[howeyc]

That has not been the case everywhere I have worked. Also not anywhere I have been as an outside contractor. Perhaps it's the industry.

Anyway, all I've seen is a bunch of "Cover Your Ass" and reluctance to make decisions by middle management. I think OP would love such a position. Very little "work," just a bunch of delegating and meetings to review progress. Be ready to embrace a life of looking at Excel spreadsheets.

Middle Management is high enough that you can blame an underling when things go sour, yet high enough that you can command pay for your "value" of managing people.

[lazythrowaway]

This does sound the best so far :)

[brixon]

Where I work, all the middle management (one exception, he was hired from the outside) was promoted from within due to high quality work and desire to manage.

At a prior job it was half and half. Half were promoted because of stellar prior work and half were promoted to remove their incompetent from harming the organization. I worked for both kinds at that organization.