SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Halter is transforming livestock farming through innovative technology that enables farmers to manage grazing operations sustainably and productively. The company uses IoT collars and towers to monitor and guide cattle movement, eliminating the need for traditional fencing, quad bikes, and herding dogs. Halter is backed by tier-1 investors including Founders Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, and DCVC.
As a Staff Backend Engineer on the Network Team, you will design and build fault-tolerant systems handling millions of real-time messages from collars and towers deployed globally. You'll scale infrastructure to support rapid device growth using AWS-native tools like Kinesis, SNS/SQS, and related services. Your responsibilities include continuously improving reliability, observability, and fault-tolerance across the messaging and network stack; leading troubleshooting of complex cross-functional issues in partnership with firmware, hardware, and product teams; owning and leading technical projects from scoping through execution and communication; building highly reliable automation for zero-touch collar and tower deployments; and mentoring teammates while guiding technical direction as protocols and infrastructure evolve at scale.
The role is based in Auckland with an office-first culture. Halter values in-person collaboration and high-trust relationships as core to team performance, learning, and impact. The company offers unlimited paid annual leave, 6 months fully paid parental leave for primary caregivers, wellness leave, a $1,000 annual self-development budget, and an employee stock ownership plan.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Proven experience scaling distributed systems in production as a seasoned backend engineer
- Proficiency with AWS or other modern cloud infrastructure platforms
- Familiarity with Terraform, load testing frameworks, and chaos engineering practices
- Comfort with messaging protocols including MQTT, TCP/IP, and cloud-native messaging systems (Kinesis, SNS/SQS)
- Strong debugging skills and deep understanding of system behavior, using data to drive decisions
- Ability to own high-uptime systems and operate with production-grade reliability mindset
- Growth mindset with strong collaboration and feedback skills; ability to move fast
- Previous experience with LoRa is a significant bonus
