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Graphcore, part of the SoftBank Group, is a leading innovator in AI compute hardware and infrastructure. The Power and Performance Validation Engineer role sits within the Architecture and Validation organization and is responsible for validating the performance, efficiency, and thermal behavior of Graphcore's advanced AI compute silicon and systems.
Reporting to senior leadership, you will drive validation strategy and execution across pre-silicon and post-silicon environments, ensuring products meet efficiency, reliability, and scalability expectations. The role requires strong technical expertise and collaboration across multiple engineering disciplines.
Key responsibilities include:
- Define and contribute validation strategies for power, thermal, and performance characterization of AI compute silicon and platforms
- Develop comprehensive validation plans covering functional, stress, workload, and corner-case scenarios
- Work autonomously on post-silicon bring-up and characterization activities
- Drive validation of CPU, memory, interconnect, and high-speed I/O subsystems under complex workload conditions
- Develop scalable automation frameworks, regression infrastructure, and reporting tools using Python
- Design and execute benchmark workloads, parameter sweeps, and performance experiments
- Collaborate with architecture, RTL, firmware, software, and systems teams to debug and resolve complex technical issues
- Define validation metrics, pass/fail criteria, and reporting methodologies
- Analyze power, thermal, and performance data to identify bottlenecks and recommend improvements
- Communicate technical findings, project status, risks, and recommendations to stakeholders and engineering leadership
- Support knowledge sharing and continuous improvement across the validation organization
The team supports the full product lifecycle, from early architectural modeling through first silicon bring-up, characterization, and production readiness. Engineers work closely with cross-functional teams globally to optimize workloads and continuously improve validation infrastructure.
REQUIREMENTS:
Essential:
- Strong experience in power and performance validation, silicon characterization, or system performance engineering
- Deep understanding of modern SoC architecture, including CPU, memory, interconnect, and high-speed I/O technologies
- Strong Linux systems knowledge and low-level performance analysis experience
- Strong Python programming skills for automation, orchestration, and data analysis
- Experience with benchmarking and profiling tools such as stress-ng, fio, perf, iperf, or equivalent
- Experience debugging complex hardware and software interactions
- Ability to define structured validation methodologies, workload models, and test strategies
- Strong analytical skills with ability to interpret large datasets and identify system bottlenecks
- Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
- Ability to work independently on complex technical tasks while collaborating effectively across teams
Desirable:
- Experience with AI accelerator, GPU, or high-performance compute architectures
- Experience with pre-silicon modeling or simulation environments
- Knowledge of power management technologies and silicon characterization methodologies
- Programming experience in C/C++ for low-level system or benchmark development
- Familiarity with hardware instrumentation and telemetry systems
- Experience working with high core-count or large-scale compute systems
- Experience contributing to shared validation infrastructure and engineering best practices
