To validate your concerns- yes, there are some companies that have traditionally been horrible snobs about their dev roles. However, even the chronic cases (I'm

To validate your concerns- yes, there are some companies that have traditionally been horrible snobs about their dev roles. However, even the chronic cases (I'm looking at you Google) have gotten better since the early teens. In my observation, the snobbery comes from a small but visible minority. IMO you'd definitely be able to transition after taking an SRE role. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if time as an SRE will eventually accelerate your career- senior dev roles don't just to get to do development, they have to interact with other roles like SRE and the business folks to solve larger problems. Just keep on "doing dev" in whatever way you can and keep putting out feelers for a lateral move. You'll find something.