Research & Development Specialist

Research & Development Specialist

Halter is a dynamic fast paced workplace where our Guidance team is working on Halter's market leading virtual fencing technology. We are transforming the agriculture industry globally, and you can be a part of that!

We are looking for a Research & Development Specialist to join the team that is continuously developing our virtual fencing product. Everything you need to know to nail this role you'll learn on the job and you'll have to work hard to keep up. In this role you'll be supported to become an expert in virtual fencing. This role is primarily based in the Waikato on our R&D farm close to Morrinsville, where we've built our own office in an old calf barn, but you'll also spend plenty of time in our HQ in Auckland.

The on-farm Research & Development crew has been around as long as Halter and had a huge impact on Halter's journey; from developing the original Cowgorithm™to Halter's expansion into the beef industry, Australia and the US. And we're only just getting started, so we are looking for someone who is eager to get stuck in and join this unique team.

What does a Research & Development Specialist do?

As you'll start to become familiar with the basics of our product, you'll be supporting and running small projects. We'll teach you how to use our internal tools to analyse all the data our collars generate and you'll be testing and validating new versions of our software on our R&D farm.

As your understanding of our product increases you'll be working closely with our engineers to design and develop new features and functionalities. Most of our R&D starts with some crazy idea that we work out on a whiteboard. You'll be testing and validating the first prototype and will be supporting the implementation into the product.

Once you know all the intricacies of our system you'll be independently running trials, visiting Halter farms when they require on-the-ground support and could play a role in our international expansion if you're up for it.

What we're looking for

For this role we value hunger over experience! Whether you have loads, little or no experience in Research and Development, we want to hear from you! We're looking for someone that is incredibly motivated, loves solving hard problems and has an incredible attitude. You can't be afraid to get your hands dirty though, because about half of your work will be outdoors on our farm. Cattle are amazing and intelligent animals to work with and you should be as least as excited about working with them as we are.

If you love the unknown, are hungry for adventure and have a strong desire to learn new things, then this might be the right role for you. It's important to you that your work matters and you want to have an impact on people, animals and a global industry.

At Halter we value getting shit done and this isn't a 9-5 job. We didn't become one of NZ's fastest growing companies by fluffing around. We're looking for someone that is looking for a challenge and is eager to go above and beyond to help Halter achieve our mission.

We're looking for someone that has insane critical thinking abilities, is able to thoroughly analyse problems and can come up with innovative and creative solutions to hard problems, even when they may seem unsolvable. You thrive in ambiguity and use your initiative when needed. You're not afraid to ask questions, to share your opinion and to think out of the box. And of course; we're looking for someone that can have some fun in the workplace.

What your day could look likeThis role can be hard to define and comes with a final bullet point saying whatever it takes. The list below gives a good indication of what the job will look like as you're growing into it, but the opportunities are endless.

• Assist in and run trials to further develop our virtual fencing product.
• Use our internal tools to analyse and inspect the various data generated by Halter collars to help inform decision-making.
• Test and validate prototypes of new functionalities on our farm in the Waikato. We kind of pretend to be a cow to make sure everything operates as expected.
• Contribute to brainstorming sessions when we're designing new features.
• Participate in and lead cross-functional project teams to deliver value for our farmers and animals.
• Visit customer farmers and ranchers when on-farm support or research is required.