Whilst still a student in Vienna, she worked for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the UN Commission for International Trade Law, and on completion of her studies she worked for various legal firms: first in Stuttgart with Gleiss Lutz; then back in Vienna with Wolf & Theis; and finally for the Fritz Kaiser Group in 1998–1999.

By 2000, Kaiser had sold his shares, but Kaltenborn remained with the team as the head of its legal department.

From 2001, she has been a member of its management board, and in early 2010, following the team's return to independent status following the withdrawal of former partner BMW, she was appointed CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG.

[6] On 22 June 2017 Sauber F1 Team confirmed Kaltenborn would be leaving the Sauber Group effective immediately through a statement on their website: Longbow Finance SA regrets to announce that, by mutual consent and due to diverging views of the future of the company, Monisha Kaltenborn will leave her positions with the Sauber Group effective immediately.

[9] KDC is a fifty-fifty venture between Kaltenborn - the 'K' of the team's name - and French-Monegasque businesswoman Emily di Comberti, whose son Aaron competed in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship in 2017.