Hi Michael! Your use case makes total sense. While we don't have the exact capability you are talking about above. yet, we did just release a feature set that gets you closer to your goal.
If you are an Ontraport Expert or agency, you can now grant access to your account without creating user seats using the Managed Accounts subcollection. Read more about it here: https://ontraport.com/support/reference-material/manage-your-partners-and-users/
The writer/designer user role would allow that person to view automations and add/remove contacts from them (I know, not exactly what you were going for) but they would NOT be able to edit/delete those automations. See here.