Director - Silicon Product Engineering in Bristol

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 370 million and have built a world‑class team of 220+ employees (including 49+ PhDs with more than 40,000 citations), both remotely from 18 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 3‑5x 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?

The Opportunity

As Director of Silicon Product Engineering, you will lead the Silicon Product Engineering and Bristol Lab functions through NPI and into volume production, with the NPI Engineering Manager and Lab Manager reporting to you. You will be the senior interface between these teams and the executive, owning departmental budgets, headcount and resourcing decisions, and the OSAT and partner choices that shape each new program. You will report to the executive team and partner closely with Design, Engineering, Sales, and our external manufacturing ecosystem. You will set the direction for Silicon Product Engineering and test, oversee the Bristol Lab, and build the organisational muscle to scale across multiple concurrent chip programs as the business grows. This is a director‑level management role: it calls for a leader with the technical background to make sound NPI and OSAT decisions and earn the respect of senior engineers, paired with the commercial and organisational judgement to manage budgets, resourcing, and the day‑to‑day running of two technical departments.

Key Responsibilities

• Silicon Product Strategy & Ownership: Define and own the product engineering roadmap across all silicon programs, from tapeout planning through high‑volume manufacturing. Own ATE strategy and major NPI decisions, including build‑vs‑buy, test‑coverage trade‑offs, and OSAT selection at programme kickoff. Drive tapeout‑to‑production timelines, identifying risks early and coordinating resolution across design, validation, and manufacturing partners. Own product qualification strategy for both datacentre and automotive markets, ensuring alignment with customer and regulatory standards. Lead NPI governance: phase gates, cross‑functional reviews, executive reporting, and programme documentation. Plan team structure, headcount, and capability against the company's growth pipeline, ensuring Product Engineering and Lab can support concurrent programs as the business scales.
• External Partner & Ecosystem Leadership: Own strategic relationships with OSATs, ATE vendors, foundries, and test houses, driving partner selection, commercial negotiations, and production readiness. Lead test program transfer and ramp with OSAT partners, including technical qualification and ongoing yield improvement. Collaborate with foundries on process monitoring, yield analysis, and continuous improvement across multiple technology nodes. Build a trusted external partner network that gives Axelera competitive advantage in speed, quality, and cost.
• Bristol Lab & Validation Operations: Lead and evolve the Bristol validation lab into a scalable, professionally‑run engineering operation supporting multiple concurrent programs. Through the Lab Manager, oversee silicon bring‑up, characterisation, and production test development carried out in the lab. Set operational standards and own the lab budget covering equipment, calibration, procurement, safety, and stock control. Ensure the lab's validation capability (power, JTAG/scan, signal integrity, thermal) scales with the company's ambition.
• Team Leadership & Organisational Development: Build, lead, and mentor a multidisciplinary team of test engineers, validation engineers, and lab technicians. Recruit and develop senior talent, creating career paths that retain top performers in a competitive market. Foster a culture of engineering excellence, rigour, and accountability aligned with Axelera's fast‑moving culture. Run regular Product Engineering and Lab team meetings, provide escalation support for the managers reporting to you, and act as a senior technical voice in roadmap and strategy discussions. Translate executive strategy into clear direction for the Product Engineering and Lab teams, and represent both functions to the executive team, board, and key customers.

What Success Looks Like

In the first 12 months:

• Successful bring‑up and qualification of the next chip program delivered on schedule.
• Current products smoothly transitioned into qualified, cost‑effective production.
• A clear, executive‑aligned test and product engineering strategy in place across all active programs.
• Bristol lab operating to a higher standard: better‑structured, better‑equipped, and better‑controlled.
• Key OSAT and foundry partnerships strengthened and formalised.

Longer term:

• Faster tapeout‑to‑production cycles, with repeatable and measurable quality metrics.
• A silicon product organisation that scales efficiently across multiple concurrent chip programs.
• Axelera AI recognised by partners and customers as an operationally excellent silicon company.
• A high‑performing team with clear development paths and strong retention.

What we are looking for

Technical Background: Background spanning package, product, assembly, test (including lab experience), and qualification, with time spent in startup or high‑growth environments. Deep command of ATE platforms and test program development across early silicon and volume manufacturing. Strong understanding of reliability physics and qualification methodology for complex SoCs, including automotive and datacentre standards. Familiarity with silicon debug and failure analysis workflows sufficient to guide the team and assess risk. Solid grasp of test and manufacturing economics: how decisions in design and test translate to cost and yield at scale. Working knowledge of DFT and how testability requirements are agreed with Design at NPI.

Leadership & Commercial Acumen: Proven track record of leading and scaling technical teams in fast‑moving semiconductor environments. Experience managing OSAT, test house, and foundry relationships at a senior level, including commercial negotiation. Track record of running technical departments at director level, including budget ownership, headcount planning, and resourcing decisions. Strong executive communication skills, able to translate complex technical topics for board‑level audiences and to convert executive strategy into clear direction for engineering teams. Experience building engineering processes and infrastructure from scratch or in high‑growth, scaling environments. Comfortable holding ambiguity and making high‑impact decisions with incomplete information. Experience with automotive (AEC‑Q100) or datacentre qualification standards is a strong plus. Prior experience in an AI hardware or high‑growth deep‑tech startup is advantageous.

Location

We offer a flexible working arrangement, work from our Bristol (UK) office in an Onsite / Hybrid capacity.

What we offer

This is your chance to shape and be part of a dynamic, fast‑growing, international organisation. 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. 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.