I don't believe you can assign a Role with ACL specific enough to show/hide individual attributes.
However, I think it would be possible by editing the renderer for the adminhtml catalog page.
*Note: This is not the Magento way of doing it. This is just a proof of concept to show that it is possible to do. This code works and hopefully it will inspire you to come up with a proper solution. *
Edit the following file:
app/design/adminhtml/default/default/template/catalog/form/renderer.phtml
Near the top of the file after <?php $_element = $this->getElement() ?>
, add this code:
<?php
// Admin Role that needs special permission
$admin_role = "Showcase";
// Array with all of the Attributes you want to exclude from your custom Admin Role
$disallowed_attributes[]="name";
$disallowed_attributes[]="description";
$disallowed_attributes[]="short_description";
// Keep adding these lines. One for every attribute code that you want your special role to not show.
$role = Mage::getSingleton('admin/session')->getUser()->getRole()->getRoleName();
if (in_array($_element->getId(),$disallowed_attributes) && $role==$admin_role) {
return false; // Don't display this attribute
}
?>
One thing to keep in mind is if you exclude an attribute that is a required field then you won't be able to save your product since that required field will not be showing.
I hope this helps get you started on creating a more permanent solution.