Lead Backend Engineer

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.
- 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 be great 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 our team loves working at Halter ❤️**:

- Dedicate yourself to solving real-world problems alongside an epic team in a culture designed around growth.
- A genuine and shared connection to our mission to make a difference in the world.
- The pride of joining an iconic New Zealand technology company. The excitement, risk, and reward of a high-growth technology scale-up on the global stage.
- Our ideas are truly valued, we are able to move fast, and our impact is real.
- State-of-the-art, dog-friendly office that’s been thoughtfully designed right in the heart of Auckland city. Did we mention dogs and cows?
- 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.
- We offer an inclusive and attractive remuneration package made up of salary, benefits and an employee stock ownership plan.
- Delicious snacks and drinks are available for your daily flow.

**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 proble