I've met plenty of engineering leaders being paid double that who are not "good at their job."

It's a hard job to do well; it requires you care about technical details but also deal almost exclusively with people. It's a rare person who naturally fits into the "extrovert engineer" role and corporations are shitty about training those who don't fit yet to practice the right behaviors.

Plus, if engineering is "design with constraints" then you are given the extra restraint of headcount and finances.