---
title: 'Principal Network Engineer at Graphcore'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-network-engineer-graphcore-milpitas-california-7w702d47rmd6'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Principal Network Engineer at Graphcore

- **Company:** Graphcore
- **Location:** Milpitas California, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-05-22
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/graphcore/jobs/8562527002

## Job description

Graphcore is a globally recognized leader in Artificial Intelligence computing systems. The company designs advanced semiconductors and data centre hardware that provide the specialized processing power needed to drive AI innovation, while delivering the efficiency required to support its broader adoption.

As part of the SoftBank Group, Graphcore is a member of an elite family of companies responsible for some of the world’s most transformative technologies. We are opening a new AI Engineering Campus in Austin, which will play a central role in Graphcore's work building the future of AI computing.

## RESPONSIBILITIES

- Responsible for the maintaining all the network fabrics and network topologies operating at peak performance on Graphcore Data centers housing AI server platforms.
- Collaborate closely with our Network architecture team through all phases of the design and development lifecycle — from concept to deployment — ensuring timely, high-quality, and stable high-speed network fabrics.
- Primary support of deployed internal fabrics in our AI Datacenters.
- Direct escalation for Hardware, Link and, Performance issues on network fabrics.
- Escalation support for customer network fabrics (aligned to reference arch.)
- Triage day-to-day network topologies (scale-up, scale-out, and front-end networks) issues of Fabrics deployed in Graphcore Datacenters.

## REQUIREMENTS

- Bachelor’s, master’s degree or equivalent experience in Network Engineering/Security, Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer engineering, or a related field.
- 9+ years of hands-on experience in network engineering and 3+ years supporting networking on AI or Hyperscale Datacenters.
- Knowledge of Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) and its implementations, specifically ROCEv2 or InfiniBand
- Knowledge of Lossless network – Experience with congestion control and lossless Ethernet technologies including PDF, ECN and DCQCN.
- Versed in High-Bandwidth network infrastructure including experience with operating 400G and 800G network fabrics and tackling challenges at the physical layer for networks operating at these speeds. This includes familiarity with specific optical transceivers.
- Experience sustaining non-blocking, multi-tier CLOS networks (i.e., Spine / Leaf / Super-Spine) that are optimized for high-density GPU clusters.
- Extensive troubleshooting experience for data center routing protocols such as BGP and OSPF as well as troubleshooting of VXLAN implementations.
- Cross-Functional collaboration- The candidate must excel at working closely with network architects, systems hardware engineers, AI software engineers, and Datacenter infrastructure teams to optimize the full stack from the application layer down to the Network infrastructure that includes controllers (NICs, SmartNICs, DPUs), network switches, and cabling and optical transceiver operation in our Datacenter.

## DIFFERENTIATORS

- Deep hands-on experience with NetDevOps to automate tasks using tools such as Terraform or Ansible to manage network configurations and state.
- Possess strong scripting skills such as Python, Go, or JSON to build custom automation, interact with APIs, and develop internal network tools.
- Deep hands-on experience with modern, high-performance hardware from network switch and NIC providers such as Broadcom, Arista, Cisco, or Pensando.
- Knowledgeable in Advanced Network Telemetry, beyond traditional SNMP. Knowledgeable in telemetry protocols such as gNMI, Sflow, Netflow, Redfish, and Prometheus to characterize and detect transient congestion events, micro-bursts in the network fabric or defective network hardware.

We welcome people of different backgrounds and experiences and are committed to building an inclusive work environment that makes Graphcore a great home for everyone. We are an equal opportunity employer and want to build a work environment where everyone is happy, productive and respectful so they can do their best work. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, just let us know.

pproach to interview and encourage you to chat to us if you require any reasonable adjustments.

In addition to a competitive salary, Graphcore offers flexible working and a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing and financial future. Our benefits include medical, dental and vision coverage, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), disability and life insurance, a 401(k) retirement plan, commuter benefits, wellness services and an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). 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.

## About Graphcore

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Graphcore designs and builds the Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU), a processor purpose-built for machine intelligence, and provides a complete AI compute stack from silicon to software.
- **Entity Type**: Private (wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp as of 2025/2026)
- **Headquarters**: Bristol, England, UK
- **Founded**: 2016
- **Founders**: Nigel Toon and Simon Knowles

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: AI hardware/accelerators, semiconductor design, AI software platform
- **Target customers**: Cloud providers (Microsoft Azure), enterprises, AI researchers, hyperscalers
- **Mission statement**: “Let innovators create the next breakthroughs in machine intelligence to enhance human potential”

## Products & Services
- **[IPU (Intelligence Processing Unit)](https://www.graphcore.ai/)**: A processor designed from the ground up for machine intelligence workloads; uses a massively parallel architecture (MIMD) with fine-grained compute and on-chip memory.
- **[IPU-Machine M2000](https://www.graphcore.ai/about)**: Second-generation IPU platform – a 1U server appliance housing 4 MK2 GC200 IPU processors, delivering an 8× performance uplift over the first generation.
- **[C2 IPU Accelerator PCIe Card](https://www.graphcore.ai/about)**: PCIe form factor accelerator for server integration, first demonstrated at ICML 2018.
- **[Poplar Software Stack](https://www.graphcore.ai/)**: Full SDK and framework integration (PyTorch, TensorFlow) that lets developers target the IPU directly.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Acquired by SoftBank Group Corp (amount undisclosed); prior to acquisition valued at $2.77 B (Series E, lead by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board).
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised prior to acquisition – over $680 M across Series A through E.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: SoftBank (owner), Microsoft (customer and investor), BMW, Samsung, Dell Technologies, Bosch, Sequoia Capital, Atomico, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, Ontario Teachers’.
- **Growth Signals**: Part of the fast-growing SoftBank AI ecosystem; expanding teams globally (Bristol, London, Cambridge, Gdańsk, Hsinchu, Bengaluru); first customer (Microsoft Azure) live since 2018.

## Competitive Advantages
- **First purpose-built AI processor**: The IPU architecture is fundamentally different from GPUs – designed specifically for the sparse, parallel nature of neural network computation.
- **Full stack ownership**: Graphcore controls silicon, system hardware, and software (Poplar), enabling tight optimisation across the entire compute chain.
- **Cloud + on‑prem availability**: IPUs are available in the cloud on Microsoft Azure and as hardware from Dell, giving customers flexible deployment options.
- **Strong IP and ecosystem**: 99+ engineering staff; deep expertise in semiconductor, systems, and AI software, backed by long-term SoftBank investment.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale AI infrastructure**: Delivering key technology into SoftBank’s global AI ecosystem and expanding the IPU platform to meet growing demand for AI compute.
- **Expand into new regions**: Opening offices and hiring in India (Bengaluru) and across Europe (Gdańsk, London, Cambridge) to accelerate R&D and customer support.
- **Democratise AI**: Continuing to lower the barrier for machine intelligence by providing accessible, high-efficiency hardware and software for innovators worldwide.

## Why Work Here
- **Flexible hybrid work**: Employees are expected on-site three days a week, with trust and flexibility to balance work and life.
- **Comprehensive benefits**: Unlimited annual leave, private medical insurance (UK), dental & health cash plan, income protection, life assurance, pension matched up to 5%, generous parental leave, and a personal development plan.
- **Culture and growth**: ML reading groups, board game socials, book clubs, yoga, running, watersports, team events; strong DE+I initiatives; ambitious but supportive environment.
- **Perks**: Free barista‑made coffee, snacks, and wellbeing rooms; cycle‑to‑work scheme; gym membership discount; education/training allowances.
- **Purpose-driven work**: Opportunity to shape the future of AI compute and see your contributions used by global innovators.

## Sources
1. [graphcore.ai/about](https://www.graphcore.ai/about)
2. [graphcore.ai/](https://www.graphcore.ai/)
3. [graphcore.ai/careers](https://www.graphcore.ai/careers)
4. [graphcore.ai/jobs](https://www.graphcore.ai/jobs)
5. [builtin.com/company/graphcore](https://builtin.com/company/graphcore)

## Other roles at Graphcore

- [Technical Programme Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-programme-manager-graphcore-bristol-tnv81pjcg71q) — Bristol, United Kingdom
- [Technology Owner](https://feeny.ai/job/technology-owner-graphcore-bristol-d8detpv2a2gt) — Bristol, United Kingdom
- [Staff Silicon Physical Design Engineer - Bengaluru](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-silicon-physical-design-engineer-bengaluru-graphcore-bengaluru-5zwkhyr3ps27) — Bengaluru, India
- [Staff Robotics Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-robotics-engineer-graphcore-austin-texas-48zjd6k5bqkd) — Austin Texas, United States
- [Staff Engineering Program Support](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineering-program-support-graphcore-milpitas-california-hrx7htcx8rkq) — Milpitas California, United States
- [Senior Engineering Program Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-engineering-program-coordinator-graphcore-milpitas-california-k5rv0zfbxp3p) — Milpitas California, United States
- [Staff Engineering Operations Technical Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineering-operations-technical-program-manager-graphcore-austin-texas-ffy430feqmnr) — Austin Texas, United States
- [Principal Network Program Manager, AI Infrastructure](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-network-program-manager-ai-infrastructure-graphcore-milpitas-ta509snr3rw9) — Milpitas California, United States
- [Principal Engineering Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-engineering-program-manager-graphcore-austin-texas-m5g623168tsj) — Austin Texas, United States
- [Staff Hardware Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-hardware-engineer-graphcore-austin-texas-tf5ew0k0z9g8) — Austin Texas, United States