Quality Assurance Lead

About Volumio: Volumio is a leading innovator in high-quality digital audio solutions. With a mission to make music accessible in the purest way possible, we develop hardware and software that redefine how people experience sound. Our ecosystem is trusted by music lovers, audiophiles, and professionals worldwide. Learn more at volumio.com.  About the Role We are looking for a QA Lead, ideally with a background in Hi-Fi audio and general IT. In this role, you will be the driving force behind the quality of Volumio’s hardware and software releases. As QA Lead, you will own, design, and execute comprehensive test plans to validate every release, ensuring that all features and fixes meet our reliability and performance standards. You will systematically analyze issues reported by the community, reproduce and validate them, and translate confirmed problems into clear, actionable development tasks. While you will also provide focused technical support for user-reported issues, your primary mission is to maintain rigorous testing practices and ensure that critical issues are prioritized and resolved by the development team. This position is ideal for someone proactive, meticulous, and deeply committed to delivering a flawless user experience through disciplined testing and quality assurance. We are considering candidates who can work in a hybrid setting in our HQ in Florence, Italy. We are also considering remote candidates if qualified. Main Responsibilities Lead the quality assurance process for Volumio’s hardware and software releases, owning the creation, execution, and refinement of test plans for each release. Actively monitor, reproduce, and validate user-reported issues, ensuring a clear understanding of their impact on product quality. Translate confirmed problems into clear, detailed, and actionable development tasks for the technical team. Ensure that the most urgent and critical issues are properly prioritized and resolved by the development team. Serve as a point of contact between the user community and the Volumio development team by providing focused technical support, independently resolving common issues and escalating complex cases when necessary. Act as the second-level technical support, assisting and guiding the Customer Care team in diagnosing and resolving complex technical questions. Prepare technical training materials, product manuals, and documentation to support both internal teams and external users. Contribute to internal knowledge bases and support resources, ensuring that documentation remains complete, accurate, and up to date. Required Skills Excellent written and verbal communication skills, necessary for clear interaction with both technical and non-technical users and the development team. Strong ability to understand user problems and provide professional and reassuring responses. Ability to analyze a problem, reproduce it, and identify the quickest cause or solution. Being a proactive, meticulous, and detail-oriented individual in observing and documenting issues . A solid familiarity with general IT and basic operating system management. Nice-to-Have Skills Basic knowledge of Linux systems (shell, logs, basic commands). Familiarity with fundamental Networking (TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS). Ability to analyze hardware/software logs to identify anomalous behavior. Knowledge of main test types (Functional, Regression, Usability, Accessibility). Previous experience in testing web and mobile applications (iOS/Android). Knowledge of Agile methodologies (Scrum/Kanban) and the software release lifecycle. Experience with automated testing frameworks (e.g., Cypress, Playwright, Selenium for web; Appium for mobile). Familiarity with CI/CD  processes for integrating automated tests. Familiarity with audio and Hi-Fi equipment, as well as an appreciation for high-quality music listening.  What we offer The chance to directly influence the quality and future development of Volumio's products. A unique opportunity to deepen your expertise in the exciting world of Hi-Fi digital audio, Linux systems, and embedded technology. Collaborative team culture where your contributions make an impact.