IT Specialist

Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of

Palmpay is a Pan-African fintech company currently operating in Ghana, Nigeria and expanding to other markets in 2023. We’re reinventing the payments experience by making it easy and reliable for everyone to transfer money, pay bills and shop online. We are seeking a proactive and results-driven IT SPECIALIST to design, implement, secure, and maintain our enterprise network infrastructure. The successful candidate will ensure network reliability, performance, and security across the organization. This role requires hands on expertise with FortiGate firewalls, Cisco switches, and routers, and the ability to support both daily operations and long term strategic initiatives. The ideal candidate will combine technical proficiency with problem-solving skills to deliver robust and secure connectivity solutions.

Key Responsibilities & Activities

• Network Infrastructure Management
  • Design, configure, and maintain LAN, WAN, and WLAN networks.
  • Implement and manage VLANs, routing, and switching.
  • Perform network upgrades, backups, and maintain documentation.
• Firewall & Security Administration
  • Configure and manage FortiGate Firewalls (policies, NAT, VPN, security profiles).
  • Implement and monitor network security controls (firewall rules, ACLs, IDS/IPS).
  • Ensure compliance with security and operational standards.
• Router & Switch Operations
  • Configure and troubleshoot Cisco routers and switches.
  • Manage routing protocols (Static, OSPF, BGP advantage).
• Connectivity & VPN Management
  • Configure and maintain site and remote access VPNs.
  • Coordinate with ISPs and vendors to resolve link and service issues.
• Monitoring & Troubleshooting
  • Monitor network performance to ensure high availability.
  • Use network monitoring and troubleshooting tools to detect and resolve issues.
  • Provide timely resolution of network problems.

Required Technical Skills

• Strong experience with FortiGate Firewall administration.
• Hands-on expertise with Cisco switches and routers.
• Solid understanding of:
  • TCP/IP, OSI model
  • VLANs, Trucking, STP
  • Routing protocols (Static, OSPF, BGP advantage)
  • NAT, ACLs, DHCP, DNS
• Proficiency with network monitoring and troubleshooting tools.
• Knowledge of network security best practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, or related field.
• Relevant certifications are an added advantage:
  • CCNA / CCNP
  • Fortinet NSE (NSE 4 or higher)

Experience

• Minimum 1–3 years of hands-on experience in network engineering.
• Experience in enterprise or ISP environments is an advantage.

Soft Skills

• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills.
• Excellent communication and documentation abilities.
• Ability to work independently and under pressure.
• Team player with a proactive mindset.