The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are building custom AI hardware and the full-stack software ecosystem to run it. As our first dedicated MLOps Engineer, you will own the infrastructure that takes models from research to silicon-validated production - designing, building, and operating the pipelines, tooling, and platforms that let our AI and hardware teams move fast without breaking things. This is a high-impact, high-ownership role at the intersection of ML research, compiler stacks, and novel hardware. What You'll Do Design and operate end-to-end ML pipelines: data ingest, training, evaluation, quantisation, and deployment onto custom AI accelerator hardware Build and maintain experiment tracking, model registry, and versioning infrastructure (e.g. MLflow, W&B, or equivalent) tuned to our hardware-in-the-loop workflows Own CI/CD for ML: automated testing of model correctness, numerical accuracy, and on-chip performance after every change to models, compilers, or firmware Develop and maintain tooling for benchmarking model inference on custom silicon, including latency, throughput, power, and utilisation metrics Collaborate closely with ML researchers, compiler engineers, and hardware architects to identify and remove bottlenecks across the model-to-chip workflow Instrument and monitor production inference deployments; design alerting and rollback strategies appropriate to hardware-accelerated serving Manage compute resource scheduling across on-premises accelerator clusters and cloud (GPU/CPU) for training and simulation workloads Drive infrastructure-as-code practices: containerisation, orchestration (Kubernetes/Slurm), and reproducible environment management Contribute to the internal developer platform: self-service tooling, documentation, and runbooks that raise engineering productivity across the company What We're Looking For Must-Have 5+ years of software or infrastructure engineering experience, with at least 2 years in an ML or AI-adjacent role Strong Python skills and familiarity with major ML frameworks (PyTorch or JAX); comfortable reading and modifying model code Hands-on experience building and operating ML pipelines in production: data pipelines, training orchestration, evaluation, and serving Experience with experiment tracking and model lifecycle management tools (MLflow, W&B, DVC, or similar) Solid understanding of containerisation (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes or Slurm) for distributed compute workloads Infrastructure-as-code mindset: Terraform, Ansible, or equivalent; CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or similar) Experience with hardware-accelerated compute (CUDA/GPU workflows, profiling, performance tuning) - even if not on custom silicon Strong debugging and observability skills: distributed tracing, logging, metrics dashboards Ability to work effectively in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment where the hardware and software are both being built simultaneously Strong Preference For Experience with custom or novel accelerator hardware (FPGAs, ASICs, NPUs, or research chips) Familiarity with ML compiler stacks: MLIR, LLVM, TVM, XLA, or vendor-specific compilers (NVCC, TensorRT, etc.) Experience with model optimisation techniques: quantisation (INT8/INT4/FP8), pruning, distillation, or mixed-precision training Background in on-chip performance profiling and roofline analysis Exposure to chip bring-up workflows: running early software stacks on pre-silicon simulation or first-silicon hardware Contributions to open-source ML infrastructure or compiler tooling Experience in a deeptech, semiconductor, or hardware startup environment Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On-site Lunches: Enjoy on-site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all-company off-sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want to Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
19/07/2026
Full time
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are building custom AI hardware and the full-stack software ecosystem to run it. As our first dedicated MLOps Engineer, you will own the infrastructure that takes models from research to silicon-validated production - designing, building, and operating the pipelines, tooling, and platforms that let our AI and hardware teams move fast without breaking things. This is a high-impact, high-ownership role at the intersection of ML research, compiler stacks, and novel hardware. What You'll Do Design and operate end-to-end ML pipelines: data ingest, training, evaluation, quantisation, and deployment onto custom AI accelerator hardware Build and maintain experiment tracking, model registry, and versioning infrastructure (e.g. MLflow, W&B, or equivalent) tuned to our hardware-in-the-loop workflows Own CI/CD for ML: automated testing of model correctness, numerical accuracy, and on-chip performance after every change to models, compilers, or firmware Develop and maintain tooling for benchmarking model inference on custom silicon, including latency, throughput, power, and utilisation metrics Collaborate closely with ML researchers, compiler engineers, and hardware architects to identify and remove bottlenecks across the model-to-chip workflow Instrument and monitor production inference deployments; design alerting and rollback strategies appropriate to hardware-accelerated serving Manage compute resource scheduling across on-premises accelerator clusters and cloud (GPU/CPU) for training and simulation workloads Drive infrastructure-as-code practices: containerisation, orchestration (Kubernetes/Slurm), and reproducible environment management Contribute to the internal developer platform: self-service tooling, documentation, and runbooks that raise engineering productivity across the company What We're Looking For Must-Have 5+ years of software or infrastructure engineering experience, with at least 2 years in an ML or AI-adjacent role Strong Python skills and familiarity with major ML frameworks (PyTorch or JAX); comfortable reading and modifying model code Hands-on experience building and operating ML pipelines in production: data pipelines, training orchestration, evaluation, and serving Experience with experiment tracking and model lifecycle management tools (MLflow, W&B, DVC, or similar) Solid understanding of containerisation (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes or Slurm) for distributed compute workloads Infrastructure-as-code mindset: Terraform, Ansible, or equivalent; CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or similar) Experience with hardware-accelerated compute (CUDA/GPU workflows, profiling, performance tuning) - even if not on custom silicon Strong debugging and observability skills: distributed tracing, logging, metrics dashboards Ability to work effectively in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment where the hardware and software are both being built simultaneously Strong Preference For Experience with custom or novel accelerator hardware (FPGAs, ASICs, NPUs, or research chips) Familiarity with ML compiler stacks: MLIR, LLVM, TVM, XLA, or vendor-specific compilers (NVCC, TensorRT, etc.) Experience with model optimisation techniques: quantisation (INT8/INT4/FP8), pruning, distillation, or mixed-precision training Background in on-chip performance profiling and roofline analysis Exposure to chip bring-up workflows: running early software stacks on pre-silicon simulation or first-silicon hardware Contributions to open-source ML infrastructure or compiler tooling Experience in a deeptech, semiconductor, or hardware startup environment Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On-site Lunches: Enjoy on-site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all-company off-sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want to Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
Lumai Limited is bringing the world's first optical AI compute platform to market. The Product Systems Engineer will own hands-on delivery of Iris servers, from integration through to deployment in data centres, with primary responsibility for field bring up, performance characterisation and post deployment support. You will work closely with our core engineering team and data centre operators, gaining deep platform expertise while shaping deployment playbooks and customer interactions in a
18/07/2026
Full time
Lumai Limited is bringing the world's first optical AI compute platform to market. The Product Systems Engineer will own hands-on delivery of Iris servers, from integration through to deployment in data centres, with primary responsibility for field bring up, performance characterisation and post deployment support. You will work closely with our core engineering team and data centre operators, gaining deep platform expertise while shaping deployment playbooks and customer interactions in a
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are bringing the world's first optical AI compute platform to market. As we move from development into field deployment, we are looking for a Product Systems Engineer to own the hands on technical delivery of Iris servers - from integration and bring up inside our engineering team through to deployment and live operation in third party data centre environments. You will begin by working directly alongside our core engineering team - owning the integration and validation of Lumai Iris server units. This is intentional: the best way to develop deep expertise in a novel platform is to build it. As deployments go live, you will take ownership in the field - leading system bring up, performance characterisation, and post deployment support, and acting as the primary technical contact for data centre operators and end customers. This is an opportunity to work at the cutting edge of efficient AI inference - deploying a genuinely novel compute platform into production for the first time, and playing a central role in how it reaches the world. What You'll Do Integrate and build Lumai Iris server units alongside the engineering team - owning bring up, validation, and performance characterisation of units ahead of deployment Lead system bring up, validation, and performance characterisation of deployed units in third party data centre environments Own on site and remote troubleshooting of hardware issues, acting as the first line of response post deployment Train and enable data centre operators and customer engineering teams on the Iris platform Act as the primary post deployment technical contact for customers and data centre operators Feed field findings, deployment issues, and customer feedback back into product and engineering What We're Looking For Must Have Hands on experience in a systems engineering, field engineering, or hardware deployment role within AI infrastructure, HPC, or comparable hardware Practical experience with system integration, bring up, and hardware level troubleshooting Familiarity with data centre environments - rack power, thermal, and networking Comfortable in a customer facing role, able to communicate clearly with operators and engineering teams alike Comfortable working in a fast moving, early stage environment where the product and the deployment playbook are both still being developed Strong Preference For Experience with AI inference hardware or accelerated compute systems Enough performance analysis experience to characterise results and explain them to customer teams Genuine curiosity in novel compute architectures - post silicon approaches Programming literacy (for example Python) sufficient to engage credibly on benchmark methodology and basic automation Experience in a deep tech, semiconductor, or hardware startup environment Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On site Lunches: Enjoy on site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all company off sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want from it. Two technical sessions with our Product and Leadership team. Finally, an HR team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
18/07/2026
Full time
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are bringing the world's first optical AI compute platform to market. As we move from development into field deployment, we are looking for a Product Systems Engineer to own the hands on technical delivery of Iris servers - from integration and bring up inside our engineering team through to deployment and live operation in third party data centre environments. You will begin by working directly alongside our core engineering team - owning the integration and validation of Lumai Iris server units. This is intentional: the best way to develop deep expertise in a novel platform is to build it. As deployments go live, you will take ownership in the field - leading system bring up, performance characterisation, and post deployment support, and acting as the primary technical contact for data centre operators and end customers. This is an opportunity to work at the cutting edge of efficient AI inference - deploying a genuinely novel compute platform into production for the first time, and playing a central role in how it reaches the world. What You'll Do Integrate and build Lumai Iris server units alongside the engineering team - owning bring up, validation, and performance characterisation of units ahead of deployment Lead system bring up, validation, and performance characterisation of deployed units in third party data centre environments Own on site and remote troubleshooting of hardware issues, acting as the first line of response post deployment Train and enable data centre operators and customer engineering teams on the Iris platform Act as the primary post deployment technical contact for customers and data centre operators Feed field findings, deployment issues, and customer feedback back into product and engineering What We're Looking For Must Have Hands on experience in a systems engineering, field engineering, or hardware deployment role within AI infrastructure, HPC, or comparable hardware Practical experience with system integration, bring up, and hardware level troubleshooting Familiarity with data centre environments - rack power, thermal, and networking Comfortable in a customer facing role, able to communicate clearly with operators and engineering teams alike Comfortable working in a fast moving, early stage environment where the product and the deployment playbook are both still being developed Strong Preference For Experience with AI inference hardware or accelerated compute systems Enough performance analysis experience to characterise results and explain them to customer teams Genuine curiosity in novel compute architectures - post silicon approaches Programming literacy (for example Python) sufficient to engage credibly on benchmark methodology and basic automation Experience in a deep tech, semiconductor, or hardware startup environment Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On site Lunches: Enjoy on site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all company off sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want from it. Two technical sessions with our Product and Leadership team. Finally, an HR team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role As our Project Manager, you will be the operational backbone of our most ambitious programmes: from silicon bring-up and photonic integration to software stack delivery and customer pilots. You will work at the intersection of cutting-edge hardware, embedded firmware, and AI software, coordinating across disciplines where feedback loops are long, dependencies are tightly coupled, and the stakes are high. You will own end-to-end delivery, drive cross-functional alignment, and maintain relentless focus on what needs to happen next - without losing sight of the bigger picture. You will report directly to the Head of Engineering and work closely with technical leads across hardware, firmware, AI applications, and operations teams. What You'll Do Own the end-to-end delivery of Lumai's core engineering programmes, including hardware development milestones (EVT/DVT/PVT), firmware bring-up, and AI software integration cycles Build and maintain detailed project plans, risk registers, and dependency maps across hardware, ASIC, photonics, firmware, and software workstreams Run structured weekly programme reviews and steering meetings; produce clear, concise status reporting for leadership and investors Identify and actively manage programme risks and blockers - escalating early, proposing mitigations, and driving decisions to resolution Coordinate closely with supply chain, procurement, and external vendors (CM, foundry, packaging partners) to track NRE milestones, tapeout schedules, and prototype deliveries Maintain a single source of truth for programme status, decisions, and actions - driving accountability without creating bureaucracy Support resource planning and headcount prioritisation across teams, flagging capacity conflicts before they become critical path issues Facilitate cross-functional alignment between hardware engineers, firmware developers, AI/ML researchers, and business stakeholders with differing cadences and vocabulary Contribute to continuous improvement of Lumai's engineering operating model - proposing better processes, templates, and tooling as the team scales What We're Looking For Must-Have 5+ years of project or programme management experience, with at least 2 years in a hardware or deep tech environment (semiconductor, photonics, robotics, aerospace, or similar) Demonstrated ability to manage complex multi-disciplinary projects with hardware and software components running in parallel Strong working knowledge of hardware development lifecycles - EVT/DVT/PVT, tapeout cycles, NRE structures, BOM management, and CM relationships Experience tracking ASIC or PCB development schedules, including foundry and packaging supply chains with long and uncertain lead times Exceptional written and verbal communication - able to translate technical complexity for both engineering teams and non-technical stakeholders Proficient with modern project management tooling (e.g. Jira, Linear, Notion, Asana, or similar); comfortable designing workflows rather than just following them Comfortable with ambiguity and able to drive structure into early-stage programmes where requirements and dependencies are still evolving Strong stakeholder management skills - able to hold peers accountable, push back constructively, and build trust across functions Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, or a technical field; or equivalent industry experience Strong Preference For Experience at a deep tech startup or scale-up during a period of rapid growth or first product launch Familiarity with photonics, silicon photonics, or custom ASIC development workflows Exposure to AI/ML product delivery - understanding of model training cycles, inference infrastructure, or SDK/API release processes PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent certification; or experience with Agile/SAFe frameworks applied to hardware contexts Experience managing external design houses, IP licensors, or EMS/CM relationships through prototype builds Prior experience supporting investor reporting, board updates, or milestone-based funding milestones Hands on curiosity about the technology - comfortable spending time in the lab or with the engineering team to understand what is actually being built Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On-site Lunches: Enjoy on-site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all-company off-sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want from it. Two technical sessions with various members of our engineering team. Finally, an HR-team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
18/07/2026
Full time
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role As our Project Manager, you will be the operational backbone of our most ambitious programmes: from silicon bring-up and photonic integration to software stack delivery and customer pilots. You will work at the intersection of cutting-edge hardware, embedded firmware, and AI software, coordinating across disciplines where feedback loops are long, dependencies are tightly coupled, and the stakes are high. You will own end-to-end delivery, drive cross-functional alignment, and maintain relentless focus on what needs to happen next - without losing sight of the bigger picture. You will report directly to the Head of Engineering and work closely with technical leads across hardware, firmware, AI applications, and operations teams. What You'll Do Own the end-to-end delivery of Lumai's core engineering programmes, including hardware development milestones (EVT/DVT/PVT), firmware bring-up, and AI software integration cycles Build and maintain detailed project plans, risk registers, and dependency maps across hardware, ASIC, photonics, firmware, and software workstreams Run structured weekly programme reviews and steering meetings; produce clear, concise status reporting for leadership and investors Identify and actively manage programme risks and blockers - escalating early, proposing mitigations, and driving decisions to resolution Coordinate closely with supply chain, procurement, and external vendors (CM, foundry, packaging partners) to track NRE milestones, tapeout schedules, and prototype deliveries Maintain a single source of truth for programme status, decisions, and actions - driving accountability without creating bureaucracy Support resource planning and headcount prioritisation across teams, flagging capacity conflicts before they become critical path issues Facilitate cross-functional alignment between hardware engineers, firmware developers, AI/ML researchers, and business stakeholders with differing cadences and vocabulary Contribute to continuous improvement of Lumai's engineering operating model - proposing better processes, templates, and tooling as the team scales What We're Looking For Must-Have 5+ years of project or programme management experience, with at least 2 years in a hardware or deep tech environment (semiconductor, photonics, robotics, aerospace, or similar) Demonstrated ability to manage complex multi-disciplinary projects with hardware and software components running in parallel Strong working knowledge of hardware development lifecycles - EVT/DVT/PVT, tapeout cycles, NRE structures, BOM management, and CM relationships Experience tracking ASIC or PCB development schedules, including foundry and packaging supply chains with long and uncertain lead times Exceptional written and verbal communication - able to translate technical complexity for both engineering teams and non-technical stakeholders Proficient with modern project management tooling (e.g. Jira, Linear, Notion, Asana, or similar); comfortable designing workflows rather than just following them Comfortable with ambiguity and able to drive structure into early-stage programmes where requirements and dependencies are still evolving Strong stakeholder management skills - able to hold peers accountable, push back constructively, and build trust across functions Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, or a technical field; or equivalent industry experience Strong Preference For Experience at a deep tech startup or scale-up during a period of rapid growth or first product launch Familiarity with photonics, silicon photonics, or custom ASIC development workflows Exposure to AI/ML product delivery - understanding of model training cycles, inference infrastructure, or SDK/API release processes PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent certification; or experience with Agile/SAFe frameworks applied to hardware contexts Experience managing external design houses, IP licensors, or EMS/CM relationships through prototype builds Prior experience supporting investor reporting, board updates, or milestone-based funding milestones Hands on curiosity about the technology - comfortable spending time in the lab or with the engineering team to understand what is actually being built Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On-site Lunches: Enjoy on-site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all-company off-sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want from it. Two technical sessions with various members of our engineering team. Finally, an HR-team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
Lumai Limited in the UK is seeking a Project Manager to serve as the operational backbone of our most ambitious programmes, spanning silicon bring-up, photonic integration, firmware, and AI software. You will own end-to-end delivery and coordinate across hardware, firmware, AI applications, and operations teams. Reporting to Head of Engineering, you will build plans, manage risks, run weekly reviews, and drive decisions while maintaining a clear, single source of truth for status updates and
18/07/2026
Full time
Lumai Limited in the UK is seeking a Project Manager to serve as the operational backbone of our most ambitious programmes, spanning silicon bring-up, photonic integration, firmware, and AI software. You will own end-to-end delivery and coordinate across hardware, firmware, AI applications, and operations teams. Reporting to Head of Engineering, you will build plans, manage risks, run weekly reviews, and drive decisions while maintaining a clear, single source of truth for status updates and
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are bringing the world's first optical AI compute platform to market. As we move from development into field deployment, we are looking for a Software Inference Deployment Engineer to own the software-side integration and customer support of Lumai Iris servers in third-party data centre environments. You will begin by working alongside our software and engineering teams - helping integrate the Iris software stack, supporting model onboarding through the toolchain, and getting hands on with the disaggregated prefill/decode runtime. This is intentional: the best way to develop deep expertise in a novel platform is to build with it. As deployments go live, you will take ownership in the field - supporting customer integration into their inference stacks, troubleshooting software issues, and acting as a primary technical contact for customer ML and infrastructure engineering teams. This is an opportunity to work at the cutting edge of efficient AI inference - deploying a genuinely novel compute platform into production for the first time, and playing a central role in how it reaches the world. What You'll Do Work alongside Lumai's software and engineering teams to integrate, test, and harden the Iris software stack ahead of deployment Support model onboarding through the Iris toolchain - loading, conversion, and framework integration Develop hands on familiarity with the disaggregated prefill/decode runtime, including how Iris servers operate alongside decode processors Support customer integration of Lumai Iris into their own frameworks Own software side troubleshooting in the field, acting as the first line of response post deployment Train and enable customer ML and infrastructure engineering teams on the Iris software platform Feed field findings, integration issues, and customer feedback back into product and engineering What We're Looking For Must Have Hands on software engineering experience in AI infrastructure, inference serving, accelerator integration, or comparable deep tech hardware software environments Strong Python skills and familiarity with major ML frameworks (PyTorch in particular) Practical experience with model deployment workflows - loading, format conversion, quantisation, or framework integration Comfortable working with inference serving stacks (for example vLLM, TensorRT LLM, or similar) Familiarity with Linux, containerisation (Docker), and cluster environments Comfortable in a customer facing role, able to communicate clearly with ML and infrastructure engineering teams Comfortable working in a fast moving, early stage environment where the product and the deployment approach are both still being developed Strong Preference For Experience integrating accelerator hardware (GPUs, FPGAs, ASICs, NPUs, or novel architectures) into customer inference workflows Familiarity with the NVIDIA inference stack - CUDA, TensorRT, Triton Exposure to disaggregated inference architectures, prefill/decode separation, or KV cache management Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On site Lunches: Enjoy on site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all company off sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want from it. Two technical sessions with our Product and Leadership team. Finally, an HR team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
18/07/2026
Full time
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are bringing the world's first optical AI compute platform to market. As we move from development into field deployment, we are looking for a Software Inference Deployment Engineer to own the software-side integration and customer support of Lumai Iris servers in third-party data centre environments. You will begin by working alongside our software and engineering teams - helping integrate the Iris software stack, supporting model onboarding through the toolchain, and getting hands on with the disaggregated prefill/decode runtime. This is intentional: the best way to develop deep expertise in a novel platform is to build with it. As deployments go live, you will take ownership in the field - supporting customer integration into their inference stacks, troubleshooting software issues, and acting as a primary technical contact for customer ML and infrastructure engineering teams. This is an opportunity to work at the cutting edge of efficient AI inference - deploying a genuinely novel compute platform into production for the first time, and playing a central role in how it reaches the world. What You'll Do Work alongside Lumai's software and engineering teams to integrate, test, and harden the Iris software stack ahead of deployment Support model onboarding through the Iris toolchain - loading, conversion, and framework integration Develop hands on familiarity with the disaggregated prefill/decode runtime, including how Iris servers operate alongside decode processors Support customer integration of Lumai Iris into their own frameworks Own software side troubleshooting in the field, acting as the first line of response post deployment Train and enable customer ML and infrastructure engineering teams on the Iris software platform Feed field findings, integration issues, and customer feedback back into product and engineering What We're Looking For Must Have Hands on software engineering experience in AI infrastructure, inference serving, accelerator integration, or comparable deep tech hardware software environments Strong Python skills and familiarity with major ML frameworks (PyTorch in particular) Practical experience with model deployment workflows - loading, format conversion, quantisation, or framework integration Comfortable working with inference serving stacks (for example vLLM, TensorRT LLM, or similar) Familiarity with Linux, containerisation (Docker), and cluster environments Comfortable in a customer facing role, able to communicate clearly with ML and infrastructure engineering teams Comfortable working in a fast moving, early stage environment where the product and the deployment approach are both still being developed Strong Preference For Experience integrating accelerator hardware (GPUs, FPGAs, ASICs, NPUs, or novel architectures) into customer inference workflows Familiarity with the NVIDIA inference stack - CUDA, TensorRT, Triton Exposure to disaggregated inference architectures, prefill/decode separation, or KV cache management Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On site Lunches: Enjoy on site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all company off sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want from it. Two technical sessions with our Product and Leadership team. Finally, an HR team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
Lumai Limited is building a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers using 3D optical compute. We seek a senior MLOps Engineer to own end-to-end ML pipelines, tooling, and production deployments for models from research to silicon-validated production. In this high-ownership role, you'll collaborate with ML researchers, compiler engineers, and hardware architects to optimize model-to-chip workflows, instrument deployments, and maintain CI/CD for ML across on-prem and cloud environments.
18/07/2026
Full time
Lumai Limited is building a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers using 3D optical compute. We seek a senior MLOps Engineer to own end-to-end ML pipelines, tooling, and production deployments for models from research to silicon-validated production. In this high-ownership role, you'll collaborate with ML researchers, compiler engineers, and hardware architects to optimize model-to-chip workflows, instrument deployments, and maintain CI/CD for ML across on-prem and cloud environments.
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are looking for a System Architect who thinks in AI first and hardware second. You will own the architectural vision that bridges our AI workload requirements with our silicon and software execution. This is not a role for someone who designs chips and then asks what AI runs on them - it's a role for someone who deeply understands AI models, inference and training pipelines, and then works backwards to define the hardware and software systems that serve them best. You will sit at the intersection of leadership, hardware engineering, and software engineering - translating high-level product strategy into concrete architectural decisions and ensuring all three teams are aligned, unblocked, and pulling in the same direction. What You'll Do Architecture & Technical Leadership Define and own the end-to-end system architecture, from AI workload characterisation through to chip microarchitecture trade-offs and software stack interfaces Drive architectural decisions by starting with AI model and operator analysis - identifying compute, memory bandwidth, data movement, and sparsity patterns that constrain and shape the hardware design Develop and maintain architectural specifications, performance models, and design documents that serve as the single source of truth across teams Evaluate architectural trade-offs (latency vs. throughput, on-chip vs. off-chip memory, dataflow strategies, precision formats) with a quantitative, workload-grounded methodology Stay current with the frontier of AI research (model architectures, training techniques, inference optimisations) and translate emerging trends into architectural foresight Cross-functional Coordination Act as the primary technical bridge between the leadership team, hardware engineering, and software engineering - ensuring that decisions made in one domain are properly communicated, challenged, and integrated in others Partner with the leadership team to translate business goals and product roadmap into architectural requirements and phased execution plans Work closely with the hardware team to ensure microarchitectural decisions are grounded in realistic AI workload demands; push back constructively when hardware-centric thinking diverges from AI requirements Collaborate with the software team to define clean hardware/software interfaces, programming models, and runtime abstractions that make the hardware genuinely usable for AI practitioners Facilitate architectural reviews and design discussions that create shared understanding rather than siloed decision-making Execution & Delivery Identify and resolve cross-team dependencies and ambiguities early, before they become schedule risks Define and track key architectural metrics and milestones throughout the chip development lifecycle (pre-RTL through tape-out and post-silicon validation) Support benchmarking and performance analysis efforts, helping teams understand where the system delivers against AI workload targets and where it falls short What We're Looking For Must-Have Deep, hands-on understanding of modern AI/ML workloads - transformer architectures, convolutional networks, recommendation systems, or similar - including their compute and memory access patterns Proven experience defining system or chip architecture in the context of AI/ML acceleration (inference, training, or both) Ability to build and use analytical performance models (roofline models, memory bandwidth analysis, cycle-accurate estimates) to guide architectural decisions Strong communication skills with the ability to adapt technical depth for leadership, hardware engineers, and software engineers alike Experience working across hardware and software boundaries - comfortable discussing ISA design, compiler interfaces, and runtime scheduling as well as datapath microarchitecture Suitable University education and/or practical experience Strong Preference For Experience at an AI chip startup, AI hardware team at a major tech company (e.g. Google TPU, Meta MTIA, AWS Trainium/Inferentia, Tesla Dojo), or a leading fabless semiconductor company Familiarity with AI compiler stacks (MLIR, XLA, TVM, Triton) and how they interact with hardware architecture decisions Understanding of chip development processes: RTL design, physical design constraints, and post-silicon bring-up Experience with or exposure to on-device / edge inference as well as datacenter-scale deployments Track record of influencing architectural direction through written specs and data-driven arguments rather than authority alone What Success Looks Like In your first 90 days, you will have audited the current architectural approach against a defined set of target AI workloads, identified the top architectural risks to schedule and performance, and established a working rhythm with the HW and SW leads. Within six months, you will be the person who others come to when a cross-team decision needs an owner - and the one who keeps the architecture honest against the AI workloads we are building for. Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On-site Lunches: Enjoy on-site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all-company off-sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want to get it. Two technical sessions with various members of our engineering team. Finally, an HR-team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
18/07/2026
Full time
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are looking for a System Architect who thinks in AI first and hardware second. You will own the architectural vision that bridges our AI workload requirements with our silicon and software execution. This is not a role for someone who designs chips and then asks what AI runs on them - it's a role for someone who deeply understands AI models, inference and training pipelines, and then works backwards to define the hardware and software systems that serve them best. You will sit at the intersection of leadership, hardware engineering, and software engineering - translating high-level product strategy into concrete architectural decisions and ensuring all three teams are aligned, unblocked, and pulling in the same direction. What You'll Do Architecture & Technical Leadership Define and own the end-to-end system architecture, from AI workload characterisation through to chip microarchitecture trade-offs and software stack interfaces Drive architectural decisions by starting with AI model and operator analysis - identifying compute, memory bandwidth, data movement, and sparsity patterns that constrain and shape the hardware design Develop and maintain architectural specifications, performance models, and design documents that serve as the single source of truth across teams Evaluate architectural trade-offs (latency vs. throughput, on-chip vs. off-chip memory, dataflow strategies, precision formats) with a quantitative, workload-grounded methodology Stay current with the frontier of AI research (model architectures, training techniques, inference optimisations) and translate emerging trends into architectural foresight Cross-functional Coordination Act as the primary technical bridge between the leadership team, hardware engineering, and software engineering - ensuring that decisions made in one domain are properly communicated, challenged, and integrated in others Partner with the leadership team to translate business goals and product roadmap into architectural requirements and phased execution plans Work closely with the hardware team to ensure microarchitectural decisions are grounded in realistic AI workload demands; push back constructively when hardware-centric thinking diverges from AI requirements Collaborate with the software team to define clean hardware/software interfaces, programming models, and runtime abstractions that make the hardware genuinely usable for AI practitioners Facilitate architectural reviews and design discussions that create shared understanding rather than siloed decision-making Execution & Delivery Identify and resolve cross-team dependencies and ambiguities early, before they become schedule risks Define and track key architectural metrics and milestones throughout the chip development lifecycle (pre-RTL through tape-out and post-silicon validation) Support benchmarking and performance analysis efforts, helping teams understand where the system delivers against AI workload targets and where it falls short What We're Looking For Must-Have Deep, hands-on understanding of modern AI/ML workloads - transformer architectures, convolutional networks, recommendation systems, or similar - including their compute and memory access patterns Proven experience defining system or chip architecture in the context of AI/ML acceleration (inference, training, or both) Ability to build and use analytical performance models (roofline models, memory bandwidth analysis, cycle-accurate estimates) to guide architectural decisions Strong communication skills with the ability to adapt technical depth for leadership, hardware engineers, and software engineers alike Experience working across hardware and software boundaries - comfortable discussing ISA design, compiler interfaces, and runtime scheduling as well as datapath microarchitecture Suitable University education and/or practical experience Strong Preference For Experience at an AI chip startup, AI hardware team at a major tech company (e.g. Google TPU, Meta MTIA, AWS Trainium/Inferentia, Tesla Dojo), or a leading fabless semiconductor company Familiarity with AI compiler stacks (MLIR, XLA, TVM, Triton) and how they interact with hardware architecture decisions Understanding of chip development processes: RTL design, physical design constraints, and post-silicon bring-up Experience with or exposure to on-device / edge inference as well as datacenter-scale deployments Track record of influencing architectural direction through written specs and data-driven arguments rather than authority alone What Success Looks Like In your first 90 days, you will have audited the current architectural approach against a defined set of target AI workloads, identified the top architectural risks to schedule and performance, and established a working rhythm with the HW and SW leads. Within six months, you will be the person who others come to when a cross-team decision needs an owner - and the one who keeps the architecture honest against the AI workloads we are building for. Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On-site Lunches: Enjoy on-site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all-company off-sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want to get it. Two technical sessions with various members of our engineering team. Finally, an HR-team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
Lumai Limited is a UK-based startup bringing optical compute to market. We seek a Senior Solutions Architect to own the technical heart of customer engagements, translating interest into credible opportunities and working with hyperscalers and advanced labs. You will shape engagements, run technical discovery, and collaborate with product and engineering to ensure customer voices influence our roadmap, while enabling fast, concrete technical responses.
18/07/2026
Full time
Lumai Limited is a UK-based startup bringing optical compute to market. We seek a Senior Solutions Architect to own the technical heart of customer engagements, translating interest into credible opportunities and working with hyperscalers and advanced labs. You will shape engagements, run technical discovery, and collaborate with product and engineering to ensure customer voices influence our roadmap, while enabling fast, concrete technical responses.
Lumai Limited is redefining AI compute with a breakthrough optical accelerator for data centers. We are seeking a System Architect who thinks in AI first and hardware second, owning the architectural vision to bridge AI workloads with silicon and software execution. You will sit at the intersection of leadership, hardware engineering, and software engineering-aligning product strategy with concrete architectural decisions and ensuring three teams move in unison.
18/07/2026
Full time
Lumai Limited is redefining AI compute with a breakthrough optical accelerator for data centers. We are seeking a System Architect who thinks in AI first and hardware second, owning the architectural vision to bridge AI workloads with silicon and software execution. You will sit at the intersection of leadership, hardware engineering, and software engineering-aligning product strategy with concrete architectural decisions and ensuring three teams move in unison.
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are looking for a technically deep and commercially astute Senior Solutions Architect to own the technical heart of our customer engagements as we bring the world's first optical compute inference platform to market. You will be the person who turns a customer's interest into a credible, technical opportunity. You will lead deep technical discovery with the most demanding customers in the industry - hyperscalers, neoclouds, frontier AI labs, and national laboratories - and translate what they need into a Lumai-based solution, mapping their requirements against Lumai's current and roadmap solutions. You will work hands-on with our benchmark team to prove the solution against real customer workloads, and you will author the technical proposals and responses that allow a customer to make the argument for Lumai inside their own organisation. This is an early-stage role where you will help write the playbook. You will be as comfortable in a benchmarking discussion with a customer's ML engineers as you are presenting a solution to their technical leadership, and you will act as a vital channel back into our own product and engineering teams, ensuring the voice of the customer shapes what we build next. What You'll Do Work with Lumai's business development lead, owning the technical relationship Conduct deep technical discovery with customer infrastructure and ML engineering teams Translate customer requirements into a Lumai-based solution, mapping needs against both near-term and roadmap solutions Define the shape of an engagement - benchmark, proof of concept, reference architecture, or statement of work Works hands-on with Lumai's benchmark team to scope, run, and interpret benchmarks, and owns the presentation of results Produce the technical case for Lumai - proposals, solution documentation, and responses to RFIs, RFPs, and tenders Design and delivers demos and technical workshops for customer technical teams Feed customer requirements, evaluation feedback, and roadmap reactions back into product and engineering, playing a critical role in driving the Lumai roadmap What We're Looking For Must-Have Substantial experience in a solutions architecture, technical pre-sales, or senior field engineering role within AI infrastructure, high-performance compute, semiconductors, or a comparable deep-tech hardware domain Strong working knowledge of AI inference at scale - how large language models are deployed Familiarity with data centre architecture: rack power, thermal, networking, and integration with existing software stacks Demonstrated ability to lead technical discovery with sophisticated customers and translate requirements into a solution Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, sometimes ambiguous, pre-product environment Strong Preference For Direct experience selling into, or working within, hyperscalers, neo-clouds, frontier AI labs, or national laboratories Awareness of the competitive landscape and how Lumai's optical approach is positioned against it Background or genuine curiosity in novel compute - photonics, optical computing, or other post-silicon architectures Enough hands-on credibility with benchmarking and performance analysis that customer ML and infrastructure engineers respect your reading of results Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On-site Lunches: Enjoy on-site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all-company off-sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want from it. Two technical sessions with our Product and Leadership team. Finally, an HR-team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.
18/07/2026
Full time
The Opportunity Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centers which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches. Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally. If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen. About Lumai Founded in 2022, Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics. Lumai has already secured over $15 million in investment from leading deep-tech investors like Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and is scaling rapidly to deploy the fastest optical compute currently available globally. The Role We are looking for a technically deep and commercially astute Senior Solutions Architect to own the technical heart of our customer engagements as we bring the world's first optical compute inference platform to market. You will be the person who turns a customer's interest into a credible, technical opportunity. You will lead deep technical discovery with the most demanding customers in the industry - hyperscalers, neoclouds, frontier AI labs, and national laboratories - and translate what they need into a Lumai-based solution, mapping their requirements against Lumai's current and roadmap solutions. You will work hands-on with our benchmark team to prove the solution against real customer workloads, and you will author the technical proposals and responses that allow a customer to make the argument for Lumai inside their own organisation. This is an early-stage role where you will help write the playbook. You will be as comfortable in a benchmarking discussion with a customer's ML engineers as you are presenting a solution to their technical leadership, and you will act as a vital channel back into our own product and engineering teams, ensuring the voice of the customer shapes what we build next. What You'll Do Work with Lumai's business development lead, owning the technical relationship Conduct deep technical discovery with customer infrastructure and ML engineering teams Translate customer requirements into a Lumai-based solution, mapping needs against both near-term and roadmap solutions Define the shape of an engagement - benchmark, proof of concept, reference architecture, or statement of work Works hands-on with Lumai's benchmark team to scope, run, and interpret benchmarks, and owns the presentation of results Produce the technical case for Lumai - proposals, solution documentation, and responses to RFIs, RFPs, and tenders Design and delivers demos and technical workshops for customer technical teams Feed customer requirements, evaluation feedback, and roadmap reactions back into product and engineering, playing a critical role in driving the Lumai roadmap What We're Looking For Must-Have Substantial experience in a solutions architecture, technical pre-sales, or senior field engineering role within AI infrastructure, high-performance compute, semiconductors, or a comparable deep-tech hardware domain Strong working knowledge of AI inference at scale - how large language models are deployed Familiarity with data centre architecture: rack power, thermal, networking, and integration with existing software stacks Demonstrated ability to lead technical discovery with sophisticated customers and translate requirements into a solution Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, sometimes ambiguous, pre-product environment Strong Preference For Direct experience selling into, or working within, hyperscalers, neo-clouds, frontier AI labs, or national laboratories Awareness of the competitive landscape and how Lumai's optical approach is positioned against it Background or genuine curiosity in novel compute - photonics, optical computing, or other post-silicon architectures Enough hands-on credibility with benchmarking and performance analysis that customer ML and infrastructure engineers respect your reading of results Compensation & Benefits Highly Competitive Salary: We are not saying our salary is a blank check, but let's just say it won't be a source of your stress Share Option Scheme: We are all in this together! We believe in shared success while we build the Lumai of tomorrow Pension Scheme: Plan for retirement with AVIVA Private Health Insurance: We firmly believe that you come first, and a happy you is a healthy you! Look after yourself and your loved ones with AXA Cycle to Work: Spread the cost of a bike, a bike and accessories or just accessories and save on tax L&D Allowance: Stay at the forefront of your field with a £500 annual development budget Subsidised On-site Lunches: Enjoy on-site healthy meals at half the price, as Lumai covers 50% of the cost Holidays: Enjoy some deserved "me time" with 25 days paid holiday (plus bank holidays) per year Socials: Be part of an inclusive community enjoying occasional all-company off-sites, lunches and socials Interview Process Our process is four stages. An initial conversation with our HR team to understand what you want from the role and what we want from it. Two technical sessions with our Product and Leadership team. Finally, an HR-team session covering scope, terms, and any final questions. We aim to move fast on candidates we are excited about; expect roughly three to four weeks end to end. Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.