Director of Supply Chain Quality

Job description

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/. The Role Halter builds hardware that works in some of the most demanding environments on earth. The quality of what we ship matters enormously, to the farmers who depend on it every day and to the mission we're on. As we scale into multiple products and higher volumes, we need someone to own quality across the full supply chain and build it into a genuine competitive advantage. The Director of Supply Chain Quality owns Halter's end-to-end quality function, based at our Auckland HQ. You'll lead two teams: a Supplier Quality team that owns quality at our component suppliers from pre-selection auditing through to ongoing part approval, and a Contract Manufacturing Quality team that owns incoming, in-process, and outgoing quality at our contract manufacturers. Together they form a quality system with clear accountability and no gaps. A critical part of this role is owning Halter's quality assurance specifications, developed and maintained in collaboration with the Supplier Quality team, the Contract Manufacturing Quality team, and the hardware design team. These specs are the backbone of the quality system. Getting them right and keeping them current is what makes everything else work. You'll set the quality strategy, develop your team leaders and their teams, own the quality framework across the supply chain, and be the escalation point when quality issues arise at the boundary between supplier and CM. You'll work closely with hardware engineering, operations, and sourcing to ensure quality is designed in and not just inspected for. This is not a documentation role. The best quality leaders get into the detail. They visit suppliers, they walk the production line, they dig into the data behind a failure mode, and they develop a sharp instinct for what actually drives quality outcomes versus what just adds paperwork. We want someone who is technically curious, comfortable getting their hands dirty, and able to distinguish between a process that genuinely improves quality and one that exists to say it exists. You'll be measured on product quality, supplier and CM quality performance, and your ability to build a quality function that scales with Halter's growth. What You'll Do Leadership and Team Development - Lead and develop the Supplier Quality and Contract Manufacturing Quality teams, setting clear direction, holding a high bar, and developing strong people in both functions. - Build the culture of the quality function: rigorous, fast-moving, low bureaucracy, and deeply connected to the engineering and operations teams. - Set clear accountability between the two teams and own the interface between them, ensuring the handoff between supplier OQC and CM IQC is well-governed and issues at the boundary are resolved quickly. Quality Assurance Specifications - Own the development and ongoing maintenance of Halter's quality assurance specifications, working across the Supplier Quality team, the Contract Manufacturing Quality team, and the hardware design team to ensure specs reflect current design intent and are correctly implemented across the supply chain. - Ensure QA specs are the single source of truth for what quality standards are required at suppliers and at our CMs, and that they are kept current as products evolve. - Define the governance model for how QA specs are reviewed, approved, and updated, and ensure all three teams are aligned on the process. Quality Strategy and Systems - Own Halter's quality management system across the supply chain, ensuring it is fit for purpose, consistently applied, and evolves as the business scales. - Build the quality metrics and reporting that give leadership a clear and honest picture of quality performance across suppliers and contract manufacturers. - Lead root cause analysis and corrective action on significant quality escapes, ensuring lessons are captured and systemic issues are fixed rather than managed. - Collaborate with the Operations Delivery Lead and Head of Supply Chain Strategy to ensure quality risks are visible early in NPI programmes and sustaining activities. What You Bring - Significant experience leading quality functions in a hardware or electronics manufacturing environment, ideally spanning both supplier quality and manufacturing quality. - Experience owning quality assurance specifications and the cross-functional process of developing and maintaining them alongside engineering and operations teams. - A track record of building and developing high-performing quality teams, with the credibility to set a high bar and the people skills to bring others with you. - Deep understanding of quality management systems, audit methodologies, part approval processes, and how to apply them pragmatically in a fast-moving environment. - Strong cross-functional leadership across engineering, operations, and sourcing teams. - Analytically sharp and data-driven. You use quality data to drive systemic improvement, not just to track defects. - Technically hands-on. You're not afraid to get into the detail of a process, a specification, or a production line to understand what's really driving quality. You can distinguish between a quality process that genuinely moves the needle and one that exists to tick a box. - Clear, direct communication at every level. You can give a board-level quality update and a detailed corrective action review. - Low ego and comfortable with discomfort. You lean into hard conversations, raise the awkward thing early, and never shy away from tension when it needs to be resolved. - You're fun and a joy to work with. Quality work is demanding and detail-intensive. You bring energy, rigour, and optimism to it, and people are better for having you around. 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 https://www.halterhq.com/careers for more information on working at Halter and don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/halter-limited & Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lifeathalter/. 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!"