Lead Backend Engineer at halter

At Halter, we know how much farmers care - for their animals and their pasture. But the tools they rely on haven’t kept up, and we’re on a mission to change that. Halter helps farmers make smarter decisions - fast. We reckon good pasture management is the key to more productive and sustainable farms. More grass. Healthier soil. Happier animals. And more time back for the people doing the work. About the role We’re looking for an epic backend engineer with a product-obsessed mindset and the ability to lead - someone who cares about what we build and why. This is a rare chance to solve hard problems no one’s tackled before. As a lead, you’ll shape the services that power everything from our mobile and web apps to our devices and data pipelines. You’ll write clean, reliable code that makes a real difference. We’re embracing what AI means for how we build and operate — and you’ll help us do that well. You’ll be hands-on and collaborative: shipping features, improving performance, and shaping how we work. We care about how you think and act — curious, thoughtful, practical, and someone who takes absolute ownership. What you'll do • Lead the design and delivery of scalable, secure, and reliable backend systems. • Make smart architectural calls on services, APIs, data models, and infrastructure. • Work closely with frontend, hardware, data, and product to ship high-impact features quickly. • Apply AI tools (like Copilot or Cursor) to improve team velocity while keeping systems easy to understand and evolve. • Set the standard for thoughtful backend engineering — clean, observable, and easy to evolve. • Support and mentor other engineers through design conversations, code reviews, and generous context sharing. • Stay hands-on — helping shape the product, not just the code. • Own the reliability and performance of our systems — especially when things get tricky. • Help evolve our testing strategies, CI/CD workflows, and infrastructure patterns. • You’ll help set the pace and quality bar for backend engineering at Halter. You'll thrive in this role if you • Have designed and delivered complex backend systems in production and have the experience (and lessons) to show for it. • Bring deep technical expertise, but are happy to use the right tool for the job. • Think like a product engineer: you care about the customer experience, not just clean code, and have the experience to back this. • Know how to use AI tools well — not just as shortcuts, but to lift team output and focus on the harder stuff. • Have experience leading engineering efforts and supporting others to do their best work. • Understand how to build and scale REST APIs, distributed systems, and event-driven services. • Are comfortable with both relational and non-relational databases. • Have worked in cloud environments - AWS is a bonus. • Are comfortable in fast-moving, ambiguous environments where adaptability beats perfection. We work hard. • Ideally have experience with Node.js, Go, or systems that integrate with hardware or IoT.A degree in software engineering (or equivalent) is nice to have, but not essential. Why Halter? • Every so often a company comes along that disrupts and transforms an entire industry, leaving society in a better place, and Halter is doing just that. We have a genuine and shared connection to our mission and want to make a real difference in the world. • Our product changes the lives of our farmers and ranchers, directly improving their livelihoods and their lifestyle. Your work matters. • Dedicate yourself to solving real-world problems alongside an epic team in a high-growth culture.. New ideas are highly encouraged, we’re able to move fast, and our impact is real. • 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. • With Halter not being your standard 9-5, our time to recharge is important; we’re offered wellness leave and unlimited paid annual leave. As they say, the fastest car needs the best brakes. • We offer an inclusive and attractive remuneration package made up of salary, benefits and an employee stock ownership plan (shares) About Halter We’re on a mission to enable farmers and ranchers to run their most productive and sustainable operations. Our customers are using Halter to break free from the time-intensive constraints of conventional farming. Imagine watching 500 cattle stand up and walk calmly towards their next break, with not a human in sight? No quad bikes, no dogs, no fences. Just a group of cattle walking at their own pace. People say it looks like magic.. It's changing lives and transforming an industry. People join Halter to do meaningful work. 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. Our office-first approach 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. We’re office first, not office only. This means that working from the office every day is our default setting, but we flex when needed. Your growth, learning, and impact are truly unlimited here, and a big part of that comes from being together, solving problems, innovating, building context, and constantly learning from each other. We have a state-of-the-art, dog-friendly office in the heart of Auckland City and a test farm in Morrinsville. Delicious snacks and drinks are readily available. Join our team Halter is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace - where we can bring our full selves to work 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. 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 page for more information on working at Halter and don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn & Instagram.