Senior Hardware Test Engineer - Automation & Product Quality

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, 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 flipping the livestock world on its head. We're scaling fast across NZ, Aus, and the US, lining up multiple new international markets, and the stakes are high.

We are looking for a Senior Hardware Test Engineer to be a technical cornerstone of our Test Engineering pillar within the broader Product Reliability Function. Our collar is tough and built for the beating it takes day in and day out on a farm, but it can always be tougher. We've iterated it to this point and learnt many tough lessons along the way. We need someone who can design and execute automated tests across 100's of samples, that turn assumptions into evidence; someone who brings rigour, creativity, and speed to every challenge they take on.

Our devices face demanding field conditions at incredible scale. We'll be the first virtual fencing company ever with 1 million devices live, and with some customers deploying thousands of units per herd, our testing must be comprehensive, automated and traceable back to product requirements on top of accounting for every edge case to guarantee reliability.

Hardware is only getting more important strategically for Halter, and you'll be right at the core, making that happen. It's a rare opportunity to accelerate your career with unique and valuable experience in a high-performance, fast-paced environment where product reliability matters most and test automation, repeatability and traceability are your tools.

This role reports to our Hardware Test Engineering Manager and sits within the Product Reliability Function. You'll be the person who owns the test strategy and test infrastructure, builds the tests, builds the rigs, analyses the data, and delivers the evidence that drives confident product decisions.

What you'll own

Your work produces the evidence that decides whether we ship, whether we hold, and what we fix next. You'll operate with a high degree of autonomy across test design, execution, and infrastructure.

Design, build, and run tests that matter:

• Own and execute the test automation strategy and overarching infrastructure (likely in Python or Teststand)

• Design and execute environmental, reliability, verification and validations tests across electromechanical sub-systems and full product assemblies: HALT, UV exposure, tumble, impact, thermal cycling, ingress, and more.

• Own tests end-to-end: from interpreting product requirements and writing test plans through to execution, analysis, and delivering clear pass/fail evidence.

• Identify gaps in requirements or test coverage and propose new methods or approaches to close them.

Build and maintain test infrastructure:

• Design and build bespoke test rigs, fixtures, and automation that makes testing faster, more repeatable, more reproducible and less manual.

• Own, maintain and integrate environmental chambers, DAQ systems, RF systems and other equipment into the test automation infrastructure, ensuring the infrastructure is always calibrated and up to a high standard.

• Continuously raise the bar on test and data throughput without compromising evidential quality or repeatability.

Deliver decision-grade data:

• Ensure every test produces data that is trustworthy, traceable, and actionable—not just raw numbers, but clear evidence that links back to requirements or risks that engineering leadership can rely on for go/no-go decisions.

• Maintain strong test governance practices: calibration records, equipment versioning, code versioning, procedure versioning, and full traceability.

• Present findings clearly to cross-functional stakeholders, turning complex results into crisp recommendations.

Collaborate across engineering:

• Partner closely with Reliability Engineering, Hardware Design, Firmware, and Production to ensure quality testing approaches are embedded early in the development cycle, not bolted on at the end.

• Work with Reliability Engineers to translate reliability requirements and product requirements into robust, efficient and scaleable test plans.

• Contribute to a culture of evidence over opinions—where "reliable" and "quality" means "proven," NOT "seems fine."

What success looks like

• Tests you design and run are repeatable, well-documented, and trusted across the organisation.

• Your evidence directly enables Halter to ship with confidence, driven by data rather than hope.

• Test infrastructure you build scales with the team—others can pick up your rigs, procedures, and methods and run with them.

• Reliability and Quality improves with every release, and your work is a key reason why.

What we're looking for

You're a hands-on engineer who builds things that work

• Significant experience in hardware test engineering or validation in high-reliability environments (IoT, ruggedised consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace, industrial, robotics, or similar).

• You've designed and run environmental and reliability tests, and you understand the science behind the stress methods, not just the procedures.

You know the tools and the reality

• Strong experience at building a scalable and automated test infrastructure

• Strong experience with environmental testing, accelerated life testing, and reliability stress methods such as HALT/UV/Tumble/Impact etc.

• Proven ability to design and build bespoke test jigs, fixtures, instrumentation, DAQ systems, and automation.

• Solid calibration discipline and an instinct for where precision matters versus where "good enough" is actually good enough.

• Comfortable with data analysis, automate reporting and able to draw clear conclusions and value from test results.

You operate with ownership and clarity

• You take end-to-end ownership of your work and hold yourself to a high standard.

• You communicate clearly—your test reports, presentations, and recommendations are easy to act on.

• You thrive in cross-functional environments and collaborate with high standards and low ego.

Join our team

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.

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!"