Software Engineering Manager

About Halter

Halter is dedicated to empowering farmers and graziers to manage highly productive and sustainable agricultural operations. Our innovative solutions enable customers to replace traditional, labor-intensive methods with smart technology, such as guiding cattle gently without the use of quad bikes or fences. Our mission is transformative, improving lives and revolutionizing the grazing industry. Join our high-performing team focused on pushing boundaries, solving tough challenges, and delivering impactful change with support from top-tier investors.

Role Overview

We seek a Software Engineering Manager skilled at leading and developing engineering teams while remaining deeply involved in the technical challenges. You will balance hands-on contribution with guiding your team, driving the technical strategy, and collaborating across design and product teams to deliver excellence. This role demands clear ownership, problem clarity from ambiguous situations, and strong leadership through complex issues.

Key Challenges

• Integrate data from thousands of collars and billions of sensor events into actionable insights for farmers.
• Precisely model real-world physical elements such as animals and terrain for real-time decision-making.
• Create robust mobile and web applications functional in harsh outdoor environments.
• Design scalable platforms and data pipelines that accommodate rapid growth seamlessly.
• Solve constraints imposed by hardware limitations, unreliable rural connectivity, and physical world complexities while maintaining rapid delivery.
  

Responsibilities

• Lead and nurture a mixed frontend and backend engineering team, supporting career growth and maintaining focus on priorities.
• Own your team's technical roadmap and delivery quality—ensuring reliability, maintainability, and real impact.
• Engage closely with system design, services, and data architecture, providing strong technical leadership.
• Champion engineering-driven initiatives and proactively address scaling challenges.
• Collaborate intimately with product and design teams to shape both what is built and how it is built, refining unclear requirements into executable plans.
• Investigate and leverage AI tools to enhance development efficiency and innovate workflows.
• Develop deep domain knowledge, including field visits on farms to understand context.
• Contribute positively to the company's engineering culture and best practices.

Desired Attributes and Experience

• Proven experience managing engineers with responsibilities including feedback, mentoring, performance management, and hiring.
• Approach work as a product engineer, focusing on user impact and product quality.
• Strong intuition for user experience, performance, and polish, consistently pushing for high standards.
• Able to balance swift delivery with quality and structure without excessive rigidity.
• Maintain composure under pressure, exhibit humility, and inspire teamwork during difficult projects.
• Experience in fast-paced startups, managing growth and ambiguous problem domains.

Additional valuable experience includes hardware or real-world systems integration, React Native mobile development, and building software for environments with physical constraints impacting UX.

Benefits

• Access to a range of snacks and beverages during the workday.
• Partnership with Southern Cross Health Insurance for holistic wellness support.
• Generous parental leave offerings including six months primary caregiver leave and four weeks secondary caregiver leave.
• A personal development budget of $1000 annually to support growth aspirations.
• Unlimited paid annual leave and wellness leave encouraging work-life balance.
• Competitive compensation including salary, benefits, and employee stock ownership plans.

Work Culture and Approach

Halter emphasizes an 'office-first' philosophy to foster high-quality interpersonal connections critical to teamwork and individual growth. While primarily office-based, flexible arrangements are supported under a high-trust environment. Our energetic and collaborative workplace environment is highly valued by team members transitioning from remote or hybrid settings.

Equal Opportunity

We are committed to maintaining a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone can bring their best selves to work. We encourage applications from candidates who may not match every listed qualification but have the passion and fit for our mission.

Application Process

Please submit a cover letter detailing your enthusiasm for this role and Halter’s mission, along with your CV for consideration.

Why Join Halter?

• Engage in purposeful work that impacts an entire industry and improves farmers’ lives.
• Collaborate with skilled, motivated, and supportive colleagues tackling complex challenges.
• Access an empowering environment emphasizing autonomy, mastery, and continuous learning.
• Experience a fast-paced, challenging role that offers significant personal and professional growth.