Head of Industrial Design

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.

The role

Build Halter's first in-house industrial design team and shape the look, feel and fit of rugged, solar-powered wearables worn by cattle every day. Hands-on, from first sketch to mass production.

Industrial design is a new in-house function at Halter. You'll lead it, building a small team and owning the industrial design of every new device. It's a hands-on leadership role: you'll still sketch and prototype, while hiring and mentoring other designers. You'll report to our Vice President of Hardware & Platform and work alongside mechanical, electrical, reliability and manufacturing engineering. The focus is consumer electronics and electromechanical products for high-volume manufacture, which is different from user experience (UX), digital or architectural design.

What you'll do

• Create a Halter design language and design system across a growing family of animal-worn devices and accessories

• Own colour, material and finish (CMF) and write the industrial design guidelines other teams build from

• Run field research and wearability testing on farms: fit across breeds, neck sizes and seasons, and how farmers fit devices with cold, wet hands

• Design for animal welfare: smooth contact surfaces, low weight, and straps and attachments that never rub or chafe

• Partner with engineers on solar area, antenna placement, battery volume and sealing, then protect design intent through tooling, validation and production

• Hire a small team of industrial designers and brief external studios where it makes sense

The technical environment

• Products: solar-powered GPS collars and new animal-worn and farm hardware

• Conditions: rain, mud, UV, impact and years of continuous outdoor wear

• Processes: injection moulding (molding), overmoulding, textures and surface finishes, design for manufacture and assembly (DFM/DFA), rapid prototyping in foam, card and 3D prints

• Tools: your choice of computer-aided design (CAD) and surfacing tools such as Rhino, Alias, SolidWorks and KeyShot, plus AI-assisted tools

What you'll bring

• A portfolio of consumer electronics or electromechanical products taken from concept to mass production, showing sketches, prototypes and production parts

• Experience leading or managing industrial designers, and a clear view on how you'd build a team and its design standards

• Design for manufacture experience with injection-moulded and overmoulded parts, including working with factories through tooling samples and production

• Products built for tough environments, such as outdoor, sports, wearable, automotive or marine

• Strong sketching, surfacing and form development skills

Nice to have

• Wearables or other body-worn products, for people or animals, across hard goods and soft goods

• Solar-powered or energy-constrained products where surface area is a design input

• Straps, fastenings or attachment systems

• Experience using AI tools in your design workflow

How we work

You'll get real ownership and a direct line to the founders. We value low ego, clear thinking and collaboration: the best idea wins, wherever it comes from. Expect regular time on farms and some travel to manufacturing partners. No agricultural background needed; we'll get you onto farms early and often. This role will consider visa sponsorship and relocation assistance for the successful candidate.

Don't meet every point above?

If you meet most of these and the role excites you, we'd love to hear from you. Please include a link to your portfolio with your application.

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!"