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I was digging through the old Dark Heresy RPG over the weekend, and I was looking at the career path to Inquisitor... and I was wondering if there were any instances in the 40k lore of an Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priest or other AdMech member becoming an Inquisitor.

The same question applies to Adeptus Arbites, Rogue Traders, or Astra Militarum officers/Commissars.

Has anyone crossed over to a different position of power?

Arbites & Guard Officers have, but I can't think of any AdMech - they have their own internal version of the Inqusition (Prefecture Magisterium / Malagra). That said, the Ordo Machinum exists so there might be a pathway there...

Essentially, anyone in an Inquisitor’s retinue could go on to replace their master, or be promoted. Not just those that are specifically Acolytes, which tend to be yet another product of the Schola Progenium.

Yes, a formal Acolyte has a leg up on other recruits, agents, cats paws, bodyguards and that.

Whether a member of the Mechanicus Priesthood could? I wouldn’t rule anything out entirely, but there may be a conflict of interest, and potentially an inability to see the way an Inquisitor needs to.

In Inquisitor: Martyr, there is the Tech-Adept class. This is an individual who trained under the Machine Cult but was never ordained as a true Tech-Priest. It is stated that a fully ordained Tech-Priest would be ineligible for the rosette, but that a Tech-Adept who served in an Inquisitor's retinue could advance to full Inquisitor.

I am wracking my memory and I can think of a few examples of acolytes, but not a full blown Inquisitor. I imagine loyalty would be an issue. There's hard rule stating anyone is barred from from holding the title of inquisitor, but the lack of official pathway also works against someone with split loyalties. If one can only become an inquisitor with the sanction of another inquisitor, then it becomes a challenge of trust and loyalty. I imagine one would need to be fully devoted to gain that rosette.