Head of Hardware Reliability & Failure Analysis

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 https://foundersfund.com, Bessemer Venture Partners https://www.bvp.com/, BOND, https://www.bondcap.com/ DCVC https://www.dcvc.com/, Blackbird https://www.blackbird.vc/, Promus Ventures https://www.promusventures.com/, Rocket Lab’s Peter Beck and Icehouse ventures https://www.icehouseventures.co.nz/?utm_term=icehouse%20ventures&utm_campaign=Brand+Keywords&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=4064636360&hsa_cam=16902737884&hsa_grp=134004309485&hsa_ad=592971340272&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-1082530126230&hsa_kw=icehouse%20ventures&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2v-gBhC1ARIsAOQdKY0J0DepRVFDmjQlAkJPbZuQnLSA5UVzUzOXYiPxkjX-SeVa513_BhkaAr-MEALw_wcB. To find out more, visit our LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/halter-limited & Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lifeathalter/. 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. ABOUT THE ROLE We are looking for a Head of Reliability and Failure Analysis to build and lead our in-house reliability function. Our collar is tough and built for the beating it takes day in and day out on a farm. We’ve iterated it to this point and learnt many tough lessons along the way. We’re looking for someone who can take reliability from a learned art to an applied science at Halter. Someone who can use a reliability program to accelerate Halters growth as a strategic advantage, to help us move forward confidently on multiple product lines in parallel. This will be one of the most important roles we hire this year. 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 reliability matters. You will be a key member of our Senior Leadership team, reporting to the VP of Product & Engineering. You will lead three pillars of capability: - Reliability Engineering: define what "reliable" means, embed reliability into design decisions early, and ensure we've proven it. - Test Engineering: build repeatable, trustworthy evidence through robust test systems and data. - Failure Analysis: understand exactly how devices fail, drive corrective actions, and raise the bar. WHAT YOU’LL OWN 1) Define reliability, set the standards and keep them - Define reliability standards and what must be proven for each product and major change. - Turn real-world risk into clear requirements, test plans, and readiness gates. - Lead reliability sign-off for key milestones (including DVT and PVT readiness). - Drive a pragmatic approach to defining 'pass' and 'done.' Your outcomes will directly influence how we allocate our engineering resources—ensuring we focus on what truly matters, rather than trying to do it all. - Partner with design teams early in the product cycle to drive proactive reliability. You’ll influence architecture, material selection, and design marg