Lead C++ Engineer - Embedded Animal Guidance

The role

You will own the guidance firmware and virtual fencing logic on collars to guide animals. You will design algorithms, state machines, and protocols using modern C++23 on FreeRTOS. The role involves debugging field problems and collaborating with firmware, backend, frontend, and animal experts.

What you will do

• Own the guidance firmware and virtual fencing logic on collars
• Design guidance algorithms, state machines, and geometry for virtual fences and paths
• Design protocols for guidance and animal data over low-bandwidth radio links
• Build software in modern C++23 on FreeRTOS
• Debug intermittent field problems using logs and telemetry
• Work with firmware, backend, frontend engineers, designers, and animal experts
• Contribute to guidance system quality through better patterns and tooling
• Support and mentor other engineers through design conversations and code reviews

Required qualifications

• Solid experience shipping software for resource-constrained systems such as embedded devices, consoles or real-time engines
• Strong C++ fundamentals and software design patterns
• Comfort with concurrency, limited memory and stack, and real-time behaviour
• Good judgement under uncertainty regarding sensor data, animal behaviour and requirements
• Ability to reason about geometry, probability and timing
• Strong sense of ownership
• Ability to give and receive feedback well

Nice to have

• Experience with state machines or pathfinding
• Experience with real-time operating system internals (FreeRTOS or similar), interrupts and reasoning about scheduling, priorities and timing guarantees
• Experience with safety-critical systems, or with unreliable, low-bandwidth communication links
• Experience working with animals, or genuine curiosity about farming, animal welfare, or hardware that has to survive outdoors

Benefits

• Remuneration package made up of salary, benefits and an employee stock ownership plan
• Southern Cross Health Insurance
• Annual $1000 self-development budget
• 6 months of fully paid parental leave for primary caregivers
• 4 weeks of fully paid secondary caregiver leave
• Wellness leave
• Unlimited paid annual leave

About the company

Halter enables farmers and graziers to run productive and sustainable operations using guidance technology. The company is backed by Tier 1 investors including Founders Fund and Bessemer Venture Partners.