Bio

​​​​​​Leslie Nielson is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal Private Equity Performance Improvement in New York. She leads the dedicated Human Capital M&A transaction advisory practice. Ms. Nielson brings more than 20 years of consulting experience dedicated to supporting pre-acquisition due diligence, merger integration, and carve-out transactions across various facets of HR. She focuses on total rewards, HR operations, and talent management, primarily in the private equity market, and works on both domestic and global transactions and offers strategic advice for organization design and workforce planning that addresses management team structure, talent selection, RIF management, global labor law, and international employee consultations. On the pre-acquisition front, Ms. Nielson’s team provides human capital due diligence and advisor support on 100+ transactions annually. Key services she provides include valuation support related to unfunded pensions, run-rate labor and benefits spend, standalone HR department costs, HR-related Q of E, and quantification of wage, hour, and compliance risks. Ms. Nielson also supports negotiation of key transaction terms, TSA advisory support, and early development of post-deal work plan (separation, separation, synergy achievement). Ms. Nielson has extensive experience with post-acquisition activities including both merger integration and carve-out transactions. She frequently manages the project management office for the HR workstream, developing and executing the HR project plan and focusing on HR vendor selection, contract negotiation, implementation of payroll and HCM systems, harmonization of employee benefits and policies, designing retention and remuneration programs, and managing employee communications. Prior to joining A&M, Ms. Nielson spent three years as a partner with Aon’s M&A Solutions group, serving as the EMEA practice leader for its joint HR and Insurance M&A practice. Previously, she spent 10 years as a member of the Human Resources Transaction Services team at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York, working primarily with mega- and mid-market private equity firms. Ms. Nielson earned a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science and statistics from the University of Iowa.