So what you're describing is a 'senior developer' or 'lead developer', who is noticing that the build system is an issue, and reporting it up and suggesting issues.

Whereas I said "If you have good devs, the other teams will have communicated that up".

The only difference I'm seeing is you're positing someone who is aware of developer issues, and 'with little time to contribute meaningfully'. How, if the person isn't developing, is he/she going to be able to tell what the development issues are? He/she can't just ask the developers; if they're aware of it they're not 'down in the weeds', and just communicating it upwards is enough.

I'm pretty sure this issue is best served with a retrospective.