From my experience lead engineers are still 70-80% hands on so they definitely need to be strong technically. Lead engineer would therefor be responsible for te

From my experience lead engineers are still 70-80% hands on so they definitely need to be strong technically. Lead engineer would therefor be responsible for technical choices, system design and other decisions that depend on tech knowledge. It also helps if you are strong technically as you will earn respect of engineers in your team faster. What you are describing is more of a product manager role.