Senior Test Tool Developer at Graphcore in Austin, TX

About us

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 help make its benefits widely accessible.

Graphcore's teams bring together experts from a broad range of technical disciplines, including silicon design, software engineering, systems architecture, and AI research, working collaboratively to solve complex engineering challenges.

Job Summary

Reporting into the Hardware Platform organization, the Senior Test Tool Developer is responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the software tools and automation that enable validation of next-generation AI hardware platforms. The role partners closely with hardware, firmware, diagnostics, and validation engineers to transform hardware specifications into reliable automated test solutions that improve product quality, accelerate debugging, and increase engineering productivity throughout silicon bring-up, validation, and system integration.

The Team

The Hardware Platform team develops the software infrastructure, automation frameworks, and validation solutions that enable efficient testing of Graphcore's silicon and platform technologies. Working across multiple engineering disciplines, the team supports hardware bring-up, functional validation, characterization, and regression testing while continually improving automation, tooling, and engineering workflows.

Responsibilities and Duties

• Design, develop, and maintain automated test software used to validate silicon, IP blocks, and complete hardware platforms.
• Develop low-level hardware tests from architecture specifications, hardware documentation, and design requirements.
• Build scalable functional, stress, and regression test suites covering subsystem and system-level validation.
• Create reusable software libraries, utilities, and automation frameworks that improve validation efficiency and engineering productivity.
• Develop automated workflows supporting silicon bring-up, characterization, regression execution, and manufacturing validation.
• Collaborate closely with hardware design, firmware, diagnostics, and validation engineers to convert technical requirements into automated test solutions.
• Analyze test results, hardware telemetry, and debug data to identify issues and support root cause analysis.
• Investigate and resolve automation failures while continuously improving tool robustness, maintainability, and usability.
• Contribute to continuous integration environments and automated validation infrastructure.
• Produce clear technical documentation covering tooling, automation frameworks, validation methodologies, and best practices.

Candidate Profile

Essential

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
• Experience developing software in Python, C++, or similar programming languages.
• Strong Linux software development experience.
• Experience creating automated test frameworks or validation tooling for hardware or embedded systems.
• Ability to interpret hardware specifications and convert technical requirements into automated validation solutions.
• Experience debugging hardware and software interactions.
• Familiarity with Git and modern software development practices.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Ability to work independently while contributing effectively within collaborative engineering environments.

Desirable

• Experience validating SoCs or silicon IP.
• Familiarity with PCIe, DDR, Ethernet, I2C, SPI, UART, or similar hardware interfaces.
• Experience with FPGA validation, silicon bring-up, or hardware emulation environments.
• Experience developing automated stress testing and regression infrastructure.
• Familiarity with CI/CD systems supporting hardware validation.
• Experience working alongside hardware architects and RTL design teams.
• Knowledge of hardware diagnostics, telemetry collection, or failure analysis techniques.
• Experience working with AI accelerator or high-performance computing hardware platforms.

In addition to a competitive salary, Graphcore offers flexible working and a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing and financial future. Our benefits include medical, dental and vision coverage, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), disability and life insurance, a 401(k) retirement plan, commuter benefits, wellness services and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). 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.