Senior Manager - Hardware Returns & Failure Analysis

About this role

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 https://foundersfund.com, Bessemer Venture Partners https://www.bvp.com/, BOND, https://www.bondcap.com/ DCVC https://www.dcvc.com/, Blackbird https://www.blackbird.vc/, Promus Ventures https://www.promusventures.com/, Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck and Icehouse ventures https://www.icehouseventures.co.nz/?utm_term=icehouse%20ventures&utm_campaign=Brand+Keywords&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=4064636360&hsa_cam=16902737884&hsa_grp=134004309485&hsa_ad=592971340272&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-1082530126230&hsa_kw=icehouse%20ventures&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2v-gBhC1ARIsAOQdKY0J0DepRVFDmjQlAkJPbZuQnLSA5UVzUzOXYiPxkjX-SeVa513_BhkaAr-MEALw_wcB.

To find out more, visit our LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/halter-limited & Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lifeathalter/.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We’re changing the way the world farms - and with that comes a responsibility to the producers worldwide who trust us with their animals. We’re looking for a highly capable and first-principled individual to join our Reliability & Failure Analysis team and build quicker, more accurate processes to debug failed hardware to root cause, both from the field and lab testing. Halter collars aren’t serviced, aren’t repairable and need to last 6-10 years, anywhere across the globe. To achieve this, we need to know about every failure in the field and how to eliminate it.

You’ll be responsible for building a team that debugs and diagnoses failed hardware, including collars and tower components, to deeply understand the root cause. Halter products are complex, highly integrated electromechanical devices, and debugging and root-causing the many different failure modes that occur requires highly skilled engineers who are inquisitive and methodical. This is both a technical and operational role where you will be central to closing the feedback loop between our lab & field performance and our engineering teams, ensuring that every failure is investigated, understood, and used to improve product reliability. This is a critical role to enable growth across the globe.

Our aspiration is to resource this team to increase accuracy and throughput, while lifting the deep technical competency and lab capabilities onsite in our Auckland office. This is a huge opportunity for the right person - you will have a lasting impact on farmers across the globe.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

- Ownership of the returns pipeline end-to-end: own intake, safe handling, triage, diagnostics, storage and traceability. Set clear targets for turnaround time, throughput and root-cause accuracy.

- Iterate the diagnostics process to improve accuracy and reduce no-fault-founds.

- Personally contribute to the highest-impact or deeply ambiguous failure modes. This is a hands-on role; you’ll be very close to the product.

- Complete ownership of the failure analysis lab capability: build a roadmap to bring capabilities in-house, such as X-Ray/CT, cross-section, SEM etc.

- Work closely with hardware, firmware, production, supplier quality and networking teams to communicate trends, insights, and specific failure modes. This is a role with significant respect and influence within Halter. It’s often the insight that determines where we focus.

- Hire out a brilliant team, rooted in excellent process discipline, technical capability and a tenacious curiosity to figure things out. Continuously develop technical depth and set clear expectations.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

- Deep electronics engineering experience, with hands-on experience debugging complex hardware.

- Seasoned leader: 5+ years in leadership roles, building out high performance teams.

- Excellent communication skills and the ability to translate technical findings into clear feedback for cross-functional teams.

- A deep curiosity and principled approach to finding root causes with clear evidence.

- Strong sense of ownership and a bias for action - you’re not afraid to roll up your sleeves and get stuck into wider challenges when required.

- Low ego, highly collaborative and willing to play for the front of the Jersey.

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

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