Senior Software Engineer

Senior Software Engineer — Legacy Systems & Modernization

Part-time freelance/contract opportunity, with potential to grow into a full-time role

Miller Advertising is looking for an experienced, hands-on software engineer to help us understand, maintain, improve, and plan the future of an existing internal software platform.

Our software supports core business operations, including advertising insertion orders, digital campaign management, invoicing, accounting, and reporting. We’re looking for someone who enjoys getting into an established codebase, understanding how it works, and making it easier to maintain and evolve.

This engagement will begin part-time, with the possibility of expanding into a full-time role as our needs and the relationship develop.

What you’ll work on

• Review the source code, databases, infrastructure, and integrations to understand how the platform works.
• Work with our team and existing technical resources to connect the code to day-to-day business processes.
• Create practical technical documentation covering system architecture, data flows, business rules, setup, builds, deployment, and troubleshooting.
• Identify and implement prioritized fixes and upgrades while protecting ongoing business operations.
• Establish or improve version control, repeatable development environments, and testing for critical workflows.
• Help us evaluate the best path forward: continuing to improve the platform, moving it to cloud infrastructure, replacing selected components, or planning an orderly retirement.
• Develop a phased roadmap with clear tradeoffs, dependencies, effort estimates, and recommendations.
• Plan for data migration, historical records, and business continuity if we transition away from existing components.

Our current environment

Our existing documentation identifies Delphi, Pervasive SQL/Btrieve, locally hosted infrastructure, desktop applications, and QuickBooks/Intuit integrations. Part of the initial engagement will be confirming the exact technologies, versions, dependencies, and development setup.

Who we’re looking for

• A senior engineer with experience taking ownership of established business applications.
• Strong ability to read, debug, and safely modify unfamiliar code.
• Experience with Delphi or comparable legacy desktop application environments; direct Delphi experience is strongly preferred.
• Solid database skills and experience tracing data across connected systems.
• Experience with accounting, billing, order management, or other systems where data accuracy matters.
• Clear writing and the ability to explain technical findings to nontechnical colleagues.
• Practical judgment about when to improve, migrate, replace, or retire software.
• Experience with Pervasive SQL/Btrieve, QuickBooks integrations, and cloud migrations would be especially valuable.

What a successful initial engagement looks like

We have a verified inventory of the software and its dependencies, a working development/test setup, documentation another engineer can use, a prioritized improvement backlog, and a clear recommendation for the platform’s next stage. We would also expect early fixes or improvements where appropriate.

To apply, please share:

• An example of an existing or poorly documented system you took over, and what you accomplished.
• Your experience with Delphi, legacy databases, and accounting integrations.
• How you would approach your first month with an unfamiliar platform.
• Your availability, hourly rate, and interest in a potential full-time role.

EOE