Right now I'm in various types of administrative support for various types of hacking, and my understanding of my role is pretty simple.

1. Understand what's been done.

2. Document what's been done.

3. Document how it was done (including the things that worked and things that did not work).

4. Get the menial tasks, petty annoyances, and various obstructions the hell out of my people's way.

5. When it's not getting in the way of anything else, ask questions from my non-coder's perspective, as this has been helpful in tracking down bugs, creating new features, and so forth in the past.

6. Document the culture, act as a social lubricant, and welcome new arrivals.

This does lead to possessing a certain amount of control, but I strive to not abuse the privilege.