Yeah I think there is a tension there. If you care about systems and internal quality and want to get paid for it, I'd suggest software performance or security as promsiing fields.
Performance and security are both cross-cutting concerns that span layers, i.e. you're not just thinking at the application level. It really is a separate kind of thinking and a separate kind of work.
Though it seems that it's mostly large companies (e.g. "big tech" and a few other places) that care enough about performance and security to have dedicate staff for them. Most other shops are too busy with "business stuff", and they may reasonably want to outsource that work to experienced consultants.
Performance and security are both cross-cutting concerns that span layers, i.e. you're not just thinking at the application level. It really is a separate kind of thinking and a separate kind of work.
Though it seems that it's mostly large companies (e.g. "big tech" and a few other places) that care enough about performance and security to have dedicate staff for them. Most other shops are too busy with "business stuff", and they may reasonably want to outsource that work to experienced consultants.