Emerging Talent Lead in Bristol

Graphcore is one of the world’s leading innovators in Artificial Intelligence compute. It is developing hardware, software and systems infrastructure that will unlock the next generation of AI breakthroughs and power the widespread adoption of AI solutions across every industry. As part of the SoftBank Group, Graphcore is a member of an elite family of companies responsible for some of the world’s most transformative technologies.

We are developing our global Emerging Talent programme to support ongoing business growth in the EMEA, APAC, and NAM regions. This role manages the global emerging talent strategy — defining ways to attract, assess, and nurture emerging talent at Graphcore. You will build how we collaborate with universities and research institutions, develop a consistent global framework for graduate and intern hiring that supports early talent from day one.

This position offers a chance for someone who enjoys building programmes at scale and shaping how emerging talent joins and progresses within Graphcore.

• Strategy
  • Define and lead the global emerging talents strategy across graduate, intern, and placement programmes.
  • Scale the programme from a UK foundation to a global model.
  • Set clear structures for how early talent is recognised, recruited, and nurtured throughout the organisation.
  • Partner with senior leaders to understand future talent needs and align emerging talent pipelines accordingly.
  • Build a scalable operating model that supports continued growth in emerging talent hiring.
• University & academic partnerships
  • Define the go-to-market strategy for university engagement across global regions.
  • Build and manage partnerships with key universities aligned to the organisation’s technical talent needs.
  • Find opportunities to strengthen the pipeline through research collaborations, projects, or events.
  • Build the approach to campus events, career fairs, and university outreach.
• Assessment & selection
  • Work closely with the recruiters who will support hiring delivery, events, and candidate management.
  • Build the assessment approach for graduate and intern hiring.
  • Define interview frameworks and evaluation criteria aligned with technical and behavioural expectations.
  • Ensure the selection process is structured, fair, and scalable across multiple geographies.
  • Partner with technical leaders and hiring managers to ensure alignment on assessment standards.
  • Continuously review and improve assessment methods based on hiring outcomes and feedback.
• Graduate programme build & development
  • Define the structure of the global graduate development programme.
  • Build the learning journey for emerging talent hires, including onboarding, training, and technical development.
  • Build and deliver soft skills training sessions as part of the programme.
  • Partner with engineering, product, and leadership teams to ensure graduates gain meaningful experience.
  • Establish clear expectations and achievements for early career progression.
  • Review and evolve the programme based on feedback and business needs.

• Experience building and scaling Emerging Talent programmes within growing organisations.
• Experience leading or managing Emerging Talent / Graduate programmes.
• Experience crafting global early talent hiring strategies and university engagement models.
• Solid knowledge of international graduate and intern hiring procedures.
• Experience building assessment frameworks & development programmes for early careers hiring.
• Ability to establish positive relationships with universities and academic partners.
• Strong collaborator management across Talent Acquisition, People, and business leadership.
• Comfortable operating in a global environment across multiple regions.
• Proactive, organised and able to manage multiple programme elements simultaneously.

• Experience working in a high-growth technology or engineering organisation.
• Experience growing emerging talent programmes across international locations.
• Familiarity with technical graduate hiring (engineering, software, AI, research).

In addition to a competitive salary, Graphcore offers flexible working, a generous annual leave policy, private medical insurance and health cash plan, a dental plan, pension (matched up to 5%), life assurance and income protection. We have a generous parental leave policy and an employee assistance programme (which includes health, mental wellbeing, and bereavement support). We offer a range of healthy food and snacks at our central Bristol office and have our own barista bar!

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.

Applicants for this position must hold the right to work in the UK. Unfortunately at this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or support for visa applications.