gradiated
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Silicon

Head of Silicon

Define our silicon direction and build a hands-on team for model-specific inference hardware.

Location
Bristol, London
Office
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Compensation
£240,000–£500,000 base + significant equity

About Gradiated

Gradiated is a research lab focused on inference. We build software and hardware for open-weight models.

Our goal is to maximize tokens per joule. We work across model behavior, software, systems, and silicon to find better ways to run models.

We treat each model as a mathematical function. We map that function onto hardware and build a custom software stack for it.

We are early. You will help set the technical direction and the way the company works.

Why this role exists

Inference hardware must start with the models and workloads that it will run. It cannot start with a generic accelerator diagram.

You will turn measured software behavior into a silicon strategy. You will own the technical direction and build the team that delivers it.

What you will do

  • Define the silicon strategy from measured model and workload behavior.
  • Set clear targets for performance, power, area, cost, and reliability.
  • Lead architecture work across compute, memory, interconnects, I/O, packaging, and systems.
  • Build models that connect model-level behavior to silicon-level limits.
  • Set the roadmap from architecture exploration through tape-out and bring-up.
  • Make build, buy, and partner decisions for IP, EDA tools, packaging, foundries, and manufacturing.
  • Hire and lead a small team of engineers who work across technical boundaries.
  • Stay close to implementation, verification, and measured results.
  • Work with the inference team so software and silicon evolve together.

Problems you may work on

  • Memory systems for dense and sparse model weights.
  • Dataflows for attention, mixture-of-experts layers, and long contexts.
  • Compute and memory balance for prefill and decode.
  • Interconnects for model parallelism and routed experts.
  • Simulation and performance prediction before tape-out.
  • Hardware-software interfaces that let the system change with new models.
  • Verification and bring-up plans for a small first team.

What we are looking for

  • You have owned major technical decisions for complex digital silicon.
  • You have taken at least one high-performance design through tape-out and bring-up.
  • You understand computer architecture, memory systems, interconnects, and power trade-offs.
  • You can connect workload measurements to architecture decisions.
  • You can work across architecture, RTL, verification, physical design, software, and systems.
  • You can evaluate external partners and hold them to a high technical standard.
  • You have built or led a strong technical team.
  • You still want to do technical work yourself.

This role is not for you if

  • You want a management-only role.
  • You want to copy a general GPU architecture without starting from workloads.
  • You treat software as a fixed input to hardware design.
  • You want a large team before you can make progress.
  • You use process, title, or past employers as a substitute for technical evidence.
  • You want to delegate the hard architecture decisions.

How we work

We prefer evidence to assertion. State the question, measure the result, and record what you learned. A failed idea is useful when it gives us a clear decision.

We work in the office on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. We value working in person to solve hard problems, but we are flexible. Some of the team work abroad for short periods.

Pay and equity

The base salary is £240,000–£500,000. Every offer also includes significant equity.

We pay at the top of the market because talent density is what will allow us to build the most efficient inference. We want a small team of exceptional people who can solve hard problems together.

Interview process

  1. A 60-minute call about your goals and the role.
  2. We get together in person and talk through the problems we will work on.
  3. A paid in-person working session, so we can get to know you and you can meet the team.
  4. References and an offer decision.

Apply

Let's talk.

If this work interests you, we would like to hear from you. You do not need to prepare anything. We will start with a conversation.

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