Automation Engineer Bristol, UK

At Graphcore, we’re building the future of AI compute. We’re a team of semiconductor, software and AI experts, with deep experience in creating the complete AI compute stack - from silicon and software to infrastructure at datacentre scale. As part of the SoftBank Group, backed by significant long-term investment, we are delivering key technology into the fast-growing SoftBank AI ecosystem. To meet the vast and exciting AI opportunity, Graphcore is expanding its teams around the world. We are bringing together the brightest minds to solve the toughest problems, in a place where everyone has the opportunity to make an impact on the company, our products and the future of artificial intelligence.

We are looking for a dedicated Automation Engineer to join Graphcore Ltd. in Bristol, UK. This role offers an outstanding opportunity to build and scale automation capabilities across our modern platforms, starting with the Atlassian Cloud and extending to other innovative systems. You will play a key role in establishing a configuration-as-code model, advancing our automation efforts, and ensuring smooth operations through reliable workflows based on continuous integration and delivery.

You’ll be joining a world-class, multi-disciplinary team known for its strong technical prowess and encouraging culture. Our team collaborates closely, regularly shares knowledge, and your contributions will make a significant impact on our business. This is an ambitious and pivotal time for us, with numerous new projects on the horizon. If you're determined to tackle interesting challenges and see your work deliver real-world results, this is the team for you!

Responsibilities and Duties

• Build and implement CI/CD pipelines to manage configuration changes with validations, approvals, and deployment stages.
• Develop and maintain configuration-as-code workflows, ensuring all modifications are version-controlled, auditable, and repeatable.
• Build and maintain automated systems for provisioning projects, workflows, permissions, and configurations.
• Implement approval gates, policy checks, and validation logic within pipelines to enforce governance and compliance.
• Connect CI/CD workflows with identity and access systems (e.g., Azure AD) to guarantee secure and auditable provisioning.
• Develop automation using APIs and scripting to manage SaaS platforms, initially focusing on Atlassian.
• Compose and build reusable automation frameworks and patterns that can be extended to other systems driven by APIs.
• Collaborate with Atlassian Administrators to identify manual processes and transition them into automated workflows.
• Work closely with the Lead Atlassian Platform Engineer to implement platform architecture, standards, and governance through code.
• Develop tooling to enforce standards, prevent configuration drift, and improve consistency across environments.
• Build automation and tooling through the use of relevant programming or scripting languages (e.g., Python, Go, PowerShell).
• Monitor and improve the performance, reliability, and scalability of automation workflows and pipelines.
• Support audit and compliance requirements by ensuring all modifications are traceable and managed through pipelines.
• Contribute to documentation, standards, and guidelines for automation and platform operations.

Candidate Profile

• Strong experience in DevOps, automation, or platform engineering roles.
• Established expertise in developing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitLab CI, Jenkins, CloudBees or equivalent).
• Experience building workflows for configuration, infrastructure, or SaaS platforms that follow a structured process.
• Experience applying approval, validation, and governance controls within CI/CD pipelines.
• Proficient programming or scripting abilities (e.g., Python, Go, PowerShell, or similar).
• Experience working with REST APIs and developing automation for systems that rely on APIs.
• Experience managing source control systems (e.g., Git) as the definitive reference.
• Knowledge of identity and access management principles.
• Ability to compose and build scalable, maintainable automation solutions.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work in a distributed environment.
• Experience interacting with Atlassian Cloud APIs (Jira, Confluence).
• Experience implementing configuration-as-code or GitOps-style approaches.
• Familiarity with Azure AD or other identity providers.
• Experience building internal platforms or automation frameworks.
• Knowledge of governance, audit, and compliance requirements.
• Experience extending automation patterns across multiple SaaS platforms.

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.