Engineering Manager - Compilers

London or Bristol · Hybrid · Permanent

Fractile was founded in 2022 on the bet that, eventually, the world’s most capable AI systems would be limited in their impact by the time taken to produce useful outputs. We bet everything on the logical conclusion: that the only way to truly unlock this latent value, to make speed viable at scale, was to radically re-invent the hardware that we run our frontier AI models on. Ever since, we have been building chips and systems that tackle this problem: how to efficiently generate output at thousands of tokens per second, while handling the complexity and capacity challenges of operating large models at very long contexts.

The workloads that push to the limits of the current frontier are already transformational; it is the technical and economic limits on inference speed that are constraining progress. The defining work of the 21st century will be marked by the engine of inference delivering immense and diffuse chains of intellectual inquiry, in drug discovery, in software engineering, in materials discovery, in any field where progress is driven by deep reasoning and intelligence to resolve complex problems. 

Fractile is building a full-stack AI accelerator from the ground up, and the compiler team sits at the heart of how we deliver performance. As the Engineering Manager for Compilers, you will build and lead a team of 10+ engineers developing the compiler stack for our novel AI acceleration hardware, with direct responsibility for enabling industry-leading LLM inference performance on Fractile's accelerators. This is a hands-on technical leadership role in a fast-moving, collaborative environment where the compiler team works closely with hardware, driver, runtime and ML engineers across the stack. If you want to shape the architecture of a compiler from first principles, build a world-class team around it, and have your work directly determine the performance of next-generation AI hardware, this is the role.

• Proven track record of leadership experience managing a high-performance development team and delivering consistently outstanding outcomes.
• Proven experience in compiler development, with experience of machine learning compilers and industry standard technologies such as MLIR or TVM being a significant advantage.
• Up-to-date knowledge of machine learning techniques and technologies
• A good understanding of computer architecture and performance optimisation techniques.
• Excellent C/C++ skills and solid experience of industry standard development tools and technologies.
• A creative and innovative mindset, and a willingness to take ownership and drive results in a fast-paced environment.

This is a young company doing hard things, at the intersection of novel silicon and the software stack that makes it useful. You'll be building and leading a compiler team as the hardware it targets is still taking shape, which means making architectural decisions against a specification first, then a simulator, then early silicon. The IR design, the lowering strategy, the execution model: you'll help define all of it before you can run it on real hardware. That takes comfort with ambiguity and the ability to make good calls with incomplete information. If that sounds frustrating, this probably isn't the role. If that sounds like the interesting part, we should talk.

The boundaries here are soft by design. The compiler team works closely with hardware architects, kernel engineers, runtime teams and ML researchers. You'll need to understand enough of what sits above and below your layer to make good decisions at the boundary, and to build a team that can do the same. That breadth is a feature of the job, not a distraction from it.

You'll be there when the first model runs end to end on Fractile silicon. When the lowering strategy you helped design produces a result the hardware team didn't think was possible yet. When the team you hired and grew ships something that goes into every rack we sell.

We want a team that reflects the world it's building for, and we welcome applicants from every background, including those whose path here hasn't been straight. We care that you're energised by this kind of work, that you build and develop great engineers, and that you make the people around you better.

Come build it with us.

• Competitive salary: A competitive salary reflective of your experience and the specialist nature of the role.
• Equity & Ownership: meaningful equity so everyone shares in the value creation
• Benefits: Private Medical, Dental and Vision, Contributory Pension, 25 Days holiday plus bank holidays and Life/Critical Illness Insurance.
• Diverse & fun office: we believe the hardest problems get solved by the broadest range of minds. We are committed to Equal Employment Opportunity through attracting and retaining a diverse team and building an inclusive environment. 

Fractile is seeking to increase the clock speed of global progress, one chip at a time. We’ve recently raised $220M from investors including Founders Fund and Accel and our most important work lies ahead. Join us!

Export controls

Our work involves technologies subject to UK, US and other international export control regulations. Certain roles may require additional eligibility checks to ensure compliance with applicable law. We'll be transparent about this throughout the hiring process.