Michael Argyle was one of the first Chief Engineers we see aboard the Enterprise-D in the first season of TNG (2364), and they had several that first year. He has a slight Scottish accent. Having been involved with Kosinski’s warp drive experiment, as well as re-assembling Lore, he has had some interesting stories to tell about his time aboard. At the time, he was at the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
A screen in one of the remastered episodes indicates that he remained aboard the Enterprise-D until 2367. Also, many beta canon sources kill him off one way or another (and either call him Michael or Terence), but you don’t have to stick with that in your quantum continuity. Argyle would be a great candidate for promotion to Commander (or even Captain), and be placed in charge of a space station or re-assigned as Chief Engineer or Commanding Officer aboard another Starfleet vessel. He would also be great as someone in charge of fleetyards or ship design.
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I wonder how Geordi got the job then?
I’ve generally assumed that, since the Galaxy class was still fairly new at that point, several chief engineers were rotated on and off the Enterprise-D during that first year in service. The same might have happened on the other early ships in the class. That way, as new ships roll out, there’s a pool of qualified engineers waiting for them.
After about year, when Starfleet felt ready for Picard to nominate a permanent chief engineer, he fast-tracked Geordi into the position. That would also account for Geordi getting promoted from lieutenant j.g. to full lieutenant in 2365, and then to lieutenant commander in 2366.
Captain’s Discretion, of course! 😉