Staff Hardware System Test Engineer

Cerebras; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited annual leave

5% matched pension

Phantom equity

True flexibility in work location

On-site barista and free food

Health cash plan

Income protection

Life assurance

Job summary

Graphcore is hiring a Staff Hardware System Test Engineer to build test systems that enable AI hardware at production scale. You will create test content and diagnostics for Host Processor Modules, server blades and multi-node racks, shaping how hardware is tested across the product lifecycle.

You’ll develop test software, lead critical test initiatives and partner with hardware, firmware, software and manufacturing teams to improve coverage and reduce diagnosis times.

Qualifications

• Significant experience developing and deploying manufacturing test solutions for high‑performance servers or large scale compute hardware.
• Strong technical leadership as an individual contributor, owning substantial workstreams and collaborating across teams.

Responsibilities

• Build and evolve manufacturing test systems for AI hardware in production.
• Develop test software and diagnostics; design test approaches and coverage.
• Collaborate with hardware, firmware, software and manufacturing teams to diagnose issues and improve test coverage.
• Influence engineering decisions and raise testing standards across silicon, boards, systems, and rack-scale hardware.

Skills

Manufacturing test solutions

Technical leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Linux/OpenBMC

Scripting/automation

Tools

OpenBMC

Linux

Job description

About the job

Build the test systems that help deliver AI hardware at production scale.

As a Staff Hardware System Test Engineer, you'll develop manufacturing test solutions for complex compute systems. Your work will help ensure products reach customers with the quality and reliability expected from Graphcore.

You'll shape how hardware is tested across Host Processor Modules, server blades, and multi-node racks. The tools, test content, and diagnostics you create will directly influence manufacturing efficiency and product quality.

You'll develop test software, design test approaches, and solve challenging hardware issues. You'll work closely with hardware, firmware, software, and manufacturing teams to improve test coverage and diagnose problems quickly.

This role offers broad technical scope across silicon, boards, systems, software, and manufacturing. You'll have the opportunity to influence engineering decisions and raise technical standards across the organisation.

The team and culture

The Product Test and Diagnosis team owns the strategy for finding and diagnosing hardware defects throughout the product lifecycle. The team works across silicon, boards, servers, and rack‑scale systems.

Day to day, engineers work closely with design, firmware, software, quality, and manufacturing teams. Problems are solved through data, technical debate, and hands‑on investigation.

You'll join a global engineering group spanning the UK, Taiwan, India, and the United States. People are trusted to take ownership, make decisions, and drive improvements that deliver measurable results.

What we're looking for

Essential:

• Significant experience developing and deploying manufacturing test solutions for high‑performance servers, accelerators (GPU‑class), or comparable large‑scale compute hardware.
• Strong technical leadership as an individual contributor, with experience owning substantial technical workstreams and collaborating across multiple teams without direct line management responsibility.
• Strong technical understanding across silicon, board, and system design sufficient to define effective manufacturing test coverage and lead complex debug/root‑cause analysis.
• Strong cross‑functional collaboration skills, with experience working with internal software/firmware/platform teams to enable testability and diagnosability.
• Hands‑on experience using Linux, OpenBMC, and vendor‑specific test tools, diagnostics, and system‑level utilities to test hardware in lab and manufacturing environments.
• Strong software engineering skills with scripting and automation (e.g., Python, Bash, or similar), including building reliable test infrastructure and integrating heterogeneous test content.

Desirable

• Familiarity with rack‑scale/multi‑node systems, high‑speed interconnects, and production qualification of complex assemblies.
• Experience improving manufacturing KPIs (yield, test time, false fail reduction) through data‑driven test optimisation and robust statistical/diagnostic approaches.
• Knowledge of open‑source tools commonly used for manufacturing test, system bring‑up, and hardware diagnostics.
• Experience designing testability/diagnosability features into products (e.g., telemetry, self‑test hooks, debug interfaces) in partnership with design teams.

Benefits

• Unlimited annual leave
• Up to 5% matched pension
• Phantom equity – share in Graphcore’s success
• True flexibility in how and where you work
• Office spaces designed for collaboration
• Free food and an on‑site barista
• Health cash plan
• Income protection
• Life assurance
• Along with other benefits you can choose from (private medical insurance, dental plan etc)

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.

Join the Team at Graphcore

Graphcore is building the compute platform for the next generation of artificial intelligence. From advanced silicon to intelligent software, our technology is designed to unlock breakthroughs in AI and bring its benefits to every industry.

As part of the SoftBank Group, we’re backed by one of the world’s most ambitious technology investors, working alongside companies shaping the future of AI. Together, we share a bold goal: to help enable artificial superintelligence and ensure it delivers meaningful impact at a global scale.

At Graphcore, you’ll work with people who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Our teams bring together AI researchers, chip designers, software engineers and systems experts from a wide range of backgrounds. It’s an environment where we take on big challenges with curiosity and focus, move quickly and decisively, take real ownership of our work, and speak up to challenge ideas, stepping up to support each other and lead through action.