At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and maintain backend infrastructure for a charity's native mobile app.
- Company: Nurture the Children International, a charity fighting global poverty.
- Benefits: Flexible hours, remote work, and recognition for your contributions.
- Other info: Join a supportive team dedicated to helping vulnerable children worldwide.
- Why this job: Make a real impact while enhancing your backend engineering skills.
- Qualifications: Experience in backend development and knowledge of modern frameworks required.
The predicted salary is between 500 - 1500 £ per month.
Organisation: Nurture the Children International – a registered charity in England and Wales dedicated to the fight against poverty globally. Supporting our education, feeding, water, and health programs provides individual sponsors a simple way to support the world's most vulnerable children and put an end to child hunger, poverty, and exploitation.
Location: Fully remote / home-based (UK time zone preferred for easier collaboration). Virtual meetings via Zoom / Microsoft Teams / Slack.
Hours: Flexible – approximately 4–10 hours per week (arranged around your availability). Minimum commitment of 6–12 months preferred to support meaningful progress and hand-over.
Role Purpose: To design, build, maintain and secure the backend infrastructure that powers our native mobile app (iOS and Android), ensuring reliable data services, secure user authentication, smooth API performance, and compliance with UK data protection laws (UK GDPR). Your work will directly enable thousands of users / beneficiaries to access critical features such as donation processing, resource libraries, peer support, progress tracking, and emergency alerts.
Main Responsibilities:
- Design, develop and maintain robust, scalable RESTful (or GraphQL) APIs that connect the native mobile apps to backend services.
- Implement and manage authentication & authorisation flows (e.g. JWT, OAuth2, Firebase Auth, or similar).
- Build and optimise data models, database schemas, and queries for user data, content, analytics, etc.
- Integrate with third-party services (e.g. payment gateways like Stripe, push notifications, cloud storage, analytics tools).
- Ensure high availability, performance and security of the backend (rate limiting, input validation, encryption, vulnerability scanning).
- Handle data migration, backups, monitoring, error logging and basic DevOps tasks (CI/CD pipelines if applicable).
- Collaborate remotely with frontend/mobile developers, product owners / trustees, and any external consultants via Git, shared docs, and regular stand-ups / sprint reviews.
- Write clean, documented, testable code and contribute to code reviews.
- Help maintain compliance with UK GDPR, Charity Commission expectations on data handling, and any sector-specific regulations (e.g. safeguarding for vulnerable users).
- Document architecture, APIs (e.g. OpenAPI/Swagger), deployment processes and troubleshooting guides.
Tech Stack (Current or Target):
- Backend language/framework: Express/NestJS, Python (FastAPI/Django), Java (Spring Boot), Go, or similar.
- Database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Firebase Firestore, Supabase, or equivalent.
- Cloud / hosting: AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Heroku, Railway, Render, or Firebase (cost-effective options preferred).
- Other tools: Docker (nice-to-have), Git/GitHub, Postman/Swagger for API testing, Sentry/New Relic for monitoring.
Skills and Experience (Essential):
- Proven experience building and maintaining production backend services / APIs (commercial, open-source or personal projects).
- Strong knowledge of at least one modern backend language/framework (Python, Java/Kotlin, Go, etc.).
- Experience with relational or NoSQL databases and writing efficient queries.
- Understanding of REST API design principles, authentication patterns, and basic security best practices.
- Comfortable with Git version control and remote collaboration tools (GitHub, Slack/Teams, etc.).
- Self-motivated, reliable, and able to work independently while communicating progress clearly.
- Commitment to writing readable, maintainable code.
Desirable (but not essential):
- Previous work on mobile app backends (especially native iOS/Android integrations).
- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure, Firebase) and serverless architectures.
- Familiarity with CI/CD, containerisation (Docker), or infrastructure-as-code.
- Knowledge of UK GDPR / data protection in charities / non-profits.
- Experience contributing to open-source projects or volunteering in tech-for-good.
- Interest in our mission area (e.g. health, education, environment, humanitarian).
What We Offer:
- Direct, high-impact contribution to our charitable mission through technology.
- Opportunity to apply / deepen backend engineering skills in a real-world, user-focused product.
- Supportive remote environment with regular check-ins, code reviews, and feedback.
- Flexible hours – work when it suits you.
- Recognition of your contribution (e.g. credits in app/about page, thanks in annual report/website – with consent).
- Potential professional reference after sustained contribution (6+ months).
- Out-of-pocket expenses reimbursed per our volunteer policy (very limited – mainly specialist tools if pre-agreed).
Job Types: Part-time, Volunteer. Expected hours: 10 – 20 per week.
Benefits: Referral programme. Work Location: Remote.
Volunteer Backend Engineer for UK Charity Native App employer: Nurture the Children International UK
Nurture the Children International is an exceptional employer for those looking to make a meaningful impact while honing their backend engineering skills. As a fully remote charity, we offer a flexible work environment that allows you to contribute directly to our mission of fighting global poverty, with opportunities for professional growth and recognition of your efforts. Join us in creating a better future for vulnerable children while enjoying the support of a collaborative team dedicated to making a difference.
Contact Details:
Nurture the Children International UK Recruitment Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Volunteer Backend Engineer for UK Charity Native App
✨Get Involved in Open-Source Projects
Diving into open-source projects is a fantastic way to build your coding skills and show potential employers what you can do. Look for projects that pique your interest on platforms like GitHub—contributing can help you network with experienced developers while showcasing your skills.
✨Join Developer Meetups and Hackathons
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✨Connect with University Resources
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✨Show Off Your Projects Online
Having a strong online presence can be super beneficial. Create a portfolio showcasing your coding projects and any contributions you’ve made to open-source software. This gives potential employers, including Nurture the Children International UK, a sneak peek of what you're capable of—let your work speak for itself!
We think you need these skills to ace Volunteer Backend Engineer for UK Charity Native App
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Us Your Code!:As a volunteer in software engineering, it’s crucial to highlight your coding skills. Include links to your GitHub or any other repositories where we can see your projects. Personal projects, even small ones, give us a feel for your style and expertise.
What's Your Tech Stack?:For this role, it’s important to showcase the tech stack you’re familiar with. Make sure your CV lists not just your languages (like JavaScript, Python, etc.) but also any frameworks or libraries you’re comfortable using—this gives us insights into what you can bring to the table.
Share Your Passion for Development:Since this is a volunteer role, we want to see your enthusiasm! In your cover letter, talk about why you love software development and how you want to learn and grow in this field. Share any relevant experiences that motivated you to apply for this position with us.
Keep it Concise and Relevant:In a volunteer application, keep your CV and cover letter focused on your software engineering skills and experiences. Avoid fluff and unnecessary details—highlight what makes you a great fit for this volunteering role with Nurture the Children International UK directly!
How to prepare for a job interview at Nurture the Children International UK
✨Show Off Your Coding Skills
For a volunteer role in software engineering, it’s crucial to showcase your coding skills. Be prepared to tackle live coding challenges or explain your GitHub projects during the interview. Don’t shy away from diving into specific frameworks or languages you’ve worked with that are relevant to Nurture the Children International UK.
✨Demonstrate Team Collaboration
Since software development is often a team effort, be ready to discuss your experiences working in a team. Prepare a couple of examples where you collaborated effectively with others, perhaps on an open-source project or during your studies, as this can be a real plus for a volunteer role at Nurture the Children International UK.
✨Know Your Tools
Familiarise yourself with the tools and technologies that Nurture the Children International UK uses. Whether it’s specific programming languages, version control systems like Git, or development environments, having this background knowledge can help you stand out during the interview.
✨Emphasise Your Willingness to Learn
As a volunteer, your motivation and eagerness to learn can set you apart from other candidates. Be prepared to talk about what you’re excited to learn from Nurture the Children International UK, and how you plan to contribute your skills while developing further in the role. This enthusiasm can make a big impression!
