What are the responsibilities and job description for the Global Sourcing Director - Networking position at Graphcore?
About Us
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. Together, they share a bold vision: to enable Artificial Super Intelligence and ensure its benefits are accessible to everyone.
Graphcore’s teams are drawn from diverse backgrounds and bring a broad range of skills and perspectives. A melting pot of AI research specialists, silicon designers, software engineers and systems architects, Graphcore enjoys a culture of continuous learning and constant innovation.
Job Summary
We are seeking a Global Sourcing Director – Networking to define and lead the strategic sourcing and supplier engagement strategy for networking technologies supporting Graphcore’s AI infrastructure platforms.
This role partners closely with Engineering, Product, and Executive Leadership to ensure the company secures best-in-class capacity, cost, and delivery performance for critical networking components and systems while supporting global infrastructure deployment.
The Team
The Global Sourcing Management (GSM) team is responsible for defining and executing supplier strategies across Graphcore’s hardware and infrastructure ecosystem.
The team partners closely with engineering, product, and supply chain teams to build long‑term strategic supplier relationships that support Graphcore’s technology roadmap and infrastructure scale.
Responsibilities and Duties
Essential
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. Together, they share a bold vision: to enable Artificial Super Intelligence and ensure its benefits are accessible to everyone.
Graphcore’s teams are drawn from diverse backgrounds and bring a broad range of skills and perspectives. A melting pot of AI research specialists, silicon designers, software engineers and systems architects, Graphcore enjoys a culture of continuous learning and constant innovation.
Job Summary
We are seeking a Global Sourcing Director – Networking to define and lead the strategic sourcing and supplier engagement strategy for networking technologies supporting Graphcore’s AI infrastructure platforms.
This role partners closely with Engineering, Product, and Executive Leadership to ensure the company secures best-in-class capacity, cost, and delivery performance for critical networking components and systems while supporting global infrastructure deployment.
The Team
The Global Sourcing Management (GSM) team is responsible for defining and executing supplier strategies across Graphcore’s hardware and infrastructure ecosystem.
The team partners closely with engineering, product, and supply chain teams to build long‑term strategic supplier relationships that support Graphcore’s technology roadmap and infrastructure scale.
Responsibilities and Duties
- Own end-to-end sourcing strategy for networking technologies supporting Graphcore AI infrastructure.
- Develop and execute multi-year supplier and commodity strategies aligned with engineering roadmaps.
- Lead complex executive-level negotiations including long-term supply agreements and capacity reservations.
- Influence supplier ecosystems and technology roadmaps in alignment with internal product strategies.
- Drive cross-functional alignment across Engineering, Supply Chain, Finance, and Legal.
- Build cost models and implement should-cost frameworks to strengthen negotiation leverage.
- Ensure supply continuity through capacity planning and risk mitigation strategies.
- Conduct executive supplier business reviews to monitor performance and drive improvements.
- Ensure commercial agreements protect Graphcore’s long-term strategic and operational interests.
Essential
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Finance, or related technical discipline.
- 12–15 years of experience in technical and commercial sourcing within complex technology environments.
- Experience negotiating large-scale, multi-year supply agreements with strategic technology suppliers.
- Strong experience sourcing networking technologies or related infrastructure platforms.
- Strong financial acumen including cost modeling and total cost of ownership analysis.
- Excellent communication skills and ability to engage senior stakeholders.
- Experience working within AI infrastructure, semiconductor, networking, or cloud ecosystems.
- Strong industry relationships with networking technology suppliers.
- Experience structuring joint development agreements and strategic partnerships.
- Experience operating in high-growth infrastructure or hyperscale environments.