Principal Product Designer - Design Systems
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.
About the role:
How do you represent a living, literally breathing farm in an app and then let someone control it from their pocket?
With Halter's solar-powered collars and software, farmers can fence and shift cattle, manage their pasture and the environment more effectively and monitor animal health, all from one app in real time. There is no reference for this, no pattern library, no interaction models to borrow from. We are inventing them.
A farm is alive and always moving: animals, pasture, weather, all changing by the minute. Our job is to turn that into something a farmer can read at a glance and act on with total confidence. The stakes are physical and the visual and interaction bar is extremely high, this is a farmer's entire farm in their pocket, it should feel like it. Beautifully crafted and a joy to use, every day, for years.
We're looking for a Staff Product Designer to lead the design of a significant area of the product experience at Halter. You'll take on some of our hardest problems and help set the bar for what Halter's product experience should feel like.
Design at Halter is high agency and high impact. We help define what we should build and why, we spend real time with farmers, ranchers and graziers in the field, and we shape where Halter goes next.
This role is based in our Auckland, New Zealand HQ, relocation and visa assistance is provided.
You will:
Set, own and advance our design foundations across mobile and web.
Set the standard for craft at Halter, and make that standard usable through principles, guidance and worked examples that raise the quality of what every team ships.
Shape the technical architecture and system structure alongside engineers.
Treat the system as a product with real customers. Set its direction, prioritise what to build next based on what designers and engineers actually need.
Give teams a clear point of view on which pattern to reach for and why.
Turn our field conditions into standards the system carries by default: legibility, target sizes, clarity at a glance.
Work alongside teams to spot what's working across new product surfaces and promote it into documented, reusable foundations. Decide what earns the right to be a pattern and what's better left a considered one-off.
Raise the craft of the designers around you through feedback, reviews and mentorship, and champion the system across product, engineering and design leadership.
You have:
8+ years designing digital products, with significant time spent designing and building design systems at scale.
Exceptional visual craft and command of typography, layout, spacing, colour, accessibility, interaction and motion design.
Proven experience shipping a design system with engineers. You know how tokens and component libraries are structured in code, and you've built and maintained the Figma to code connection.
A portfolio showing both foundational systems work, and concrete high-craft experiences built with it.
Not just taste, but conviction and the language to make your judgment explicit, teachable and useful to others.
A track record of coaching other designers and raising quality around you, and the presence to build alignment and defend an opinionated decision.
Our Benefits:
Delicious snacks and drinks are available for your daily flow.
Healthy body, healthy mind. We're partnered with Southern Cross Health Insurance to support your well-being.
We offer 6 months of fully paid parental leave for primary caregivers, 4 weeks of fully paid secondary caregiver leave and many other parental benefits that support you and your family.
Our personal growth is important. Halter offers an annual $1000 self-development budget to be used for anything that fuels personal growth.
Our time to recharge is valued, we're offered wellness leave and unlimited paid annual leave.
Importantly, we offer an inclusive and attractive remuneration package made up of salary, benefits and an employee stock ownership plan.
Our Office First Approach
Humans are wired for connection. Being office first is a core pillar of our culture because in-person connections drive your growth, learning, impact, and relationships. Strong relationships make it easier to disagree, give feedback, and do meaningful work together.
We're office first, not office only. Working from the office is our default, but we flex when needed. We have a high-trust culture where everyone is trusted to do what's best for Halter.
Our office vibe is special, the high energy and spectacular people make work enjoyable. Your growth and impact are unlimited here, coming from solving problems, innovating, and constantly learning from each other.
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 $1,000 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!"