What 1538, 254, and any teams that seem to have that "Big Picture oversite team" have is a Systems Engineering Group. In Madison & Allen's case, they are the Systems Engineer for the team.
I
posted a while back on the topic, and I think its perfectly relevant here.
Whether you have a team or a person, its incredibly important to have someone filling the Systems Engineering Role, and I guarantee that all of the teams that perform well and meet their goals have incorporated Systems Engineering, whether they call it that or not.