Senior R&D Engineer - System Architecture in Bristol

Join to apply for the Senior R&D Engineer – System Architecture role at Axelera AI.

About Us

Axelera AI is not your regular deep‑tech startup. We are creating the next‑generation AI platform to support anyone who wants to help advancing humanity and improve the world around us. In just four years, we have raised a total of $120 million and have built a world‑class team of 220+ employees (including 49+ PhDs with more than 40,000 citations), both remotely from 17 different countries and with offices in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, the UK, headquartered at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Netherlands. We have also launched our Metis™ AI Platform, which achieves a 3‑5× increase in efficiency and performance, and have visibility into a strong business pipeline exceeding $100 million. Our unwavering commitment to innovation has firmly established us as a global industry pioneer. Are you up for the challenge?

Position Overview

Within the R&D System Architecture team, we are seeking a highly skilled Hardware Architect focused on memory design, intra‑ and inter‑chip networking and interconnect technology, system‑in‑integration, performance tuning and hardware‑software interactions, with a particular focus on memory management, dataflow and networking infrastructure such as remote‑DMA over ethernet, InfiniBand or similar technologies. The ideal candidate has a strong corporate or academic background in hardware and system architecture. Your primary role will be to design, architect, and optimize the hardware architecture that underpins Axelera’s cutting‑edge AI acceleration platforms.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the design, architecture and implementation of Axelera’s next‑gen AI accelerators, focusing on memory and inter‑ and intra‑chip network architectures.
• Build architectural models, validate their performance across a range of AI workloads and research and define optimal configurations.
• Build advanced hardware prototypes.
• Create detailed architectural specifications.
• Define and perform rigorous performance evaluation tests for architectural and behavioural verification.
• Collaborate closely with cross‑functional teams including software engineers, digital designers, ML scientists and product managers to align on project goals and requirements.
• Communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders within the organization.
• Contribute actively to the team's knowledge base through documentation, sharing best practices and participating in technical discussions.
• Collaborate with academia or industry partners on joint research projects to explore new possibilities in AI technology.
• Contribute to Axelera’s intellectual property through patent filings, whitepapers, blog posts or publications in relevant conferences or journals.

Requirements

• Master’s or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related fields with a focus on circuit design, computer architecture or high-performance computing.
• Basic working knowledge of Neural Networks, specifically convolutional or transformer Neural Networks for computer vision and sequence modelling.
• Experience in software development.
• Experience in hardware development.
• Strong programming skills in Python.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively in a team environment.

Preferred:

• Experience or knowledge of networking protocols such as RoCE or InfiniBand, networking technologies, (Remote) direct‑memory access.
• Basic knowledge of common computer architectures (CPU, GPU, AI accelerators) and SoC architecture.
• Proven track record of innovative contributions to AI/ML projects or research initiatives, publications or patents in the field of neural networks, system architecture, or related areas.

Location

This position is based in Italy & we support relocation to Bologna, Florence or Milan for talent based abroad and interested in this role.

What We Offer

This is your chance to shape and be part of a dynamic, fast‑growing, international organization. We offer an attractive compensation package, including a pension plan, extensive employee insurances and the option to get company shares. An open culture that supports creativity and continual innovation is awaiting you. Collaborative ownership and freedom with responsibility is characteristic for the way we act and work as a team.

Equal Opportunity Statement

At Axelera AI, we wholeheartedly embrace equal opportunity and hold diversity in the highest regard. Our steadfast commitment is to cultivate a warm and inclusive environment that empowers and celebrates every member of our team. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds to join us in shaping the future of AI.

Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level.

Employment type: Full‑time.

Job function: Engineering and Information Technology.

Industries: Semiconductor Manufacturing.