Senior Staff Firmware Engineer

Graphcore; Bristol; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading innovator in AI compute is seeking a Senior Staff Firmware Engineer in Bristol. This role involves designing, developing, and delivering complex firmware systems, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and providing technical leadership. Ideal candidates have significant experience in embedded systems using C/C++ and strong problem-solving skills. The company offers a competitive salary, flexible working, and various employee benefits.

Benefits

Flexible working

Generous annual leave

Private medical insurance

Health cash plan

Dental plan

Pension (matched up to 5%)

Life assurance

Income protection

Employee assistance programme

Healthy food and snacks at office

Barista bar

Qualifications

• Significant industry experience in embedded/firmware engineering using C/C++.
• Strong understanding of modern silicon and hardware interfaces.
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement complex technical initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Act as a technical authority for complex firmware features.
• Design, implement, and deliver high-quality, production-ready firmware in C.
• Mentor other engineers within the Firmware team.

Skills

Embedded/firmware engineering

C/C++

Real-time embedded systems

Problem-solving

Communication skills

Tools

CI/CD systems

Build tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

JTAG

Job description

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 the Firmware Manager and working as a member of the Firmware Team, the Senior Staff Firmware Engineer is responsible for the design, development, and delivery of complex firmware systems across Graphcore’s next‑generation hardware platforms.

This role requires significant technical breadth and deep embedded systems expertise. You will contribute to shaping the firmware architecture and design, guide engineering practices, and solve highly challenging problems while maintaining a strong hands‑on focus. You will partner closely with hardware, drivers, silicon and platform teams to deliver robust, scalable, production‑quality firmware.

The Team

The Firmware Team develops the low‑level software responsible for the complete boot, configuration, and monitoring of Graphcore silicon and hardware platforms. Our work includes:

• Boot and power sequencing
• Low‑level hardware interfaces and drivers
• Telemetry, monitoring and SMBus/BMC data exposure
• Silicon and system bring‑up

Responsibilities and Duties

Technical Leadership

• Act as a technical authority for complex firmware features, flows, and subsystems
• Contribute to architectural development and design for substantial parts of the firmware stack, ensuring long‑term maintainability and scalability
• Influence technical decision‑making both within your immediate team and beyond
• Work closely with the Tech Lead to provide technical direction and maintain the long‑term architecture of Graphcore’s firmware and tooling

Hands‑On Design & Development

• Design, implement, and deliver high‑quality, production‑ready firmware in C
• Take ownership of technically challenging areas such as boot flows, real‑time embedded logic, platform security, or silicon bring‑up
• Perform deep system debugging using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, JTAG, emulation, and other low‑level tools
• Review and improve code, designs, and implementation approaches across the team

Cross‑Functional Interaction

• Collaborate closely with hardware, silicon, platform, drivers and test teams to define requirements and resolve interdependent issues
• Work directly with external partners, firmware vendors, or silicon suppliers on integration and technical problem‑solving
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both expert and non‑expert audiences

Quality, Reliability & System Thinking

• Ensure correctness, robustness, security, and maintainability of firmware solutions
• Support improvements to validation frameworks, CI/CD systems, automated testing and firmware packaging
• Drive root‑cause investigations and long‑term corrective actions for complex issues in the field or during bring‑up

Mentorship & Technical Influence

• Mentor other engineers within the Firmware team and across the broader System Software organisation
• Raise engineering standards through guidance, best practices, design patterns and consistent high‑quality execution
• Contribute to long‑term improvements in engineering culture, team capabilities, and quality bar

Process & Continuous Improvement

• Contribute to improving Agile workflows, estimation, and team execution models
• Drive enhancements to build systems, integration environments and development tooling
• Introduce new technologies, frameworks, or design approaches that increase efficiency or product capability

Candidate Profile

• Significant industry experience in embedded/firmware engineering using C/C++
• Expertise in designing and delivering real‑time embedded systems and complex boot logic
• Strong understanding of modern silicon and hardware interfaces (I2C, I3C, SMBus, SPI, PCIe, DDR, power management, etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement complex technical initiatives
• Excellent problem‑solving skills with a track record of resolving complex, cross‑layer issues
• Ability to define and communicate architectural direction at subsystem or multi‑subsystem scale
• Strong communication skills and the ability to document large system designs clearly
• Experience with CI/CD systems, build tools, and modern software engineering practices
• Experience with server architectures or datacentre hardware
• Understanding of server/platform security concepts and their application to firmware
• Experience working directly with silicon vendors or hardware partners
• Knowledge of OS kernel, secure firmware flows, or trusted execution environments
• Experience with device driver development

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.

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.