I think that there is a career progression for those that are interested in that sort of thing. its not extensive,
ie for an atco you can become an ojti, almost all do
you can then become an assessor,the next step
then maybe an examiner to carry out boards or LCE who checks the atco's to ensure that they are still working within the rules
but it has to be said that these jobs entail a fair amount of work and are not well rewarded financially at the moment.
on the mangement route at a centre you can become a bank supervisor, looking after the general running of the sectors
next a watch supervisor, then a watch manager but the further you go up the scale the further you get away from doing the job of atco which is why i joined in the first place. in order to gain promotion though you have to jump through a lot of hoops and get the right ticks in the right boxes which to be honest some people just cannot be arsed with.
there's also projects that you can apply to participate in but again there is generally no financial award(unless you are managing it)
just a quick idea of some of what's available but hope it helps