Principal Test Framework Software Engineer

About Graphcore Graphcore is a leading innovator in artificial intelligence computing. We develop hardware, software, and systems infrastructure designed to support the next generation of AI systems and expand the practical use of AI across industries. As part of SoftBank Group, Graphcore works alongside companies developing advanced technologies. Our teams bring together hardware, software, systems, and AI expertise to solve complex engineering problems across the computing stack. The Opportunity As Principal Test Framework Software Engineer, you will define and evolve the software architecture used to qualify and validate Graphcore's AI hardware platforms. You will combine hands-on software development with Principal-level technical leadership, creating common frameworks that help engineering teams run reliable, repeatable tests across development, system validation, and production environments. Working within Test Software and Automation, you will translate hardware requirements into maintainable test solutions, improve the speed and quality of validation, and provide clear technical direction across hardware, firmware, systems, product, and manufacturing teams. What You Will Do • Own the architecture and technical roadmap for shared test automation frameworks used in hardware bring-up, qualification, regression testing, and production validation. • Design and implement framework components, interfaces, configuration models, and reusable libraries that support multiple hardware platforms and test environments. • Translate hardware specifications, validation plans, and quality requirements into scalable automated test suites with clear coverage and traceability. • Establish engineering standards for framework reliability, maintainability, versioning, documentation, observability, and test-result integrity. • Integrate automated testing with continuous integration and delivery pipelines, source control, lab infrastructure, and test orchestration systems. • Develop tools and data pipelines that collect, process, analyze, and visualize test results so teams can identify failures, trends, and quality risks. • Lead complex debugging across test software, operating systems, firmware, hardware, and lab environments, and drive issues to clear technical resolution. • Improve test execution time, reproducibility, resource use, and validation methods across development and production workflows. • Partner with hardware, firmware, systems, product, quality, and manufacturing teams to align test coverage with product and business requirements. • Provide technical guidance, conduct design and code reviews, mentor engineers, and communicate status, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations to engineering leaders. What You Will Bring • A bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. • Substantial professional experience building software for test automation, validation infrastructure, developer tooling, or related systems, including technical leadership at Principal, Staff, or Lead Engineer scope. • Strong software development skills in Python and proficiency with Bash or comparable scripting languages. • Demonstrated success designing modular, scalable, and maintainable frameworks, including stable interfaces, reusable components, configuration management, and automated verification. • Experience with Linux or Unix environments, Git-based development, continuous integration and delivery pipelines, and software engineering practices for production-quality tools. • Experience working at the boundary between software and hardware, including hardware test, system validation, or embedded platform environments. • Strong debug