Principal Engineer

About Volumio Volumio is a premium audio streaming company that has been pioneering high-fidelity music playback for over 10 years. We develop both hardware and software solutions that deliver audiophile-grade streaming experiences. Our latest innovation, CORRD, is an AI-driven music discovery platform that breaks users out of algorithmic bubbles by unifying multiple streaming services. We're a lean, technically-driven team of innovators based in Florence, passionate about delivering exceptional audio experiences through elegant software and hardware integration. The Role We're seeking an experienced Principal Engineer / Tech Lead to drive the technical evolution of Volumio's core platform. This is a senior, high-impact role at the intersection of backend systems, embedded Linux, and audio infrastructure. You will be responsible for shaping architecture, guiding technical decisions, and ensuring long-term scalability, performance, and audio integrity across Volumio's ecosystem. This role goes beyond implementation: you'll act as a technical reference for the team, work closely with product and leadership, and help define how Volumio's software platform evolves as our products and user base grow. What you'll do Own and evolve the architecture of Volumio's core backend and system services Lead the design of scalable, modular, and service-oriented systems Drive technical direction across backend, audio pipeline, and embedded Linux components Ensure high standards for audio quality, reliability, and performance Review designs and implementations with a long-term, system-level perspective Mentor engineers and raise the overall technical bar of the team Collaborate closely with product, hardware, and mobile teams to align technical solutions with business goals Make and defend architectural decisions in complex, ambiguous environments Core Technical Skills 5+ years of professional software engineering experience Strong background in systems or backend architecture Solid understanding of audio playback pipelines: PCM/DSD, resampling, bit-perfect playback OS audio stacks (ALSA/PipeWire/CoreAudio/WASAPI) Strong background in Linux, better if relevant to audio, networking, and devices Platform & Architecture Proven experience designing service-oriented or modular architectures Strong knowledge of containerization (Docker\LXC\RunC, Linux namespaces, cgroups) Familiarity with gRPC, WebSockets, event-driven architectures Languages & Tooling Comfortable working in Node.js environments (to understand and evolve the existing system) Strong proficiency in at least one systems-friendly language (e.g. Go) Experience with CI/CD, observability, and production diagnostics Leadership Prior experience as Tech Lead, Principal Engineer, or Architect Ability to drive decisions in ambiguous, evolving systems Comfortable pushing back on shortcuts that compromise long-term portability Nice to Have Direct experience with MPD or similar audio daemons Embedded/Linux audio product experience Experience with Flutter Background in consumer electronics, audio hardware, or IoT Experience designing plugin ecosystems or third-party SDKs Why join Volumio Work on high-end audio systems used by music enthusiasts worldwide Principal-level ownership with direct influence on architecture and strategy Small, highly technical team with strong engineering culture Opportunity to work across backend systems, embedded Linux, and audio pipelines Flexible work environment Be part of innovative projects like CORRD that are reshaping music discovery Location Based in Florence, Italy, or remote, with regular collaboration overlap with CET timezone