Agreed. A DE job is based on more traditional software skills, expecting you to understand the priorities and purposes of an given ML technique, without having

Agreed. A DE job is based on more traditional software skills, expecting you to understand the priorities and purposes of an given ML technique, without having to choose, architect, or defend the choice of that technique over alternatives. I can see most of the OP's objections as being more appropriate to the superciliousness of hiring software PhDs into DE jobs rather than DS. The DS role is more quantitative and theoretical (befitting a PhD), while the DE is more an engineer and experimentalist (befitting a less academic mindset).