> However I feel that front end developer has a clear advantage in that their work can be played with, viewed and commented on by non technical managers and product owners.

The downside of this is that you get a lot more "can you add this or change that? Should be easy :-)". Non-technical folks think that because they can see frontend work they know more about it.

Maybe I've had bad experiences but I consider the fact that the backend's work can't be easily seen by the business people an advantage.