Partner Solutions Engineer

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 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.   JOB SUMMARY Reporting to the Director of Automation, the Staff Robotics Engineer will provide technical leadership for the design, integration, validation, and deployment of robotic automation systems for data center operations. This role will work closely with internal Graphcore teams, SoftBank Robotics, SoftBank Group affiliates, and external technology partners to turn R&D concepts into scalable, production-ready robotic capabilities. Example systems may include robotic manipulation, material transport, inspection, rack/server handling, autonomous mobile robots, or other automation solutions for data center operations. This role is based in Austin and may require periodic travel to partner, manufacturing, lab, or deployment sites, including occasional collaboration across APAC time zones.   THE TEAM The automation team is responsible for helping the vision of Softbank Group to automate data center, working with internal Graphcore teams and Softbank Group affiliates. The team works closely with Softbank Robotics and its partners and other third parties to solve complex solutions for data center operations.  Our focus is on delivering robust, production-quality systems that bridge cutting-edge research and real-world deployment.   RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES * This role is expected to operate with high autonomy, define technical direction for ambiguous robotics automation problems, influence partner roadmaps, and establish engineering standards for scalable deployment. * Align robotics, data center, internal engineering, SoftBank Group, and third-party partner teams to provide scalable autonomy capabilities. * Guide and mentor Softbank Group engineers and third-party partners without direct people management responsibilities, elevating technical judgment and Mechatronics best practices. * Contribute to technical planning, estimation and delivery of key project milestones. * Experience establishing or executing verification and validation processes, including simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, FAT/SAT, site validation, or field deployment. * Support troubleshooting and root-cause analysis across software, controls, mechanical, and electrical systems. * Iterate on end effectors, hardware interfaces, and robotic subsystems with partners. * Help build scalable software infrastructure, device management systems, and fleet coordination protocols by collaborating with Softbank Group affiliates and third-party partners. * Lead the transition of R&D feasibility studies into production-ready integrated systems. * Evaluate emerging technologies, tools and methodologies to improve robotics capabilities and engineering productivity. * Produce clear technical documentation and communicate engineering decisions effectively to a range of stakeholders. CANDIDATE PROFILE ESSENTIAL * 8+ years of experience in automation or equipment engineering, with a focus on mechatronic subsystems and modular machine design. * Experience taking robotic or automated systems from prototype/R&D into production or field deployment. * Experience with material handling systems, automated equipment, or productionized robotic solutions. * Familiarity with 3D localization or VLM-based object detection (e.g., perception/ segmentation). * Experience conducting FAT/SAT validation and managing technical deliverables with partners and manufacturers. * Proven ability to debug the "full-stack": PLC logic, high-level code (C# or Python), and complex mechanical/electrical hardware. * Experience with robotics frameworks and middleware such as ROS/ROS 2 and IsaacSIM for modeling robotic interactions and path planning. * Strong understanding of robotics fundamentals including perception, localization, mapping, planning or control. * Ability to lead technical initiatives and influence engineering direction through expertise and collaboration. * Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills. * Strong communication skills with the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams. * Degree in Mechatronics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, Mathematics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience. DESIRABLE * Experience applying machine learning or AI techniques within robotics systems. * Experience with simulation environments and digital twin technologies. * Knowledge of computer vision, sensor fusion or reinforcement learning techniques. * Experience deploying robotics applications to cloud, edge or embedded environments. * Familiarity with GPU acceleration, high-performance computing or AI infrastructure. * Experience contributing to open-source robotics projects or technical communities. * Experience working in research-intensive or advanced technology environments.   BENEFITS 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 Programme (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.

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 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 fosters continuous learning and innovation. Job Summary Reporting into the Systems Engineering organisation, the Distinguished Engineer, End-to-End Security Architect will define and lead the security architecture for Graphcore’s inference service platform. This role is responsible for establishing a comprehensive security strategy spanning platform, infrastructure, networking, service operations, customer assurance, and compliance readiness. Working across multiple engineering and operational functions, the successful candidate will provide technical leadership, drive security requirements, and ensure the platform delivers robust protection, resilience, and trust for customers. The Team You will work closely with teams across security architecture, infrastructure engineering, networking, site reliability engineering, platform software, firmware, data centre operations, compliance, legal, customer engineering, and customer security. The team collaborates across the business to deliver secure, reliable, and scalable AI infrastructure and services while supporting customer assurance, regulatory requirements, and operational excellence. Responsibilities and Duties * Own the end-to-end security architecture for the inference service platform, covering infrastructure, networking, APIs, operational controls, monitoring, and customer assurance. * Define security principles, threat models, trust boundaries, tenant isolation requirements, and architectural standards for the service. * Establish security requirements for deployment environments, including physical security, operational controls, access management, and asset protection. * Define platform security requirements across hardware, firmware, secure boot, attestation, software integrity, and lifecycle management. * Lead the design of network and service isolation controls, secure communications, segmentation strategies, and administrative access protections. * Own security architecture for authentication, authorisation, secrets management, encryption, key management, and data protection controls. * Define privileged access management approaches, audit requirements, access review processes, and emergency access procedures. * Establish logging, monitoring, telemetry, incident response, and security assurance requirements across the service lifecycle. * Partner with engineering and operations teams to ensure security requirements are effectively implemented, maintained, and validated. * Assess security posture against customer, contractual, regulatory, and internal requirements, managing risk-based decisions where required. * Support customer security reviews, audits, penetration testing activities, security questionnaires, and technical assurance discussions. * Provide technical leadership, architectural guidance, mentoring, and design review expertise across multiple teams and disciplines. Candidate Profile Essential * Advanced degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience. * Significant experience in security architecture, platform security, cloud security, infrastructure security, or large-scale service security. * Demonstrated experience defining and owning security architecture for customer-facing platforms, infrastructure services, or large-scale production environments. * Deep understanding of threat modelling, zero-trust principles, tenant isolation, privileged access management, cryptographic controls, and secure operations. * Strong knowledge of platform security technologies including trusted execution mechanisms, secure boot, attestation, firmware integrity, and supply-chain security concepts. * Experience defining security requirements for data centre deployments, operational environments, and physical security controls. * Expertise in network security architecture, segmentation, management-plane protection, secure communications, monitoring, and access control. * Experience with key management, secrets management, certificate lifecycle management, and encryption technologies. * Experience securing APIs, deployment pipelines, service control planes, and operational tooling. * Strong understanding of logging, monitoring, incident response, security operations, and evidence management practices. * Experience supporting customer security reviews, audits, penetration testing activities, and executive-level security discussions. * Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence technical and non-technical audiences. * Proven ability to lead through influence across engineering, security, operations, compliance, and customer-facing teams. Desirable * Experience securing AI/ML inference platforms, model-serving infrastructure, accelerator-based systems, or confidential AI workloads. * Experience with trusted execution environments, platform attestation technologies, secure firmware development, and workload identity solutions. * Experience with confidential computing, secure enclaves, measured boot technologies, and remote attestation. * Experience supporting highly regulated environments, critical infrastructure, or security-sensitive customer deployments. * Familiarity with industry security and compliance frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, PCI DSS, FedRAMP, or NIST standards. * Knowledge of hardware platform security, high-performance networking, storage security, and accelerator ecosystem technologies. * Experience with supply-chain risk management, secure manufacturing practices, asset lifecycle controls, and secure disposal processes. * Understanding of emerging cryptographic technologies and future security trends. * Experience working with hyperscalers, enterprise customers, AI organisations, or managed infrastructure providers. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package, Graphcore offers flexible working arrangements 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 Programme (EAP). We welcome people of different backgrounds and experiences and are committed to building an inclusive work environment where everyone can thrive. We offer an equal opportunity recruitment process and can provide a flexible approach to interviews. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.