Principal Engineer, Power Electronics

Graphcore; Milpitas (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Graphcore is seeking a Principal Engineer for Power Engineering to define the architecture of power delivery components. The role involves working closely with hardware engineers and firmware developers to ensure the infrastructure supports customer requirements and high standards.

Candidates should possess a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Electrical Engineering with expertise in power systems and rack-level hardware design. This position is based in either Austin or San Jose and offers flexible work arrangements.

Qualifications

• Specialised knowledge in Power Engineering is required.
• Proven ability in power system architecture and design.
• Experience with rack-level hardware design is essential.

Responsibilities

• Define architecture of power delivery components.
• Establish power roadmap and collaborate with vendors.
• Design resilient hardware and firmware components.

Skills

Power system architecture

Hardware design

Analytical skills

Teamwork

Education

Bachelor's or Master's or PhD in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Power hardware and firmware

Job description

About Us

Graphcore is a globally recognised leader in Artificial Intelligence computing systems. The company designs advanced semiconductors and data centre hardware that provide the specialised processing power needed to drive AI innovation, while delivering the efficiency required to support its broader adoption.

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. We are opening a new AI Engineering Campus in Austin, which will play a central role in Graphcore’s work building the future of AI computing.

Job Overview

Graphcore is seeking a Principal Engineer, Power Engineering to aid in defining the architecture of the power delivery components from grid to chip. You will work closely with multiple cross‑functional teams, including hardware engineers, firmware developers, and data centre operations, to ensure the infrastructure we build meets customer requirements as well as attaining standards of performance, reliability, and scalability. This role will be based in Austin or San Jose and could potentially be performed onsite or remotely within the US.

Responsibilities

• Provide thought leadership, planning, and design for power delivery from data centre power drop through delivery to systems & chips.
• Establish power roadmap. Work with vendors to ensure their planned future technologies are pulled into our system engineering roadmap and ensure that our (system engineering) required technological innovation is being driven into their (power vendor) roadmap. Work to improve reliability and efficiency of power engineering component over time.
• Rack‑level power components. Competency with specification of hardware and firmware for rack‑level power shelves. Competency with design for resiliency.
• Set power policies in the data centre for: power buffer/oversubscription, scheduling of jobs based on power, and monitoring (power quality faults) / accommodation faults. Resolve telemetry and data needed to support power policy algorithms.
• Ensure robustness of IT power in the presence of grid disturbances and make sure that IT power loads are compatible with grid power requirements (“good grid power citizen”).
• Board and system‑level power regulation components. Understand and be able to apply current VRM, TLDR, and POL technologies. Help to develop new technologies to increase efficiency. Understand manufacturing capabilities and limitations of new technology.
• Provide guidance to the power equipment manufacturers, ODM and engineering teams on the required testing and validation procedures for power hardware and firmware components.
• Develop and test hardware prototypes as needed to support the exploration and validation of new concepts in power delivery.
• Tackle and resolve sophisticated power hardware and firmware issues as needed.
• Ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.

Required Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s or PhD degree in Electrical Engineering with a specialised knowledge of Power Engineering.
• Demonstrated ability in power system and delivery architecture, design, and development.
• Experience with rack‑level hardware design, including servers, storage, networking, and power distribution.
• Proficiency in power hardware and firmware development and debugging.
• Excellent problem‑solving and analytical skills.
• Strong communication and teamwork skills.
• Ability to work in a fast‑paced, multifaceted environment.

Nice to Have Skills and Experience

• Familiarity with new technologies in AI and data centre infrastructure.
• Comfortable meeting with and engaging directly with customers (internal and external) during requirements gathering and solution development.

Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, Graphcore offers a competitive benefits package. 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.