2026 Graduate Software Engineer - Drivers

Graphcore; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading AI technology company in Bristol seeks a Software Engineer to develop high-quality software for their innovative products. The ideal candidate will have experience with low-level software, a solid educational background in tech-related fields, and familiarity with programming languages such as C, C++, and Python. This position offers flexible working, a competitive salary, and various health benefits in a dynamic, inclusive environment.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Flexible working

Private medical insurance

Health cash plan

Dental plan

Matched pension scheme

Life assurance

Generous parental leave

Employee assistance programme

Qualifications

• Experience with low-level software such as embedded or device drivers.
• Basic understanding of electronics and ability to read schematics.
• Introductory experience with programming languages like C, C++, Python.

Responsibilities

• Write code to standards and ensure appropriate unit tests.
• Participate in code reviews and Scrum ceremonies.
• Maintain the Continuous Integration system.

Skills

C

C++

Python

Git

Continuous Integration

Education

Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Computer Science, Maths, Machine Learning, Data Science, or related field

Job description

The System Software group comprises the Firmware team, the Drivers and Utilities team and the System QA team. We are responsible for the enablement of all silicon and hardware platforms produced by our colleagues at Graphcore. Our aim is to produce high quality software and APIs that enable the wider software team to utilise our products efficiently and effectively. The Firmware and Drivers teams form the foundation of the Graphcore software stack, upon which all our customer‑facing systems are built and run.

We work closely with the software engineering team developing our Poplar SDK to support machine learning applications and with silicon and hardware engineers to fully exploit the capabilities of our Graphcore IPU solution.

Responsibilities

• Write code to Graphcore standards.
• Ensure all code written has the appropriate unit tests created for it.
• Participate in code reviews individually and as part of the team.
• Participate in Scrum ceremonies.
• Manually test code written by yourself and others.
• Maintain our Continuous Integration system and fix it when broken.
• Contribute to and take part in technical design discussions with team members.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Computer Science, Maths, Machine Learning, Data Science, or a related field.
• Previous experience with low‑level software including embedded or device drivers (e.g., personal or university projects).
• Basic understanding of electronics, including ability to read and understand schematics and datasheets.
• Introductory experience with any of the following languages: C, C++, Python.
• Awareness of Continuous Integration systems such as Jenkins.
• Experience using Git for managing source code, raising and reviewing pull requests, merging branches.

Desirable

• Previously experience with hardware, perhaps with PCI cards or PC motherboards.
• Has contributed to open‑source projects.
• Has designed and built own hardware and controlled it from a host (e.g., a Linux‑based system).
• Has an interest in how hardware and software platforms interact.

Benefits

Graphcore is one of the world’s leading innovators in Artificial Intelligence compute. We develop 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, we share a bold vision: to enable Artificial Super Intelligence and ensure its benefits are accessible to everyone.

Our culture emphasizes continuous learning and constant innovation. In addition to a competitive salary, Graphcore offers flexible working, a generous annual leave policy, private medical insurance and a health cash plan, a dental plan, pension (matched up to 5%), life assurance, income protection, and a generous parental leave policy. We also run an employee assistance programme, provide healthy food and snacks at our central Bristol office, and have a barista bar. We welcome people of different backgrounds and experiences and are committed to building an inclusive work environment. We offer an equal‑opportunity process, understand that differences exist, and can provide a flexible approach to interview and reasonable adjustments.