Chief O'Brien's authority and two competing jobs

Why is Chief O'Brien's engineering appointment criticized despite his experience?

His fictional authority is defended, while the criticism focuses on combining senior practical leadership with the staff and administrative workload normally shared with an officer.

O'Brien's Enterprise transporter role is distinguished from his later engineering responsibilities on Deep Space Nine and Defiant. One participant defends his authority through the fictional service's recognition of experienced non-commissioned officers. Clarke accepts his practical competence but argues that he is also being made to perform an officer's staff work. Budget meetings, planning, administration, and diplomatic representation consume time alongside maintenance and practical leadership. A second engineering leader would also give him someone with whom to test ideas. The Royal Navy's integration of engineering officers is used as a real institutional comparison.