Senior Backend Engineer (Animal Team)

About the role

At Halter, we work at the interface of where software meets firmware meets hardware underpinned by deep data to transform and improve what our customers (farmers) have been doing for centuries. This space is challenging and intellectually really stimulating. We're just scratching the surface.

We are looking for a Senior Backend Engineer who is hungry to make an impact on the world; someone that can continue to make our team greater than the sum of its parts. We’re looking for someone comfortable working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment where they will be challenged daily. To succeed you will need to be able to learn quickly and use your initiative while working under pressure and tight deadlines. We have an incredibly talented team who embrace learning, we strive to help each other succeed, which you will get to play a key role in as a senior engineer.

What your day could look like

• Hands-on backend development delivering tested and reliable software through to production
• Work with other engineers and product specialists as part of a cross-functional team, contributing to your teammates’ success, encouraging cross-pollination of roles, challenging the team to continuously improve, and encouraging collaboration and task sharing
• Maintain high levels of communication with your team and others about product requirements, timelines, risks, and priorities
• Set the bar in your area of expertise and ensure the team is aware of new technological advances and better ways of working
• As interested act as a technical mentor for our more junior engineers and act as a role model as to what practices are important to ensure a continuously improving codebase
• Join your teammates in ensuring your systems are always available and responsive, as part of our on-call roster, following good reliability engineering practices
• And finally, this is a start-up, so you’ll also be rolling your sleeves up and helping with whatever is required to succeed in our mission, knowing that your whole organisation is with you doing the same

Who we’re looking for

• A solid track record working as a software development engineer, with examples of outcomes you’re proud to have delivered
• Experience working with modern cloud-based distributed systems (especially in the AWS context)
• Experience working in an agile development practice, in a cross-functional development team
• Someone who is product-oriented and cares about customer experience, being able to solve real-life customer problems
• Experience working with any of Kotlin, Java, or Node.js would be a HUGE bonus but most importantly, we're looking for someone who is super passionate about what they do and is eager to learn! 
• Sound understanding of how to develop testable systems and write great automated tests
• A strong understanding of common development processes such as version control, continuous integration/delivery, code reviews, and pair programming
• A degree in software engineering or equivalent is desirable but is not required

Why our team loves working at Halter ❤️

• Dedicate yourself to solving real-world problems alongside an epic team in a culture designed around growth.
• A genuine and shared connection to our mission to make a difference in the world.
• The pride of joining an iconic New Zealand technology company. The excitement, risk, and reward of a high-growth technology scale-up on the global stage.
• Our ideas are truly valued, we are able to move fast, and our impact is real.
• State-of-the-art, dog-friendly office that’s been thoughtfully designed right in the heart of Auckland city. Did we mention dogs and cows?
• Healthy body, healthy mind. We’re partnered with Southern Cross Health Insurance to support your well-being.
• We offer 6 months of fully paid parental leave for primary caregivers, 4 weeks of fully paid secondary caregiver leave and many other parental benefits that support you and your family.
• Our personal growth is important. Halter offers an annual $1000 self-development budget to be used for anything that fuels personal growth.
• Our time to recharge is valued, we’re offered wellness leave and unlimited paid annual leave.
• We offer an inclusive and attractive remuneration package made up of salary, benefits and an employee stock ownership plan.
• Delicious snacks and drinks are available for your daily flow.

Our Office First Approach

There’s a reason you visit your friends in person, live with your family and don’t do dinners over Zoom. Humans are wired for connection. We believe a world-class, in-person office culture is the best way for high-performing teams. 

Being office first is a core pillar of our culture. We believe in-person connections are key to driving your own growth, learning, impact, and building genuine long-lasting relationships. Strong relationships make it easier to disagree, give feedback, and do meaningful and aligned work. We don’t like having heaps of rules or policies, but this means having strong, trusted relationships is critical.

Our office vibe is something special, it’s hard to describe until you’re here, but people at Halter who have come from fully remote or hybrid companies say they could never go back - the high energy and spectacular people they are now surrounded by everyday makes work so enjoyable. Your growth, your learning and your impact is truly unlimited here, and a big part of that comes from being together solving problems, innovating, building context, and constantly learning from each other.

About Halter

At Halter, we’re on a mission to enable farmers and graziers to run the most productive and sustainable operations. Our customers are using Halter to break free from the time-intensive constraints of conventional practices. Imagine watching 500 cattle stand up and walk calmly towards their next break? No quad bikes, no dogs, no fences. Just a group of cattle walking at their own pace. People say it looks like magic. Our customers are revolutionizing grazing with Halter. It's changing lives and transforming an industry. People join Halter to do meaningful work. By joining us you’ll be solving challenging problems within a talented team and a culture built for high performance. Our team out-think, out-work and out-care. We’re committed to delivering real change in the world - this isn’t easy, and in truth, we love that it’s hard. We’re backed to deliver on a mission that matters by Tier 1 investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC, Blackbird, Promus Ventures, Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck and Icehouse ventures.

To find out more, visit our careers website, LinkedIn & Instagram.

Join our team

Halter is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace — a place where we can each be ourselves and do the best work of our lives. Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the requirements, women and under-represented groups of candidates tend to only apply when they meet every requirement. If you think you have what it takes but don’t necessarily tick every requirement on this job description, please still get in touch and apply to Halter. We’d love to chat to see if you’ll be an epic fit!

If this opportunity sounds like you, please apply below by sending through your cover letter explaining why you’re excited about this role and working at Halter, along with your CV, and we’ll be in touch!

Please also feel free to check out the careers and culture page for more information on working at Halter and don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn & Instagram.