Location: Bristol, UK
Start date: September 2027
Application deadline: Midnight, 29th November 2026 
We encourage you to apply early, as we may close applications before the advertised deadline.

The Graduate Programme at Graphcore

Join Graphcore in a permanent role and start your career with two years of hands-on learning. From day one, you’ll be trusted to take ownership, share your ideas and help shape what we’re creating. You’ll tackle challenging problems alongside a team who support your development and are as excited about your success as you are.

What you’ll work on

Put your coding skills to work on the infrastructure that helps Graphcore engineers turn code into reliable software releases.

As a Graduate Software Engineer in DevOps, you’ll help develop and maintain tools for software builds and releases. You’ll deploy services using Kubernetes and Docker, and support cloud infrastructure managed through tools such as Terraform. Working closely with teams developing Graphcore’s machine learning software stack, you’ll help automate repetitive tasks and improve the workflows engineers use every day.

You’ll join the Software Infrastructure team, building tools that help Graphcore engineers develop, test and release software for their state-of-the-art AI accelerators. An engineering buddy will help you settle in, with senior engineers, tech leads and your manager supporting you as you grow. In your first three months, you’ll work with fellow graduates on a project developing new capability that goes into production. It’ll be something you can point to and say, “We built that”, and continue to own, develop, and maintain long-term. Previous graduates have rolled out ArgoCD to manage the lifecycle of our entire kubernetes estate and Coder to provide development environments for engineers. Coder remains our second highest volume service to this day.

Bring your questions and ideas. Take responsibility for your work and speak up when you spot a problem or need support.

How you’ll learn and grow

During the two-year programme, you’ll build practical experience in continuous integration and deployment, cloud infrastructure, containerisation, build engineering and release systems, and machine learning operations. You’ll see how software moves from development to release and learn what it takes to make that possible at scale.

You’ll develop the judgement to understand what people need, weigh up different approaches and build solutions they can depend on.

Your manager understands the potential graduates bring and will help you build on your foundations, developing the skills and confidence to take on more complex engineering challenges.

What we're looking for

• Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in Computer Science, Maths, Machine Learning, Data Science or a related field
• Knowledge of Python, Go, C++ or a similar programming language.
• Experience developing or managing systems in Linux environments
• An understanding of continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), with the communication skills to explain your work and collaborate with others

You can demonstrate these skills through coursework, a dissertation, personal or team projects, research, or other relevant experience. Tell us what you built or investigated, how you approached it and what you learned.

Exposure or experience in Kubernetes, OpenStack, infrastructure as code tools such as Terraform or OpenTofu, GitHub Actions, build tools, high-performance computing (HPC), Grafana or cloud services such as AWS would be useful. These are additional strengths, rather than essential requirements.

Benefits

• Flexible working: Balance your work and personal life with greater flexibility
• Retirement planning support: Up to 5% matched pension
• Phantom equity: Share in Graphcore’s success
• Workplace experience: Enjoy thoughtfully designed office spaces for collaboration, with free food and an on-site barista to support your day
• Peace of mind protection: Income protection and life assurance to provide financial security for you and your loved ones
• Electric Vehicle Scheme: Choose an electric vehicle and lease it through salary sacrifice
• Flexible benefits: Tailor your benefits package with a choice of additional options, including private medical insurance and dental cover
• Optional benefits: Dental cover, health cash plan, private medical insurance, cycle to work scheme, give as you earn

We welcome people from all backgrounds and experiences and are committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone can do their best work.

We’re an equal opportunity employer and recognise that everyone brings different strengths and perspectives. If you need any adjustments during the interview process, just let us know - we’re happy to support you.

Sponsorship

Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the programme, without requiring visa sponsorship. We are unable to sponsor work visas for our Early Careers opportunities.

Introduction to Graphcore

At Graphcore, we’re building next generation AI compute: from semiconductors and software to systems at datacenter scale. We are proud to be owned by SoftBank Group and work with other companies in the SoftBank family to deliver AI compute to customers working at the AI frontier. Starting your career here means working alongside people with different backgrounds and expertise, from AI researchers to chip designers and software engineers. You’ll learn from each other, bring fresh ideas and help solve challenging problems together.

How to apply and what to expect 

To apply, answer the application questions below and upload your CV and cover letter. We’ll let you know the outcome of your application by early December at the latest. If successful, you’ll be invited to complete a technical assessment. Candidates who reach the final stage will then be invited to attend in-person assessments in early spring.

Ready to put your learning into practice? Start your career in a permanent DevOps role, with two years of hands-on learning through the Graphcore Graduate Programme. Apply now and help shape what comes next.