Hardware Design Team Lead

Graphcore; West of England; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Generous leave

Pension matching

Phantom equity

On-site facilities with free food

Income protection and life assurance

EV salary sacrifice

Private medical insurance & dental

Cycle to work

Give as you earn

Job summary

Graphcore is seeking a Senior Hardware Engineering Lead to guide power, timing and control circuits for AI compute hardware. You’ll shape schematics inputs for PCB layout, support testing and manufacturing, and drive production readiness.

You’ll line-manage engineers, plan capacity, coordinate reviews, and push for practical trade-offs, growing a capable team across the hardware lifecycle and across locations.

Qualifications

• Leadership to develop engineers and manage performance; readiness for formal line management.
• Experience coordinating engineering delivery with programme management: estimates, allocation, dependencies, capacity.
• Clear communication across disciplines and locations to secure decisions and explain risks.
• Strong hardware background: circuit/schematic development, board implementation, verification, production transition.
• Understanding of power supplies, sequencing, reset, clocks, digital interfaces, SI/PI constraints.
• Experience organizing technical reviews and maintaining traceable design records.

Responsibilities

• Lead engineers on power, timing and control circuits for Graphcore’s AI compute hardware.
• Provide inputs to PCB layout engineers and support testing and manufacturing teams.
• Line-manage engineers, coach development, set achievable commitments and plan capacity.
• Coordinate reviews, investigations and ensure corrective actions close.
• Grow a high-autonomy hardware team across the lifecycle and across locations.

Skills

People leadership

Programme management

Cross-disciplinary communication

Hardware engineering

Power/clocking understanding

Technical reviews coordination

Education

Engineering degree or equivalent

Job description

Lead the engineers behind the power, timing and control circuits that make Graphcore’s AI compute hardware work.

Your team’s schematics, component choices and electrical constraints will give PCB layout engineers complete inputs for implementing each design. You’ll help test and manufacturing teams understand expected behaviour, resolve circuit issues and take hardware through to production.

You’ll line-manage engineers, coach their development and agree achievable commitments, matching the work to available capacity. You’ll coordinate reviews and investigations, ensure corrective actions reach closure and plan ahead for tools, licences and compute resources.

Grow your leadership across the hardware lifecycle, drawing on specialist expertise rather than becoming the technical authority for every circuit. Build a more autonomous team whose methods and shared knowledge improve how Graphcore develops its next generation of hardware.

The team and culture

You’ll connect Hardware Design with SI/PI, PCB layout, mechanical, thermal, systems and firmware engineers across locations. Programme management owns the integrated plan; you’ll flag competing priorities early and bring practical options for resolving them.

Technical owners help agree operating conditions, margins and acceptance criteria. You’ll encourage engineers to challenge assumptions, using evidence and specialist advice to resolve difficult trade-offs.

What we’re looking for

• People leadership that develops engineers, delegates effectively and addresses difficult performance issues, with readiness for formal line management.
• Experience coordinating engineering delivery with programme management, including estimates, work allocation, dependencies and capacity, with sound judgement under schedule pressure.
• Communication that builds relationships across disciplines and locations, resolves competing expectations and secures decisions by explaining risks and trade-offs.
• A strong hardware engineering background spanning circuit and schematic development, board implementation, verification and production transition. An engineering degree or equivalent practical experience.
• Understanding of power supplies, sequencing, reset, clocks, digital interfaces and SI/PI constraints, with judgement about when specialist input is needed.
• Experience organising technical reviews, maintaining traceable design records and ensuring investigations and corrective actions reach a clear conclusion.

While we have outlined a set of requirements, we value transferable skills and diverse experiences. We also welcome engineers returning to the profession after a career break, including through returnship routes.

• Flexible working: Balance your work and personal life with greater flexibility
• Generous leave: Take time to rest, recharge and enjoy life outside of work
• Retirement planning support: Up to 5% matched pension
• Phantom equity: Share in Graphcore’s success
• Workplace experience: Enjoy thoughtfully designed office spaces for collaboration, with free food and an on-site barista to support your day
• Peace of mind protection: Income protection and life assurance to provide financial security for you and your loved ones
• Electric Vehicle Scheme: Choose an electric vehicle and lease it through salary sacrifice
• Flexible benefits: Tailor your benefits package with a choice of additional options, including private medical insurance and dental cover
• Optional benefits: Dental cover, health cash plan, private medical insurance, cycle to work scheme, give as you earn

We welcome people from all backgrounds and experiences and are committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone can do their best work.
We’re an equal opportunity employer and recognise that everyone brings different strengths and perspectives. If you need any adjustments during the interview process, just let us know - we’re happy to support you.

Sponsorship

Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or support visa applications for this role.

Join the Team at Graphcore

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 brings together deep expertise to solve complex problems and deliver meaningful progress in AI compute.