Lead Machine Learning Engineer

About Halter

Halter is dedicated to empowering farmers and graziers to run highly productive and sustainable agricultural operations by revolutionizing traditional practices. Our innovative technology enables cattle to move calmly without the need for physical interventions, changing the face of grazing and delivering meaningful impacts to the farming industry. Our culture values hard work, intelligence, and care, supported by top-tier investors committed to our mission.

Role Overview

As part of Halter’s Predictive Systems group, you will contribute to developing cutting-edge machine learning models that provide farmers with unparalleled insights to optimize farm productivity. Your work may include creating advanced models for pasture growth, animal health, behavior analysis, and other critical agricultural processes. Your responsibilities will span the entire lifecycle of machine learning systems, from research and architecture to deployment and monitoring, collaborating closely with engineering, product, and design teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development of predictive models addressing biological and operational facets of farming to effectively solve real agricultural challenges.
• Conduct thorough research—including extensive literature reviews—to stay current with advances in machine learning and pasture science.
• Handle full-cycle model engineering, including design, dataset preparation, training, and optimization, often building custom architectures rather than relying on off-the-shelf models.
• Maintain ownership of your systems in production with ongoing support and analysis to improve performance.
• Innovate proactively by contributing creative ideas and solutions within the data discipline.

Candidate Profile

• Highly versatile generalist comfortable working autonomously across infrastructure, databases, simulations, and machine learning pipelines.
• Expertise in machine learning theory and practice, particularly applied to maximizing pasture efficiency.
• Proven experience delivering complex, research-driven predictive systems into production, including multi-modal time-series models and simulation frameworks.
• Genuine curiosity about pasture-based farming with a motivation to understand and improve agricultural practices.
• Strategic and product-oriented mindset with the ability to identify valuable opportunities within extensive farm data resources.
• Comfortable working amid uncertainty and ambiguity, demonstrating resilience and adaptability.
• Strong collaboration skills and a team-first attitude.

Qualifications and Skills

• Advanced academic or professional background in machine learning, mathematics, or computer science with relevant experience in neural network modeling.
• Experience designing, deploying, and monitoring machine learning systems in production environments.
• Strong causal reasoning skills and the ability to model real-world dynamics properly.
• Comfortable working with complex, noisy, and high-dimensional datasets with strong data intuition.
• Proficiency in Python and experience contributing to complex, collaborative codebases.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted software development tools such as Copilot, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Claude-code.
• Excellent communication and collaborative skills across multidisciplinary teams.
• Bonus: Exposure to advanced ML architectures (e.g., Transformers, State Space Models), agent-based modeling, or recommendation systems.

Working Culture

Halter believes strongly in an office-first work culture to foster meaningful personal connections, growth, and high-impact collaboration. While the default expectation is to work on-site, flexible arrangements are possible as needed. Our vibrant office environment supports learning, innovation, and long-lasting relationships within a high-trust setting.

Diversity and Inclusion

Halter strives to build an inclusive work environment where people from all backgrounds can thrive and contribute their best work. Applicants who may not meet every stated requirement but are passionate about the role and mission are encouraged to apply.

Why Join Halter?

• Work on meaningful projects that transform the agricultural industry and improve farmers’ lives.
• Collaborate with talented, driven colleagues on challenging and rewarding problems.
• Opportunities for continuous learning and personal growth supported by mentorship and a dedicated growth fund.
• Experience a fast-paced and ambitious environment where your impact is significant and rewarding.