Hmm.. In 19 years at Shell, neither I nor my team have ever asked for help or contracted any Shell team outside of the US. Yes, we get help from contractors, a lot of them are great foreigners who are in the US. Except we do call for mandatory reviews from folks from Europe then follow their direction to get work done by their "buddies". Watching from the side, folks who ask SBTC for help spend more time explaining and recycling than it would take to do it themselves.
As a former SME, team lead, then manager; the biggest determinant of success was having interactions that involved a network and developing a good reputation.
As a JG5, you needed to read the manuals and do the trainings and ask advice from someone two levels higher than you and the discipline lead. The thing was to do your job and help others do their job better.(e.g. write a report or manual to do it)
As a JG4, you had to do your job well and figure out better faster ways to do it. You have to do it better than most and be the go to guy/gal. At JG4, you should have an intern every now and again and help them to be successful. You should be aware of what other groups and companies are doing, AKA read papers, talk to vendors, go to conferences AND have a sound technical opinion of what you take in, then share the good stuff and discard the waste.
At JG3, there are two paths technical vs managerial. Figure out what you can do quickly to support money making activities, then outsource the stuff that is necessary but doesn't make the $$$$ There is a lot of organizing reviews and bureaucratic processes that you need to know and know and have the relationship with the folks reviewing and making decisions. Oddly for the managerial folks they still need to be technical but in more of a review capacity. They're supposed to make sure the team's work is of high quality, the discipline has to approve of the method. Know your stuff and know who needs to approve. Help your team to move around, you're only keeping them a few years. But surround yourself with competent people who are good technically and morally. You need to stop wasteful work and select projects that are worthwhile. For the technical JG3's, You need to be the go to person. It should be really clear than you know your stuff and working with a TA0 to get a TA2 is needed. You've got to have a really good attitude and make good calls and see beyond the current dilemma to the dilemmas that are coming depending on your choices. You need to have great communication skills, nothing gets done without convincing a bunch of people.
As a JG2, you need to have a good reputation and cut the bullSH___T. Sometimes you have to fire a$$holes for poor ethical and technical performance. You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your fellow employees. Pick good projects and let bad ideas wither. This is where it gets hard, at JG2-JG1 people really expose psycopathies. There are empire builders and team players, the level of toxic bullSH___t is crazy sometimes. People say no to ruin your plans and scuttle your career. People sabotage to be the one to get to then next level. Reputation sabotage requires a big defense. Act honorably and try your best to pick between true and false. Build a great working relationship with the JG1's, A's, and B's. And have JG4-JG2's who are willing to take a hit or jump on a grenade to defend you, defend those people too!
JG1, Build a great relationship with A's B's, and SEG's, From now on they pick what jobs you get, the MOR is a farce for getting JG1; it is pretty much hand picked by allied A's and B's. It is all network at this point. Forget about technical work, the decisions at this point involve so many disciplines that you're relying on trust and not your technical choice or rationalization... try to pick winners or outrun losers.