--- title: 'Senior System Tests & Diagnostics Engineer at Graphcore' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-system-tests-diagnostics-engineer-graphcore-austin-texas-bvjsj58cyg53' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-08' --- # Senior System Tests & Diagnostics Engineer at Graphcore - **Company:** Graphcore - **Location:** Austin Texas, United States - **Posted:** 2026-09-04 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/graphcore/jobs/8783905002 ## Job description ## About us Graphcore is one of the world’s leading innovators in Artificial Intelligence compute. It is developing hardware, software and systems infrastructure that will unlock the next generation of AI breakthroughs and power the widespread adoption of AI solutions across every industry. 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. Together, they share a bold vision: to enable Artificial Super Intelligence and ensure its benefits are accessible to everyone. ## Responsibilities and Duties We are seeking a highly skilled System Tests & Diagnostics Engineer to develop, extend, and integrate specialized silicon validation and diagnostics tools for next-generation AI SoCs. Unlike traditional validation roles focused on executing test plans, this position is responsible for developing the diagnostic software and stress tools that expose hardware failures, characterize silicon behavior, and improve platform observability throughout bring-up and validation. You will work closely with Arm engineers to understand and extend existing diagnostics technologies while developing Graphcore-specific capabilities for future AI hardware. ## Role Summary You will work with existing Arm-developed diagnostics technologies and extend them to support Graphcore's next-generation AI silicon. You will be responsible for developing system-level diagnostics and stress tools that integrate with an existing framework to detect data integrity, computational correctness, performance, and reliability issues across CPUs, AI accelerators, memory, storage, PCIe, firmware, BMC, and other platform components. Examples include silent data corruption (SDC) tests, power transient stress tools, and platform diagnostics, with opportunities to develop new diagnostics as future hardware capabilities evolve. This role requires close collaboration with hardware architects, firmware engineers, validation engineers, and diagnostics teams to understand new hardware capabilities and translate them into reusable diagnostic software. ## Responsibilities - Learn and extend existing Arm diagnostics tools to support Graphcore’s AI platform. - Develop specialized diagnostics and stress-testing software for CPU, memory, interconnect, PCIe, and other system components. - Build reusable validation utilities that integrate into the existing validation framework. - Develop tools that expose intermittent hardware failures including silent data corruption, timing-related issues, and hardware instability. - Design configurable diagnostic applications supporting multiple silicon revisions, platforms, and execution environments. - Develop automation for executing diagnostics across server and rack-scale validation environments. - Design configuration-driven diagnostics supporting scalable parameterization and workload variation. - Collaborate with hardware architects to understand new hardware capabilities and identify missing diagnostics. - Work closely with firmware and validation teams to improve hardware observability. - Debug low-level hardware, firmware, operating system, and driver interactions. - Analyze diagnostic output and improve fault isolation methodologies. - Develop software that enables engineers to reproduce and investigate difficult hardware failures. - Contribute reusable libraries and utilities that improve engineering productivity across multiple validation teams. Candidate Profile Essential - Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline. - 6+ years of experience developing hardware diagnostics, system validation software, firmware validation tools, or low-level systems software. - Strong software development skills in Python and C/C++. - Strong Linux systems experience. - Strong understanding of modern server platform architecture, including how CPU, memory, PCIe, storage, networking, firmware, operating system, and device drivers interact within a complete system. - Experience debugging hardware/software interactions across multiple layers of the platform. - Experience developing diagnostics, stress testing, or hardware validation software. - Experience with server platforms, embedded systems, or SoC validation. - Strong analytical and debugging skills. - Experience collaborating across hardware, firmware, software, and validation teams. - Excellent communication and problem-solving skills. Desirable: - ## Preferred Qualifications - Arm-based server platforms - AI accelerators or high-performance computing systems - Silent Data Corruption (SDC) testing - Hardware stress testing - Power transient analysis - Hardware fault injection methodologies - Firmware validation - Silicon bring-up - Performance characterization - Hardware telemetry and observability - BMC firmware or server management - RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability) technologies - Validate across subsystems: - CPU scaling and cache behavior - Memory (DDR/HBM) bandwidth, latency, and NUMA effects - Interconnect contention under multi-core load - PCIe/I-O throughput, latency, and multi-device scenarios - High-speed I/O validation What Success Looks Like Successful candidates will: - Extend existing diagnostics technologies to support new Graphcore hardware. - Develop new diagnostics tools for emerging hardware capabilities. - Build reusable software components that integrate seamlessly with the existing validation framework. - Improve hardware observability and root-cause isolation. - Detect and characterize intermittent hardware failures that traditional validation techniques cannot expose. - Deliver configurable diagnostics that scale across multiple platforms and silicon revisions. - Work effectively across hardware, firmware, validation, and diagnostics teams to continuously improve platform quality. Why Join Graphcore? This role provides a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of hardware architecture, diagnostics, and software engineering while helping define how next-generation AI systems are validated. Rather than maintaining an existing validation framework, you will develop the specialized diagnostics and stress tools that make that framework valuable. Your work will directly influence hardware quality, silicon bring-up, and long-term platform reliability for future AI infrastructure. USA Benefits 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. 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