Mechanical Engineer

Halter; Auckland; On-site; NZD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Halter is seeking a hands-on Mechanical Engineer to design and iterate rugged hardware fitted to animals, ensuring 24/7 operation for years in the field. You’ll own parts from concept to production, with a bias for manufacturability and reliability.

You'll work with SolidWorks or Onshape for 3D CAD and 2D drafting, collaborate with suppliers, travel 10–20% of the year, and contribute to a fast-growing team solving real-world agricultural challenges.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering or a similar field is highly desired.
• 1+ years of professional experience ideally working on robust hardware.
• Capable with 3D CAD and 2D drafting, preferably using SolidWorks or Onshape.
• Interested and available to travel for 10-20% of the year (negotiable).

Responsibilities

• High ownership and accountability; drive success for team and organization.
• Rapid hands-on development delivering robust electro-mechanical products through to production.
• Time on farms with farmers and animals; ergonomic design focus.
• Collaborating with external suppliers to optimize designs and manufacturing processes.

Skills

3D CAD

2D drafting

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Onshape

Job description

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.

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 Founders Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, BOND, DCVC, Blackbird, Promus Ventures, Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck and Icehouse ventures. To find out more, visit our LinkedIn & Instagram.

About The Role

Hardware at Halter is truly unique. We design and build devices that are fitted to an animal, and must remain operational 24/7 for 6-10 years out in the field. To achieve this, we iterate and improve our products continuously, so a mechanical role at Halter can be quite diverse. We own our designs right the way through, from sketching how a device might fit on an animal, to testing in the lab to see how it might break, to spending time on the production line finding ways to improve the product. We like to do things quickly, no matter which phase of the design we're in, which makes the role fast-paced and adaptive. We're endlessly challenged by our farmers, our animals, and our lofty production targets; so there's never a dull day.

For the next stage, we need talented, disciplined mechanical engineers who know how to develop hardware. With plenty of new markets and revenue streams to unlock, there will be no shortage of exciting mechanical projects, all of which require problem solving, critical thinking, and the ability to execute to a high standard. These projects will offer ample opportunity for up-skilling, leadership, mentorship and career development. At Halter, our teams are small and agile, which means you get to work on the most important projects, and contribute to the company's success, whatever your role may be.

2027 will be Halter's biggest year yet, and this is your chance to be a part of it.

What would be valuable:

• Highly reliable device design.
  • Experience developing robust products.
  • Exposure to the full product life cycle.
  • Understand the challenges of outdoor hardware.
• Verification and validation.
  • Designing, conducting and documenting high quality tests.
• Injection Molding:
  • Experience designing complex injection molded parts, specifically overmolding.
  • Experience in setting up contract manufacturers to produce high quality injection molded parts.
  • Experience with tool commissioning at contract manufacturers.
• Design for Manufacture (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA):
  • Designing and iterating parts and assemblies to make them easy to manufacture and easy to assemble.
  • Designing for and selecting processes for high volume manufacturing.

What your day could look like

• High ownership and high accountability. You have to be committed to the mission and drive success for yourself, for the team, and for the organization.
• Rapid hands-on development delivering robust electro-mechanical products through to production.
• Time spent on the farm with our farmers, ranchers and animals. If you like cows, you'll love working in the mechanical team as we have a strong focus on ergonomic design.
• Collaborating with external suppliers to optimise designs and streamline manufacturing processes. We spend a lot of time at our suppliers in China and Thailand and we encourage our engineers to problem solve at the factory.
• Be part of, and contribute to, a high performance team. We want you to add to the culture and push growth within the team. We want drivers not passengers.
• We'll never lose our start-up culture, so you'll be rolling your sleeves up and helping with whatever is required to make our customers and cows happy.

Other Requirements

• A Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering or a similar field is highly desired.
• 1+ years of professional experience ideally working on robust hardware.
• Capable with 3D CAD and 2D drafting, preferably using Solidworks or Onshape.
• Interested and available to travel for 10-20% of the year (negotiable).

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.

Why our team loves working at Halter:

• Work that genuinely matters. Every now and again a company comes along that transforms an entire industry and leaves the world in a better place. Our team gets to be part of something truly meaningful, helping farmers improve their livelihoods, spend more time with their families, and build more sustainable operations.
• Spectacular people solving hard problems. Our culture is designed for talented people to do work that changes lives. The team is filled with diverse, kind, and driven people who push each other to do their best work. You'll be thrown into the deep end, tackling complex challenges and building something tangible that solves real problems.
• You'll grow here. Autonomy, mastery, and learning define how we work. You'll have the freedom to work on interesting problems, master new skills, and continuously develop yourself, both through your role and our $1,000 personal growth fund.
• This isn't easy, and we love that it's hard. Working at Halter will be the most rewarding and the most challenging work of your life. We move fast, take bold bets, and work hard to reshape an entire industry. As one team member put it: "Joining Halter is a bit like strapping yourself to a rocket ship, but it's an epic journey to be a part of!"