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Halter is a venture-backed agtech company transforming grazing management through autonomous livestock technology. The company is backed by Tier 1 investors including Founders Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, and DCVC.
As Principal Supplier Quality Engineer, you will be Halter's senior technical authority embedded in Asia, responsible for ensuring component quality across the company's supplier base. This is a hands-on technical role, not a compliance function. You'll lead rigorous supplier audits, own complex quality problem-solving, and act as the technical bridge between Halter's Asia supply base and the engineering team in Auckland.
Key responsibilities include:
**Technical Supplier Auditing:** Conduct technically rigorous audits of component suppliers across Asia, going beyond system compliance to assess process control and measurement capability. Identify real drivers of quality performance, develop prioritized findings, and conduct pre-qualification and surveillance audits. Continuously improve Halter's audit methodology.
**Technical Problem Solving:** Own resolution of complex quality issues using first-principles analysis. Lead rapid on-site analysis when production failures occur, work with suppliers to improve process controls and inspection methods, and coach supplier engineering teams to develop their own root cause analysis capability. Escalate issues clearly when resolution stalls or quality risks emerge.
**Quality Assurance Specifications:** Implement and maintain Halter's QA specifications at suppliers, ensuring understanding and consistent application. Work with the hardware design team to refine specifications based on field experience and audit findings. Ensure updated specifications are communicated when designs evolve.
You'll operate with high autonomy, covering a portfolio of suppliers across the region. You'll report to the Head of Supplier Quality and work closely with hardware design and operations teams. Success is measured on audit quality, speed and effectiveness of issue resolution, and your ability to build supplier capability over time.
This role requires someone who can walk a production line and immediately identify quality drivers, sit with supplier engineers to work through failure modes from first principles, and distinguish between corrective actions that actually solve problems versus cosmetic fixes.
