ERP Modernization Architect

Valsoft Corporation

About The Position

We have a stable, revenue-generating ERP platform built on ProvideX (a Business BASIC derivative) that serves a loyal customer base. We are not looking to rebuild it from scratch. We need a senior architect who understands how legacy business logic systems work, can map the existing architecture, and build a modern API layer on top of it so we can connect AI capabilities, third-party integrations, and new product experiences to the data and workflows that already exist. This is a "wrap, don’t replace" strategy. The right person will see the ProvideX codebase not as technical debt, but as encoded business logic worth preserving and exposing through modern interfaces.

Requirements

Deep experience with legacy business logic languages: ProvideX, Business BASIC (BBx/BBj), Pick/MultiValue BASIC, RPG, or COBOL. You need to be able to read procedural, record-oriented code and understand the business rules it encodes.
Proven track record of building API layers on top of legacy systems without full rewrites. You’ve done the "wrap and expose" pattern before.
Senior engineering leadership experience overseeing mission-critical enterprise systems where downtime means lost revenue.
Strong understanding of keyed file structures, flat-file databases, and how legacy data models differ from modern relational or document stores.
Cloud infrastructure experience, preferably Microsoft Azure.
Ability to communicate technical constraints and trade-offs to non-technical leadership clearly and without jargon.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with ProvideX specifically, or with Sage or SAP Business One ERP systems built on it
Experience designing data pipelines that make legacy data consumable by AI/ML tools
Familiarity with AI/ML integration patterns (you don’t need to build models, but you need to understand what they need from a data and API perspective)
Background in ERP environments within vertical SaaS or software portfolio companies
Experience with Python as a bridge language between legacy and modern systems

Responsibilities

Reverse-engineer and document the ProvideX ERP architecture: data models, keyed file structures, business rules, and process flows
Design and build a RESTful (or GraphQL) API layer that exposes core ERP functions and data to modern consumers without rewriting the underlying system
Define the integration architecture that allows AI tools, third-party platforms, and new front-end experiences to read from and write to the ERP safely
Establish a service boundary map: what stays in ProvideX, what gets abstracted, and what eventually migrates
Make ERP data accessible and usable for AI/ML workflows by building clean data pipelines from legacy file structures to modern data stores
Partner with product and leadership to identify the highest-value AI use cases that depend on ERP data (predictive analytics, workflow automation, intelligent recommendations)
Evaluate and recommend AI tools and platforms that can plug into the API layer you build
Ensure data governance, security, and compliance as legacy data becomes more broadly accessible
Own the reliability and performance of the ERP platform throughout the modernization process; nothing breaks for existing customers
Lead incident response and root-cause analysis for production issues
Establish pragmatic engineering standards that acknowledge the reality of a legacy codebase while moving it forward
Prioritize modernization efforts based on business impact, not technical elegance
Lead and grow the ERP engineering team, building API and integration capabilities alongside legacy maintenance skills
Act as the senior technical voice connecting engineering, product, support, and executive leadership
Translate complex technical realities ("this is ProvideX, here’s what that means for your timeline") into language that non-technical stakeholders can act on
Mentor engineers who may be new to legacy systems, helping them see architectural patterns rather than just old code
Own the Azure environment hosting the ERP platform
Drive infrastructure automation, disaster recovery, and operational hygiene
Support the longer-term cloud and SaaS evolution strategy as the API layer matures