Depending on the work environment it's not a stretch to see software engineers complaining to management, sometimes going as far to create rumors to get the jr data scientist fired.
So, no the grass is not greener. It's best to not be that person. This is why I go out of my way to prevent that scenario when I lead a team.
You just get seen as the product owner/project manager.
I tend to be seen as a product lead / owner / stakeholder, so I feel like I'm being called out. lol
I think one difference is the software engineers see me as someone who is helping them by making their life easier. I'm not just throwing work at them blindly. I'm working with them. Also, they like it when I include them in the data science brainstorming sessions to solve difficult problems. I guess it's seen as exotic or something, but whatever the reason, they really love to be apart of it.
my personal data points are from folks on buyside. trading margins have been downward trending for years
On the quant side bonuses are distributed to the team.