Lead C++ Engineer, Embedded Guidance for Cattle

Halter; Auckland; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellness leave & unlimited annualleave

Health insurance

Parental leave

$1000 self-development budget

Employee stock ownership plan

Snacks & drinks

Job summary

Halter is seeking an experienced firmware engineer to own the guidance firmware and virtual fencing logic for cattle collars. You will design algorithms, state machines and the geometry behind virtual fences, ensuring safety and reliability across live fleets on multiple farms.

You’ll implement communication protocols, optimize for low-bandwidth links, and work across firmware, backend, frontend and animal experts.

Qualifications

• Proven experience shipping software for resource-constrained systems (embedded devices, real-time engines).
• Strong C++ fundamentals and design patterns.
• Experience with real-time constraints and low-power considerations.
• Comfort handling uncertain sensor data and unpredictable animal behavior.

Responsibilities

• Own guidance firmware and virtual fencing logic for cattle collars.
• Design guidance algorithms, state machines and related geometry.
• Implement protocols to move guidance data over a low-bandwidth radio link.
• Develop in C++23 on FreeRTOS with power/memory constraints.
• Debug field-only issues using logs and telemetry; participate in cross-team reviews.
• Mentor other engineers and contribute to safer, reliable system design.

Skills

C++ fundamentals

RT & concurrency

Embedded software

Geometry & timing

Ownership & accountability

Team collaboration

Tools

FreeRTOS

Job description

Halter is seeking an experienced firmware engineer to own the guidance firmware and virtual fencing logic for cattle collars. You will design algorithms, state machines and the geometry behind virtual fences, ensuring safety and reliability across live fleets on multiple farms.

You’ll implement communication protocols, optimize for low-bandwidth links, and work across firmware, backend, frontend and animal experts.