Staff Software Engineer (ML QA)

Academic Key; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Generous leave

Retirement planning support

Phantom equity

Workplace experience

Peace of mind protection

Electric Vehicle Scheme

Flexible benefits

Optional benefits

Job summary

Graphcore, a leader in AI compute, seeks a Staff Software Engineer (ML QA) in London to design and maintain production-quality test infrastructure for the ML stack. You’ll build scalable test frameworks and CI/CD pipelines spanning simulators, emulators and hardware, shaping software architecture and developer experience.

Mentoring junior engineers and driving quality across teams are key aspects. You’ll work with industry-standard frameworks, analyze ML workloads and translate results into

Qualifications

• Proven ability to design and maintain production-quality test software.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines for ML stacks in Linux environments.
• Familiarity with reading and reasoning about low-level C/C++ code.
• Ability to mentor junior engineers and influence engineering practices.
• Self-directed problem solving and gap identification in complex systems.
• Value diverse experiences and returnship candidates are welcome.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable test infrastructure for Graphcore’s ML stack.
• Build CI/CD pipelines that run across simulators, emulators and hardware.
• Create representative ML workloads and analyze their execution to drive improvements.
• Collaborate with software teams to raise quality, security and maintainability.

Skills

Python

CI/CD

Linux

C/C++

Mentoring

Software architecture

Tools

CI/CD tooling

Testing frameworks

Job description

Staff Software Engineer (ML QA)

Graphcore · London

About the job

Build the software that validates Graphcore’s machine learning stack, from frameworks to AI accelerator hardware. You’ll design production-quality test infrastructure that engineers can extend, maintain and rely on as Graphcore’s ML software grows. Your work will help teams deliver reliable products, with clear evidence of numerical accuracy and performance across the stack. You’ll architect scalable test frameworks and build CI/CD pipelines that run across simulators, emulators and physical hardware. You’ll create representative ML workloads, analyse their execution and turn the results into practical improvements to testing and tooling. This role gives you scope to shape software architecture and developer experience, not just add tests to existing systems. You’ll deepen your understanding of the AI compute stack while solving engineering problems that connect software design with hardware behaviour. The team and culture Graphcore’s ML QA engineers build automation, work with industry-standard frameworks and models, and contribute to upstream open-source projects. You’ll work across software teams, using code and design reviews to strengthen quality, security and maintainability. You’ll use workload results to challenge assumptions and guide technical decisions about how Graphcore tests its ML stack. You’ll own improvements, act quickly on testing gaps and mentor junior engineers to raise the team’s technical standards.

What we’re looking for

Strong Python skills, demonstrated through designing, developing and maintaining production-quality software. Software design and architecture skills for large, complex codebases, with a focus on testability and long-term maintainability. Experience building CI/CD pipelines and automated testing systems in Linux environments. Familiarity with C or C++, including the ability to read, debug and reason about low-level code. The ability to mentor junior engineers and influence engineering practices through constructive feedback. A self-directed approach to solving complex problems, identifying gaps and driving improvements. 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.

Benefits

• 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.

Academic Key will never request login credentials or application fees 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.