Mission Driven Volunteer Mobile Application Developer (iOS & Android)

Volunteer Mobile Application Developer (iOS & Android)

Universal Removal Defense Project (URDP)

A Human Rights Organization | All Cultures. All Languages.

Location: Remote – Nationwide / International

Position Type: Volunteer (Unpaid)

Schedule: Flexible, approximately 5–10 hours per week

Department: Technology & Engineering

Focus Areas: Human Rights, Immigration Justice, Artificial Intelligence, Legal Technology

About Universal Removal Defense Project

Universal Removal Defense Project (URDP) is a nonprofit human rights organization working to transform access to immigration legal representation across the United States.

Our mission is to eliminate the linguistic, cultural, geographic, and financial barriers that prevent immigrants and asylum seekers from accessing meaningful legal defense. Through advanced translation technologies, artificial intelligence, and remote legal service infrastructure, URDP is developing a nationwide, multilingual model for immigration removal defense.

We are building technology that makes access to justice more accessible, efficient, and inclusive.

Position Overview

URDP is seeking a motivated Volunteer Mobile Application Developer to join our growing technology and engineering team.

The selected developer will help design and build innovative mobile applications for Android and iOS that simplify immigration-related processes and improve access to legal services.

Our initial development initiative includes a voice-enabled mobile application designed to streamline the preparation of immigration court documentation, including Form EOIR-28 (Notice of Entry of Appearance).

The application will explore how speech recognition, multilingual interfaces, and automated document generation can simplify complex administrative processes while maintaining appropriate professional review and security protections.

This opportunity is ideal for developers interested in applying modern software engineering to meaningful human rights challenges.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain cross-platform mobile applications for Android and iOS.
• Build intuitive, accessible, multilingual user interfaces.
• Integrate speech-to-text technology and voice-enabled data collection.
• Develop automated form-population and PDF-generation functionality.
• Integrate mobile applications with secure backend services and APIs.
• Collaborate with URDP's engineering team on GitHub-based development projects.
• Implement appropriate data security, encryption, and privacy protections.
• Participate in application testing, debugging, documentation, and deployment preparation.
• Support the development of scalable mobile technologies for nationwide immigration legal services.

Preferred Technical Qualifications

Candidates should have experience with one or more of the following technologies:

Mobile Development

• React Native
• Flutter / Dart
• Swift (iOS)
• Kotlin (Android)

Backend & API Integration

• Python / Django
• REST APIs
• Firebase or comparable cloud services
• PostgreSQL or similar databases

Artificial Intelligence & Automation

• Speech-to-text APIs
• Multilingual voice recognition
• AI-assisted document processing
• Automated PDF generation
• Large language model API integration

Development & Collaboration

• GitHub and version control
• Agile development practices
• Application testing and debugging
• Secure software development principles

Experience with immigration law or legal technology is welcome but not required.

Ideal Candidate

We are particularly interested in individuals who:

• Have a strong interest in human rights, immigration justice, or public-interest technology.
• Are passionate about building technology with measurable social impact.
• Can work independently within a distributed engineering team.
• Are comfortable collaborating remotely.
• Value accessibility, cultural inclusion, privacy, and ethical AI development.
• Are interested in contributing to an emerging nonprofit technology infrastructure.

Students, recent graduates, experienced developers, and professionals seeking meaningful volunteer opportunities are encouraged to apply.

What You Will Gain

• Hands-on experience developing real-world mobile applications.
• Opportunities to work with artificial intelligence and multilingual technology.
• Collaboration with an interdisciplinary nonprofit engineering team.
• Experience contributing to open-source and mission-driven software projects, where appropriate.
• Opportunities to contribute to the development of a nationwide human rights organization.
• Professional experience and portfolio-building opportunities.
• The opportunity to apply technical skills toward expanding access to justice.

Commitment & Work Environment

This is a fully remote, flexible volunteer opportunity.

We anticipate an initial commitment of approximately 5–10 hours per week, with scheduling coordinated around academic and professional obligations.

Volunteers will collaborate with URDP's technology team through GitHub and other approved development platforms.

Access to sensitive organizational or client information is restricted, and development will follow URDP's security and confidentiality requirements.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit:

• A resume or brief summary of relevant technical experience.
• A GitHub profile or portfolio, if available.
• A short statement describing their interest in human rights technology.
• Their anticipated weekly availability.

Applications may be submitted directly through Idealist.

Help us build technology that removes barriers to justice.

Universal Removal Defense Project

A Human Rights Organization

All Cultures. All Languages.

Website: universalremovaldefenseproject.org