Back to jobs
New

Senior Debug Validation Engineer

Austin, Texas, United States

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

Reporting to senior leadership within Architecture and Validation, the Debug Validation Engineer will drive post-silicon debug and validation activities for next-generation AI compute silicon and systems. The role is responsible for leading teams focused on identifying, reproducing, analysing and resolving complex silicon, firmware and system-level issues during bring-up, characterization and product readiness.

This position combines deep technical debugging expertise with strong cross-functional collaboration across multiple engineering disciplines. The role will work closely with architecture, RTL, firmware, software and systems teams to improve debug methodologies, accelerate issue resolution and strengthen validation coverage. The role will work closely with architecture, RTL, firmware, software, systems and platform teams to improve debug methodologies, accelerate issue resolution and strengthen validation coverage.

The Team

The Post-Silicon Debug and Validation team sits within the Architecture and Validation organisation and is responsible for bring-up, debug and validation of Graphcore silicon and systems.

The team works across the full product lifecycle, supporting first silicon bring-up, subsystem validation, system integration and production readiness activities. Engineers collaborate closely with hardware, firmware, software and systems teams to investigate complex failures, develop debug methodologies and improve validation infrastructure.

Responsibilities and Duties

  • Lead post-silicon debug and validation activities for AI compute silicon and platform technologies
  • Contribute to debug and validation activities across multiple projects and milestones
  • Drive prioritisation, planning and execution of debug and validation activities across multiple projects and milestones
  • Investigate and resolve complex silicon, firmware, software and system-level issues during bring-up and validation
  • Develop structured debug methodologies and failure analysis processes to improve issue resolution efficiency
  • Collaborate closely with architecture, RTL, firmware, software and systems engineering teams to identify root causes and implement corrective actions
  • Drive debug of CPU, memory, interconnect and high-speed I/O subsystems under functional, stress and workload conditions
  • Develop and enhance automated debug, regression and validation infrastructure using Python and related technologies
  • Analyse logs, traces, telemetry and hardware data to isolate and characterize system failures and performance issues
  • Support development of validation tests, debug tooling and custom diagnostics to improve coverage and observability
  • Define validation metrics, debug workflows and reporting standards to ensure consistent and repeatable analysis
  • Drive continuous improvement of debug processes, validation methodologies and engineering workflows
  • Communicate technical risks, status and recommendations clearly to engineering leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
  • Support silicon readiness reviews and contribute to product quality and release decisions
  • Contribute to continuous improvement of debug methodologies, validation infrastructure and engineering workflows

Candidate Profile

Essential:

  • Strong experience in bare metal environments
  • Good knowledge of SoC and platform architectures
  • Expertise in debug infrastructure and post-silicon debug methodologies
  • Strong programming skills in Python, C, or debug scripting languages such as CMM
  • Highly motivated self-starter with a collaborative and team-oriented approach
  • Ability to work across teams and programming languages to identify root causes of deep and complex issues
  • Experience of the post-silicon validation process applied in digital ASIC environments
  • Strong Linux and Python experience
  • Exceptional communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively to solve complex problems
  • Excellent problem-solving, analytical and diagnostic skills
  • Deep knowledge of scan, DFT, JTAG and trace infrastructure
  • Strong debug skills including fault tree analysis, failure isolation, fishbone methodologies and system-level debug techniques
  • Ability to work independently on technically complex debug and validation activities across hardware, firmware and software domains

Desirable

  • Understanding of DFT flows from insertion through post-silicon validation
  • Experience developing tooling for parsing and analysing debug data, including scan dump parsing
  • Driver-level experience with one or more of the following technologies:
    • PCIe
    • Ethernet
    • Memory technologies including LPDDR, DDR and HBM
    • Peripheral interfaces such as I2C, I3C and SPI
  • Experience using CoreSight and similar debug infrastructure including CTI, ETx, DStream, JLink, Lauterbach, ATB and STM
  • Good knowledge of mixed-signal building blocks such as PLLs, high-speed PHYs and IC control/communication protocols
  • Experience with Arm CPU architectures, system IP and associated debug tooling
  • Experience with AMBA protocols
  • Understanding of ML applications and associated workloads
  • Experience in characterization, failure analysis, test development, statistical analysis and customer support

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.

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Graphcore? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...

U.S. Standard Demographic Questions

We invite applicants to share their demographic background. If you choose to complete this survey, your responses may be used to identify areas of improvement in our hiring process.
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Graphcore’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.