Yes and no. I have been asked if staff engineers are around so that they can pick up projects noone wants to do. This entirely defeats the point of staff engin

Yes and no. I have been asked if staff engineers are around so that they can pick up projects noone wants to do. This entirely defeats the point of staff engineers. I would want my staff engineering bunch to either pave the path or mentor the teams to do it themselves. Making it easier for the teams and future engineers could be a better strategy and effective multiplier. If there is organisational mission critical software lacking any of this then it is a p0 and I would count it under high impact work rather than gardening. Besides depending on company size, some of those responsibilities should belong to platform teams.