Senior Software Engineer - AI Compute Libraries & Performance

About the Position

Senior Software Engineer - AI Compute Libraries & Performance

Location: Bristol, UK

Build the compute kernels that make next-generation AI hardware perform at its limit.

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will create high-performance AI compute libraries for Graphcore’s next-generation hardware. Your work will sit close to the hardware, where every design choice matters.

You will own kernels for linear algebra and tensor operations, including GEMM, convolutions, reductions, and fused operations. You will improve performance, correctness, and numerical reliability across critical AI workloads.

This role is for engineers who enjoy hard performance problems and care deeply about quality. You will help shape software that enables customers to get more from AI hardware.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement kernels for linear algebra and tensor operations (GEMM, batched GEMM, convolutions, reductions, elementwise, and fused operations) in C++
• Own performance and correctness - add microbenchmarks, regression tests, numerics validation
• Profile and optimize for next-generation AI hardware - threading, cache locality, memory layout, and kernel launch efficiency
• Debug issues, resolve bugs, and generally improve the quality and functionality of the product
• Actively engage in and support Agile ways of working within the team
• Mentor colleagues within the team, sharing knowledge and providing guidance where appropriate

Requirements

Essential

• Excellent programming and scripting skills using C++ and Python
• Understanding of processor architectures and profiling on Linux
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, good work ethics, high sense of teamwork
• Love to produce quality work and be a team player

Desirable

• Strong command of algorithmic performance - vectorisation, memory hierarchy, threading, lock-free patterns
• Hands-on with at least one BLAS/DNN stack and able to read/extend kernels
• Comfort with CPU micro-optimisations and numerical stability/trade-offs across FP32/FP16/BF16/FP8
• Experience integrating native code into PyTorch or similar (custom ops, extensions, dispatch keys)
• ABI/API stability and packaging for Linux system (manylinux, wheels)

We Offer

• Unlimited annual leave
• Up to 5% matched pension
• Phantom equity – share in Graphcore’s success
• True flexibility in how and where you work
• Office spaces designed for collaboration
• Free food and an on-site barista
• Health cash plan
• Income protection
• Life assurance
• Along with other benefits you can choose from (private medical insurance, dental plan, etc.)

About the Company

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.

If you want to shape the compute libraries behind next-generation AI hardware, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now to help build what comes next.