Comment by draw_down

One consequence of this is that you're by definition far away from the product and the end user. This is not necessarily a direct problem, but it is worth considering. For example, a coworker has been hacking away on our infrastructure pieces for forever. Their work is in support of our large React app, but this person basically never writes actual React code.

It's possible to end up in a situation where your skills and abilities become "purpose-fit" to the situation you're in, which can be tricky to transfer elsewhere. Whereas most organizations can appreciate the work and abilities of a "product engineer", or whatever they call it. So there is some risk to this approach.