Guidance Software Engineering Manager

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.

We're looking for a Software Engineering Manager who builds and elevates their team, drives strong technical solutions, and goes deep on hard, real-world problems. This isn't a pure delivery or pure people role. You'll be in the work, shaping technical direction, collaborating closely with design and product, and helping your team do the best work of their careers. Don't worry, you'll also be hands-on.

Virtual Fencing is the heart of Halter. It's how thousands of farmers across the world manage their animals every single day. Working closely with a Product Manager and leading a talented group of software engineers, you'll own building the features that make a genuinely complex, hardware-constrained problem feel effortless in the hands of someone standing at the dairy shed at 5am.

Our product lives where software meets the physical world; hundreds of distributed collars on real animals, more or less in real time. The constraints are real, and so is the craft required to work within them elegantly. You'll need to hold the technical bar high while creating the space for others to grow. We're solving problems that haven't been solved before, and you'll be crucial to figuring them out.

It's a role that demands absolute ownership; someone who can take a blurry problem, create clarity, and lead a team to nail it. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who cares deeply about product, has a strong intuition for experience quality, and leaves things loads better than they found them.

This role is about crafting a Guidance experience that farmers love; one that works intuitively across farms that are fundamentally different in scale, terrain, and practice across all our markets. The team is full-stack with a frontend lean; you'll be working across mobile and services to deliver an experience that feels effortless, no matter how complex the problem underneath.

• Lead a team of engineers; supporting their growth, giving great feedback, and helping them focus on what matters.

• Own the technical direction and delivery of your team's work; staying close to the details across mobile, services, and system design. You'll be hands-on; code review, design collaboration, and bringing a strong point of view to the hard calls.

• Work closely with product and design to shape what we build, not just how. You'll be in the room when requirements are fuzzy and you'll help make them clear.

• Back engineering-led initiatives and look for opportunities to use AI tools to accelerate development or unlock entirely new ways of working.

• Get out on farm. Deep domain knowledge matters and you'll be expected to develop it.

• Contribute to the broader engineering culture and practices that make Halter a great place to build.

• Have led engineers directly; performance conversations, mentoring, hiring, the lot.

• Think like a product engineer. You care about what gets built and the impact it has on the person holding the phone in the paddock.

• Have a strong intuition for UX, performance, and product polish. You know what good feels like and you push for it.

• Know how to shape and structure work without being overly prescriptive.

• Stay calm under pressure, have a low ego, and can rally a team through tough or complex work.

• You've worked in fast-moving startups, seen growth, and tackled ambiguous problem spaces.

• Mobile or React Native experience.

• You've built experiences for demanding real-world environments where the UX constraints are physical, not just digital.

There’s a reason you visit your friends in person, live with your family and don’t do dinners over Zoom. Humans are wired for connection. We believe a world-class, in-person office culture is the best way for high-performing teams.
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. Strong relationships make it easier to disagree, give feedback, and do meaningful and aligned work. We don’t like having heaps of rules or policies, but this means having strong, trusted relationships is critical.
We’re office first, not office only. This means working from the office everyday is our default setting, but we flex when we need to. We have a high-trust culture, so everyone is trusted to do what’s best for Halter.
Our office vibe is something special, it’s hard to describe until you’re here, but people at Halter who have come from fully remote or hybrid companies say they could never go back - the high energy and spectacular people they are now surrounded by everyday makes work so enjoyable. Your growth, your learning and your impact is truly unlimited here, and a big part of that comes from being together solving problems, innovating, building context, and constantly learning from each other.

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. 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 to Halter. 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.

• 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!"