Principal BMC Firmware Developer

Graphcore

$130K — $180K *
Telecommunications & Hardware
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent.
  • 10+ years in developing BMC firmware for server or data center platforms.
  • Expertise with OpenBMC, including D-Bus services, Yocto/BitBake, and platform integration.
  • Strong programming in C/C++ and scripting languages like Python or Bash.
  • Experience with platform management protocols like Redfish, PLDM, SPDM, MCTP, and IPMI.
  • Understanding of server hardware architecture including power delivery, thermals, sensors, and FRUs.
  • Experience with hardware interfaces like I2C, I3C, SPI, and PCIe.

Responsibilities

  • Lead architecture and development of OpenBMC firmware for hyperscale server platforms.
  • Enable hardware integration for power management, sensors, and device management.
  • Develop scalable management interfaces using D-Bus, Redfish, PLDM, and MCTP protocols.
  • Architect firmware security features including Root of Trust and secure boot.
  • Design firmware lifecycle management frameworks with rollback protection.
  • Develop telemetry pipelines for fleet-scale monitoring and diagnostics.
  • Collaborate with silicon vendors and ODM partners across architecture and manufacturing ramp.
  • Mentor engineers and promote best practices in Yocto builds and CI/CD pipelines.
  • Lead system-level debugging across hardware and firmware in lab and production environments.

Benefits

  • Competitive benefits package to support employee well-being.
  • Commitment to an inclusive work environment valuing diverse backgrounds and experiences.
  • Flexible approach to interviews, offering reasonable adjustments as needed.
Full Job Description
Job Summary

We are seeking a Principal BMC Firmware Engineer to lead the architecture and development of OpenBMC-based management firmware for hyperscale AI server platforms.

This role focuses on building scalable platform management firmware that enables system monitoring, telemetry, power and thermal management, and lifecycle management across large-scale data center deployments.

The Team

Graphcore is a globally recognised leader in Artificial Intelligence computing systems. The company designs advanced semiconductors and data centre hardware that provide the specialised processing power needed to drive AI innovation, while delivering the efficiency required to support its broader adoption.

The Firmware Engineering team develops platform management firmware responsible for monitoring, controlling, and servicing Graphcore's AI compute infrastructure.

The team collaborates closely with hardware engineering, silicon teams, platform architects, and validation teams to deliver reliable firmware across server and rack-scale systems.

Responsibilities and Duties
  • Lead the architecture and development of OpenBMC firmware for hyperscale server platforms.
  • Enable hardware integration including power management, sensors, FRU inventory, and device management.
  • Develop scalable manageability interfaces using D-Bus, Redfish, PLDM, and MCTP protocols.
  • Architect firmware security capabilities including Root of Trust, secure boot chains, and measured boot.
  • Design firmware lifecycle management frameworks including multi-component firmware updates with rollback protection.
  • Develop telemetry and observability pipelines for fleet-scale monitoring and diagnostics.
  • Collaborate with silicon vendors and ODM partners from architecture through manufacturing ramp.
  • Contribute to OpenBMC upstream projects and relevant industry standards.
  • Mentor engineers and promote best practices in Yocto builds, CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing.
  • Lead system-level debugging across hardware and firmware in lab and production environments.

Candidate Profile

Essential
  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.
  • 10+ years of experience developing BMC firmware for server or data center platforms.
  • Strong expertise with OpenBMC including D-Bus services, Yocto/BitBake, and platform integration.
  • Strong programming skills in C/C++ and scripting languages such as Python or Bash.
  • Experience with platform management protocols including Redfish, PLDM, SPDM, MCTP, and IPMI.
  • Strong understanding of server hardware architecture including power delivery, thermals, sensors, and FRUs.
  • Experience with hardware interfaces such as IB2C, I3C, SPI, and PCIe.
  • Experience building CI/CD pipelines for firmware development and validation.
  • Strong debugging skills using tools such as JTAG, GDB, and logic analyzers.

Desirable
  • Experience developing OpenBMC for ARM-based server platforms in hyperscale environments.
  • Hands-on contributions to the OpenBMC codebase or upstream community.
  • Experience working with ODM/JDM partners across the platform lifecycle.
  • Experience delivering firmware for large-scale cloud deployments and fleet update infrastructure.

Benefits:

In addition to a competitive salary, Graphcore offers a competitive benefits package. 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.

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