Senior Reliability Engineer

Original listing details

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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

We’re changing the way the world farms - and with that comes a responsibility to the producers worldwide who trust us with their animals. Halter collars aren’t serviced, aren’t repairable and need to last 6-10 years, anywhere across the globe. We can’t wait a decade to find out whether a design will survive - so we have to know before it ships. That’s the job of our Reliability team.

As a Reliability Engineer, you’ll be the person who turns “it needs to last” into evidence. You’ll own reliability for products and subsystems through development: assessing risk early, designing accelerated tests grounded in physics of failure, building the models that link hours in a chamber to years on a cow, and making a clear, evidence-backed call on whether a design is ready. You’ll close the loop with the field, comparing what fails out there with what our testing predicted, and changing our tests where they missed.

What you’ll do

• Own the reliability plan for a product or major subsystem through development - turning reliability goals into measurable requirements, test plans and acceptance criteria

• Lead risk assessments, including failure mode and effects analysis and fault tree analysis, and review designs for robustness alongside mechanical, electrical and firmware engineers

• Design and run accelerated tests, including highly accelerated life testing and accelerated life testing, built from first principles and physics of failure, with clear learning goals and decision criteria

• Build reliability and acceleration models that link test time to field life, and write scripts and tools to automate repeated data analysis

• Correlate field failures with test results - show where our testing caught a failure mode, flag where it didn’t, and develop new test methods to replicate the field stresses we’re missing

• Write reliability reports and sign-off recommendations that others can audit, with residual risk and the evidence behind it made clear

• Assess the reliability impact of design, component, production and supplier changes, and work with suppliers on component qualification

• Improve our lab capability - evaluating and introducing new test equipment, fixtures and methods, and scoping and reviewing work from external labs

• Mentor and support junior engineers, reviewing their test setups and data and explaining the reasoning behind our methods

This is a hands-on, first-principles role. We're looking for someone with real experience in reliability or hardware test engineering who wants to go deep on the craft - and who will hold the line on an unwelcome conclusion when the evidence supports it. We’re open on level and will work out the right fit through the interview process, from an experienced individual contributor through to someone ready to set technical direction for the team.

What you’ll bring

• Several years of experience in reliability, test or hardware engineering on electronic or electromechanical products - a degree in electrical, mechanical, mechatronics or materials engineering, or similar, is preferred

• Hands-on experience designing and running reliability tests, such as accelerated life testing, highly accelerated life testing, or environmental and mechanical stress testing

• A solid understanding of how electronic products fail - for example solder joint fatigue, corrosion, moisture ingress, battery degradation and connector wear - and the physics that drives them

• Confidence with reliability statistics and modelling, such as life data analysis, acceleration models, confidence levels and sample sizing

• A first-principles mindset - you want to understand why a test represents the field, not just that it follows a standard

• Clear, honest communication grounded in evidence. You can explain risk and uncertainty to people outside your discipline, and you’ll hold your ground on an unwelcome conclusion when the data backs it

• Strong sense of ownership and a bias for action - you see what needs doing and get on with it without waiting to be asked

• A tenacious curiosity to figure things out, and the process discipline to do it properly every time

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

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 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!"