practice development, etc.).

• Lead Transaction Services teams serving clients across industries (with specific capabilities in mergers & acquisitions), while demonstrating executive presence with C‑level client counterparts and private equity teams
• Engage stakeholders involved in a sell‑side process, including other advisors, investment banks, private equity or corporate owners, and C‑level client executives
• Confidently coach client executives on how to articulate value derived from technology and operations and on how to navigate potentially challenging diligence topics
• Facilitate sell‑side due diligence projects focused on operational and technology strategy, organizational structures/operating models, and current state business processes and supporting technology
• De‑risk exit processes through sell‑side diligence efforts and development of strategies for critical issue remediation
• Identify strategic opportunities and quantify potential for value creation
• Lead engagement teams on transaction advisory, guiding the team to prepare focused request lists/agendas, facilitating client reviews, and accountability for deliverables
• Enhance methodologies for client delivery and practice innovation
• Manage project economics including pricing estimates, risk assessments tracking project budgets, creating, and delivering invoices, and managing collection process
• Business development across investment banks, private equity, and portfolio companies
• Actively recruit, manage, coach, and retain top quality consultants

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required; advanced degree a plus
• 8+ years working in roles that emphasize strategy, technology, and/or operations in a team‑based, cross‑functional environment
• 3+ years of experience in investment banking, corporate development/strategy, entrepreneurship/venture capital if you do not have a consulting or M&A background
• Excellent critical thinking, oral and written communication skills
• Comfort leading business development opportunities, externally and across the firm
• Consulting experience a plus, but not required
• Experience managing or analyzing P&L statements, and financial modeling skills a plus, but not required
• Candidates must be eligible to work permanently in the United States without sponsorship
• Ability to travel up to 50%
• A commitment to inclusion and diversity, and openness to new ideas and perspectives

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). Information on our competitive total rewards package, including our bonus structure and benefits is here. Individual salaries are determined by evaluating a variety of factors including geography, experience, skills, education, and internal equity.

Employees (and their families) are covered…