
Graphcore is a Bristol-based AI semiconductor company building Intelligence Processing Units for machine learning workloads, now part of SoftBank. They're hiring a Lead Lab Support Engineer in Bristol (hybrid). This hardware engineering role sits within the UK's AI semiconductor sector.
At Graphcore, we’re building the future of AI compute.
We’re a team of semiconductor, software and AI experts, with deep experience in creating the complete AI compute stack - from silicon and software to infrastructure at datacenter scale.
As part of the SoftBank Group, backed by significant long-term investment, we are delivering key technology into the fast-growing SoftBank AI ecosystem.To meet the vast and exciting AI opportunity, Graphcore is expanding its teams around the world.We are bringing together the brightest minds to solve the toughest problems, in a place where everyone has the opportunity to make an impact on the company, our products and the future of artificial intelligence.
As a Lead Lab Support Engineer at Graphcore, you will serve as the technical lead providing IT support to Engineering Labs and Silicon development projects. This includes bring-ups and testing in hybrid Linux and Windows environments. You will deliver reliable, scalable, and high-quality services to internal customers, partners, and collaborators. You will also lead a small team of Lab Support Engineers and encourage a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Working alongside Project Managers, engineering teams, and interested parties, you will build and deploy scalable workflows. You must ensure IT support for Engineering Labs keeps pace with the organisation’s evolving requirements. At first, this role requires direct involvement in daily support, configuration, and onboarding activities while forming the Lab Support team and setting up scalable processes.
You’ll be joining a multidisciplinary team with strong technical skills and a very encouraging culture. We work closely together and regularly share knowledge, and your skills will make a direct impact on our business. It’s an exciting and pivotal moment for us right now, with plenty of new projects ahead. If you're looking to solve interesting problems and see your work deliver real-world results, this is the team for you.
We welcome people of different backgrounds and experiences; we’re committed to building an inclusive work environment that makes Graphcore a great home for everyone. We offer an equal opportunity process and understand that there are visible and invisible differences in all of us. We can provide a flexible approach to interview and encourage you to chat to us if you require any reasonable adjustments.
Graphcore is a Bristol-based AI semiconductor company founded in 2016 by serial semiconductor entrepreneurs Nigel Toon and Simon Knowles. Toon previously led XMOS and Picochip, while Knowles co-founded Element14 (acquired by Broadcom) and Icera (acquired by NVIDIA for $435M). The company developed Intelligence Processing Units (IPUs), novel AI accelerators designed from the ground up for machine learning workloads, alongside the proprietary Poplar graph programming framework. Graphcore raised $767M in total funding, reaching a $2.77B valuation, with backing from Sequoia Capital, Atomico, Amadeus, Microsoft, and others. In July 2024, SoftBank Group acquired Graphcore for approximately $500M to $600M. The company continues to operate from Bristol with plans to expand its UK headcount to 750.