That does sound like a bad management structure but there is another question to ask: Are there technical problems that need a highly paid senior engineer to s

That does sound like a bad management structure but there is another question to ask: Are there technical problems that need a highly paid senior engineer to solve efficiently? Most of the time there isn't and that's a major factor in why the upper levels are people management. The other factor is that everyone treats this as "just how things work" because of MBA programs and general attempts to apply management pseudoscience from the industrial revolution to modern companies. It's not just your company. Don't know if that should make you feel better or worse.