Research & Development Specialist

Halter; Waikato; On-site; NZD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellness leave

Personal growth budget

Parental leave

Employee stock ownership plan

Southern Cross Health Insurance

Job summary

Halter is transforming the agriculture industry with its market-leading virtual fencing technology. We are seeking a Research & Development Specialist to join the team that develops and iterates our product.

The role is primarily based in the Waikato on our R&D farm near Morrinsville, with time at our Auckland HQ. You’ll learn on the job, run small trials, and work closely with engineers to add features and functionalities.

Qualifications

• We value hunger over experience! Highly motivated individuals who love solving hard problems.
• You should be prepared to work outdoors on the farm and to get your hands dirty.
• You’ll thrive in ambiguity, be proactive, and enjoy thinking outside the box.

Responsibilities

• Assist in and run trials to develop our virtual fencing product.
• Use data from Halter collars to inform decisions and improvements.
• Test and validate prototypes on our Waikato farm and in the Auckland HQ.
• Contribute to brainstorming sessions when designing new features.
• Lead cross-functional project teams to deliver value for farmers and animals.
• Visit customer farms for on-site support and research deployments.

Skills

Motivation

Problem solving

Ambition

Willingness to work outdoors

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.

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

Halter is a dynamic fast paced workplace where our Guidance team is working on Halter’s market leading virtual fencing technology. We are transforming the agriculture industry globally, and you can be a part of that!

We are looking for a Research & Development Specialist to join the team that is continuously developing our virtual fencing product. Everything you need to know to nail this role you’ll learn on the job and you’ll have to work hard to keep up. In this role you’ll be supported to become an expert in virtual fencing. This role is primarily based in the Waikato on our R&D farm close to Morrinsville, where we’ve built our own office in an old calf barn, but you’ll also spend plenty of time in our HQ in Auckland.

The on-farm Research & Development crew has been around as long as Halter and had a huge impact on Halter’s journey; from developing the original Cowgorithm™ to Halter’s expansion into the beef industry, Australia and the US. And we’re only just getting started, so we are looking for someone who is eager to get stuck in and join this unique team.

What does a Research & Development Specialist do?

As you’ll start to become familiar with the basics of our product, you’ll be supporting and running small projects. We’ll teach you how to use our internal tools to analyse all the data our collars generate and you’ll be testing and validating new versions of our software on our R&D farm.

As your understanding of our product increases you’ll be working closely with our engineers to design and develop new features and functionalities. Most of our R&D starts with some crazy idea that we work out on a whiteboard. You’ll be testing and validating the first prototype and will be supporting the implementation into the product.

Once you know all the intricacies of our system you’ll be independently running trials, visiting Halter farms when they require on‑ground support and could play a role in our international expansion if you’re up for it.

What we’re looking for

For this role we value hunger over experience! Whether you have loads, little or no experience in Research and Development, we want to hear from you! We’re looking for someone that is incredibly motivated, loves solving hard problems and has an incredible attitude. You can’t be afraid to get your hands dirty though, because about half of your work will be outdoors on our farm. Cattle are amazing and intelligent animals to work with and you should be as least as excited about working with them as we are.

If you love the unknown, are hungry for adventure and have a strong desire to learn new things, then this might be the right role for you. It’s important to you that your work matters and you want to have an impact on people, animals and a global industry.

At Halter we value getting shit done and this isn’t a 9-5 job. We didn’t become one of NZ's fastest growing companies by fluffing around. We’re looking for someone that is looking for a challenge and is eager to go above and beyond to help Halter achieve our mission.

We’re looking for someone that has insane critical thinking abilities, is able to thoroughly analyse problems and can come up with innovative and creative solutions to hard problems, even when they may seem unsolvable. You thrive in ambiguity and use your initiative when needed. You’re not afraid to ask questions, to share your opinion and to think out of the box. And of course; we’re looking for someone that can have some fun in the workplace.

What your day could look like
This role can be hard to define and comes with a final bullet point saying whatever it takes. The list below gives a good indication of what the job will look like as you’re growing into it, but the opportunities are endless.

• Assist in and run trials to further develop our virtual fencing product.

• Use our internal tools to analyse and inspect the various data generated by Halter collars to help inform decision‑making.

• Test and validate prototypes of new functionalities on our farm in the Waikato. We kind of pretend to be a cow to make sure everything operates as expected.

• Contribute to brainstorming sessions when we’re designing new features.

• Participate in and lead cross‑functional project teams to deliver value for our farmers and animals.

• Visit customer farmers and ranchers when on‑farm support or research is required.

Our Benefits

• Delicious snacks and drinks are available for your daily flow.

• 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.

• Importantly, we offer an inclusive and attractive remuneration package made up of salary, benefits and an employee stock ownership plan.

Our Office First Approach

Humans are wired for connection. Being office first is a core pillar of our culture because in‑person connections drive your growth, learning, impact, and relationships. Strong relationships make it easier to disagree, give feedback, and do meaningful work together.

We're office first, not office only. Working from the office is our default, but we flex when needed. We have a high‑trust culture where everyone is trusted to do what's best for Halter.

Our office vibe is special, the high energy and spectacular people make work enjoyable. Your growth and impact are unlimited here, coming from solving problems, innovating, and constantly learning from each other.

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!"