diff --git a/.github/workflows/determine-workflow-runner.yml b/.github/workflows/determine-workflow-runner.yml
index 48c512707dc..2126d7e01f4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/determine-workflow-runner.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/determine-workflow-runner.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ jobs:
         id: runner_group
         env:
           # We are not able to use \d to check numeric values as bash does not allow them (not POSIX compliant)
-          RC_BRANCH_FORMAT_REGEX: v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+_rc[0-9]?
+          RC_BRANCH_FORMAT_REGEX: v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-rc[0-9]?
           REPO_FULL_NAME: PennyLaneAI/pennylane
         run: |
           if [[ '${{ contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'urgent') }}' == 'true' || ('${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}' == "$REPO_FULL_NAME" && '${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}' =~ $RC_BRANCH_FORMAT_REGEX) ]]; then
diff --git a/.github/workflows/interface-unit-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/interface-unit-tests.yml
index 601e762fc92..b1b7aceb413 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/interface-unit-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/interface-unit-tests.yml
@@ -49,6 +49,13 @@ on:
         default: false
 
 jobs:
+  determine_runner:
+    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
+    name: Determine runner type to use
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/determine-workflow-runner.yml
+    with:
+      default_runner: ubuntu-latest
+
   setup-ci-load:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
@@ -140,6 +147,7 @@ jobs:
   torch-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -156,6 +164,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: torch-tests (${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: core-interfaces-coverage-torch-${{ matrix.python-version }}
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -173,6 +182,7 @@ jobs:
   autograd-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -189,6 +199,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: autograd-tests (${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: core-interfaces-coverage-autograd-${{ matrix.python-version }}
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -205,6 +216,7 @@ jobs:
   tf-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -222,6 +234,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: tf-tests (${{ matrix.group }}, ${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: core-interfaces-coverage-tf-${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.group }}
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -243,6 +256,7 @@ jobs:
   jax-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -260,6 +274,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: jax-tests (${{ matrix.group }}, ${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: core-interfaces-coverage-jax-${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.group }}
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -281,6 +296,7 @@ jobs:
   core-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -298,6 +314,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: core-tests (${{ matrix.group }}, ${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: core-interfaces-coverage-core-${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.group }}
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -319,6 +336,7 @@ jobs:
   all-interfaces-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -335,6 +353,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: all-interfaces-tests (${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: all-interfaces-coverage
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -352,6 +371,7 @@ jobs:
   external-libraries-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -368,6 +388,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: external-libraries-tests (${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: external-libraries-tests-coverage
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -391,6 +412,7 @@ jobs:
   qcut-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -407,6 +429,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: qcut-tests (${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: qcut-coverage
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -424,6 +447,7 @@ jobs:
   qchem-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -440,6 +464,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: qchem-tests (${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: qchem-coverage
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -456,6 +481,7 @@ jobs:
   gradients-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -475,6 +501,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: gradients-tests (${{ matrix.config.suite }}, ${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: gradients-${{ matrix.config.suite }}-coverage
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -491,6 +518,7 @@ jobs:
   data-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -507,6 +535,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: data-tests (${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: data-coverage-${{ matrix.python-version }}
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -524,6 +553,7 @@ jobs:
   device-tests:
     needs:
       - setup-ci-load
+      - determine_runner
     strategy:
       max-parallel: >-
         ${{
@@ -547,6 +577,7 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
     with:
       job_name: device-tests (${{ matrix.config.device }}, ${{ matrix.config.shots }}, ${{ matrix.python-version }})
+      job_runner_name: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner_group }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
       coverage_artifact_name: devices-coverage-${{ matrix.config.device }}-${{ matrix.config.shots }}
       python_version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
index f9c2ff7ab5a..c1206d5a830 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ on:
         description: Name of the artifact file that will contain the coverage file for codevoc
         required: true
         type: string
+      job_runner_name:
+        description: The name of the runner to use for the job
+        required: false
+        type: string
+        default: 'ubuntu-latest'
       checkout_fetch_depth:
         description: How many commits to checkout from HEAD of branch passed
         required: false
@@ -116,17 +121,9 @@ on:
         default: "False"
 
 jobs:
-  determine_runner:
-    if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
-    name: Determine runner type to use
-    uses: ./.github/workflows/determine-workflow-runner.yml
-    with:
-      default_runner: ubuntu-latest
-
   test:
     name: ${{ inputs.job_name }}
-    needs: [determine_runner]
-    runs-on: ${{ needs.determine_runner.outputs.runner }}
+    runs-on: ${{ inputs.job_runner_name }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout