Embedded Software Engineer - Delphi Migration at Sabenza IT

Responsibilities Software Development

• Design, develop, document, implement and maintain software components.
• Work with the existing Delphi codebase while evaluating and contributing to the selection of modern languages and toolchains for future development.
• Work with compiler toolchains to manage build pipelines and automated tests.
• Write clean, efficient, well-documented code.
• Maintain and refactor legacy Delphi codebases as required during the transition period.

Hardware-Software Integration

• Collaborate closely with the Embedded Systems Engineer to understand hardware designs, constraints and data outputs.
• Participate in software reviews, including reviews of changes to embedded software.
• Participate in hardware-software integration testing to ensure correct end-to-end functionality.

System Design & Architecture

• Participate critically in review of system requirements and translate these into detailed software specifications.
• Design software architectures that meet performance, memory, and reliability constraints.
• Apply sound object-oriented design and systems engineering principles.

Testing & Validation

• Develop and execute unit tests, integration tests, and system-level test plans.
• Apply test-driven development practices and contribute to continuous release processes.
• Identify and resolve defects using appropriate debugging and analysis tools.

Documentation & Compliance

• Write and maintain clear documentation including design specifications, technical notes, and user guides.
• Ensure software quality and traceability in line with internal standards and best practices.

Research & Innovation

• Stay current on relevant technologies, tools, and trends in software for embedded and industrial systems.
• Contribute ideas to improve software performance, reduce technical debt, and modernise toolchains.

Requirements

Qualifications and Experience

• Tertiary qualification, preferably in Computer Science or a related engineering discipline.
• 8 or more years’ professional software development experience.
• Working knowledge of Delphi (Object Pascal), or demonstrated ability to read and maintain existing Delphi codebases.
• Experience with C and/or other modern programming languages (C++, Rust, Python, Go, or similar) is advantageous.
• Working knowledge of AI-assisted coding tools (e.g. GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude) is advantageous, particularly for accelerating legacy code migration.
• Familiarity with real-time operating systems (RTOS) and multithreaded software design is advantageous.
• Familiarity with version control systems and software configuration management.
• Valid South African driver’s licence.

Competencies

• Sound knowledge of embedded software development principles, including writing, debugging and optimising low-level code.
• Familiarity with Delphi and the ability to work within and help migrate existing Delphi codebases to modern languages.
• Ability to read and work with embedded system interfaces, data structures, and hardware documentation.
• Solid understanding of software configuration control and version management.
• Knowledge of object-oriented design, test-driven development, and continuous release approaches.
• Able to work independently and manage own tasks within a small, technical team.
• Good communication skills — able to engage clearly with hardware engineers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Competent with Windows OS and Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Familiarity with Linux environments and scripting languages (Python, Bash) is advantageous.
• Working knowledge of AI-assisted coding tools (e.g. GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude) to accelerate development and support codebase migrations is advantageous.
• Understanding of the Systems Engineering approach to software development.