Test Development Engineer

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.  

  

Graphcore’s teams are drawn from diverse backgrounds and bring a broad range of skills and perspectives. A melting pot of AI research specialists, silicon designers, software engineers and systems architects, Graphcore enjoys a culture of continuous learning and constant innovation. 

 

Job Summary

We are looking for a high-quality Test Development Engineer to complement our existing team. You will be working closely with the hardware and software development teams to develop and maintain test systems in support of preproduction test solutions.  You will report to the Hardware test team lead, the test team is embedded within the Hardware team.  We want people who work collaboratively and proactively within our teams. Our engineers are not siloed, and they are trusted and encouraged to take ownership of their tasks and develop test solutions that meet our requirments. We value team players and the right characteristics are more important than academic qualification or specific experience.

Candidates will be expected to work closely both with other teams within Graphcore and with 3rd party support engineers/contractors, ensuring good communication between all parties, and to contribute meaningfully to the overall efficiency and success of the Hardware Team.

 

The Team

The Hardware test team are part of a larger Hardware team that consistest of Signal Integrity (SI), Mechanical, layout, package and Hardware engineers. The Hardware team is responsible for delivering state of the art accelerators for machine learning and collaborates with the Silicon, Firmwear and Production teams during product development.

 

Responsibilities and Duties 

 

A successful candidate will work within Hardware Engineering Team to define test methods, specify suitable test equipment and automate test systems. The team is currently responsiable for testing, debugging and characterising high speed serial links, power suppies that can deliver high current and adapt to fast transients. We also debug and characteratize slower speed protocols like JTAG , I2C I3C and low level PCBA debug. 

Developing a deep understanding of Graphcore hardware and software products and how to operate them in a test environment is essential for this position.

You will be expected to understand relevant industry performance test standards, data analysis and presentation systems. Contributions are expected to span multiple areas and involve:

 

• Manual testing and debug of complex high speed SERDES which include PCIe Gen 6 and 112/224Gb PAM4 ethernet. This will require the use of high bandwidth oscilloscopes, BERTs and VNA’s, and the ability to understand complex IEEE standards.
• Designing and developing graphical user interfaces for controlling our products in a test environment. 
• development of test systems for Graphcore’s Machine Learning Accelerator products at a system and board level
• transfer of preproduction test system knowledge to the production test team.
• test coverage analysis and improvement.
• maintaining and development of our characterisation systems.
• automating tests In either Python or LabView.

 

Candidate Profile 

Essential:

• Ethernet and / or PCIe
• Project Planning
• Experience in development and automation of test systems for complex electronic systems
• Fluency in test scripting languages. Including Pyhton and LabView
• Experience in development and automation of test systems for complex electronic systems
• self-starter 
• Strong written and oral communications, team-working and interpersonal skills

 

Desirable

• LPDDR, HBM interfaces
• High current fast transients power supplies
• Knowlage of Linux
• Knowlage of Bash scripts
• Previous experance of server verification
• understanding of PCBA production test methods such as ICT and SLT
• experience in data analysis

 

Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, Graphcore offers flexible working, a generous annual leave policy, private medical insurance and health cash plan, a dental plan, pension (matched up to 5%), life assurance and income protection. We have a generous parental leave policy and an employee assistance programme (which includes health, mental wellbeing, and bereavement support). We offer a range of healthy food and snacks at our central Bristol office and have our own barista bar! 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.

 

Sponsorship

Applicants for this position must hold the right to work in the UK. Unfortunately at this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or support for visa applications.