Test Development Engineer - Electronic Hardware

Test Development Engineer - Electronic Hardware

Bristol, UK

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 Soft Bank 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.

We are looking for a high‑quality Test Development Engineer to complement our existing team. You will work closely with the hardware and software development teams to develop and maintain test systems in support of pre‑production test solutions. You will report to the Hardware Test Team Lead; the team is embedded within the Hardware team. We want people who work collaboratively and proactively within our teams.

Our engineers are not siloed, and they are trusted and encouraged to take ownership of their tasks and develop test solutions that meet our requirements. We value team players and the right characteristics are more important than academic qualification or specific experience.

Candidates will be expected to work closely both with other teams within Graphcore and with 3rd‑party support engineers/contractors, ensuring good communication between all parties, and to contribute meaningfully to the overall efficiency and success of the Hardware Team.

The Hardware Test Team is part of a larger Hardware Team that consists of Signal Integrity (SI), Mechanical, layout, package and Hardware engineers. The Hardware Team is responsible for delivering state‑of‑the‑art accelerators for machine learning and collaborates with the Silicon, Firmware and Production teams during product development.

A successful candidate will work within the Hardware Engineering Team to define test methods, specify suitable test equipment and automate test systems. The team is presently responsible for testing, debugging and characterising high‑speed serial links, power supplies that can deliver high current and adapt to fast transients. We also debug and characterise slower‑speed protocols like JTAG, I2C, I3C and low‑level PCBA debug.

Developing a deep understanding of Graphcore hardware and software products and how to operate them in a test environment is essential for this position.

You will be expected to understand relevant industry performance test standards, data analysis and presentation systems. Contributions are expected to span multiple areas and involve:

• Manual testing and debugging of complex high‑speed SERDES including PCIe Gen 6 and 112/224 Gb PAM4 Ethernet. This will require the use of high‑bandwidth oscilloscopes, BERTs and VNA’s, and the ability to understand complex IEEE standards.
• Designing and developing graphical user interfaces for controlling our products in a test environment.
• Development of test systems for Graphcore’s Machine‑Learning Accelerator products at a system and board level.
• Transfer of pre‑production test system knowledge to the production test team.
• Test coverage analysis and improvement.
• Maintaining and developing our characterisation systems.
• Automating tests in either Python or Lab View.

• Ethernet and/or PCIe experience
• Project Planning
• Experience in development and automation of test systems for complex electronic systems
• Fluency in test scripting languages, including Python and Lab View
• Strong written and oral communication, team‑working and interpersonal skills
• Knowledge of LPDDR, HBM interfaces
• High‑current fast‑transient power supplies
• Knowledge of Linux
• Knowledge of Bash scripts
• Previous experience of server verification
• Understanding of…