Star Trek Online (and Star Trek) in general has loads of great ship designs. Each and every fan/player has their own "favorite" which they hold dear to their heart. Which is why it's always saddening, when that favorite ship, ends up having the "wrong" BOff layout. But you end up forced to contend with that layout, since the ship doesn't exist using a different layout. (without additional work that is)

What I propose, is a total revamping of all top level (Tier 5+) ships, to use the following BOff Layout:

Commander [Ship Specific]
Lt Commander [Universal]
Lieutenant [Alternate Career 1]
Lieutenant [Alternate Career 2]
Ensign [Universal]

What this boils down to, is the following setups:

Example Cruiser:
Commander Engineer
Lt Commander Universal
Lieutenant Science
Lieutenant Tactical
Ensign Universal

Example Escort:
Commander Tactical
Lt Commander Universal
Lieutenant Engineer
Lieutenant Science
Ensign Universal

Example Science:
Commander Science
Lt Commander Universal
Lieutenant Engineer
Lieutenant Tactical
Ensign Universal

This allows the widest possible variety for any given ship. Players can run a Science ship with 3 Tacticals (Lt Cmdr, Lt and Ensign), or a Cruiser with 3 Science, or if you prefer a more jack-of-all-trades, an Escort with a Lt Commander Tactical and either 2 Science or 2 Engineers.

Now, obviously you still want to have some variation between the ships. That's where ship stats such as hull values, default shields, turn rates etc come into play. An Assault Cruiser would be better suited for Tactical assignments, than a Star Cruiser which is better suited for Science assignments.

More often than not, the current "Ensign [specific career]" system on most Tier 5+ ships, ends up being rather limited to the point of uselessness. Making all Ensign slots universal, allows the players the widest possible flexibility to choose their own playstyle.

If you've read this far, I thank you for your time, and hope for some engaging debate on the matter.

Looking at the new Fleet Variants there seems to be a Lt.Com in every flavour for every ship type.

With the Exception of an Escort with a Lt.Com Sci although the MVAE does this job while missing a console.

I am really really against every ship having universals on it. If for the only reason that the BoP is giving up an Ensign for no reason.