Active Directory Contract Job Trends in Central London

Microsoft Active Directory
London > Central London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Central London requiring Active Directory skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 14 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 68 52 37
Rank change year-on-year -16 -15 -6
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 88 84 122
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 3.44% 4.09% 5.27%
As % of the System Software category 38.43% 45.16% 45.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 67 54 95
10th Percentile £163 £214 £208
25th Percentile £204 £266 £345
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £415 £496 £425
Median % change year-on-year -16.25% +16.59% -14.14%
75th Percentile £585 £575 £550
90th Percentile £671 £650 £688
London median daily rate £475 £500 £450
% change year-on-year -5.00% +11.11% -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 4 1
10th Percentile - £23.34 -
25th Percentile £19.25 £25.34 £77.50
Median hourly rate £19.50 £27.48 £85.00
Median % change year-on-year -29.03% -67.68% -
75th Percentile £19.75 £69.56 £92.50
90th Percentile - £140.33 -
London median hourly rate £22.41 £23.50 £23.80
% change year-on-year -4.64% -1.26% -60.33%

All System Software Skills
Central London

Active Directory falls under the System Software category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring system software skills in Central London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 229 186 270
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 8.96% 9.05% 11.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 168 133 198
10th Percentile £210 £263 £309
25th Percentile £416 £385 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £526
Median % change year-on-year - -0.14% -8.57%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £672
90th Percentile £676 £687 £754
London median daily rate £525 £525 £515
% change year-on-year - +1.94% -7.61%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 4 1
10th Percentile £21.20 £23.34 -
25th Percentile £24.13 £25.34 £77.50
Median hourly rate £30.00 £27.48 £85.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.19% -67.68% +134.48%
75th Percentile £33.00 £69.56 £92.50
90th Percentile £34.20 £140.33 -
London median hourly rate £40.00 £26.00 £23.80
% change year-on-year +53.85% +9.24% -60.33%

Active Directory
Job Vacancy Trend in Central London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Active Directory relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London.

Active Directory job vacancy trend in Central London

Active Directory
Daily Rate Trend in Central London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Active Directory.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Daily Rate Histogram in Central London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Active Directory in Central London over the 6 months to 14 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Active Directory in Central London

Active Directory
Hourly Rate Trend in Central London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Active Directory.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Contract Job Locations in Central London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Active Directory within the Central London region over the 6 months to 14 August 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
City of London -8 73 £465 -7.00% 25
City of Westminster -10 4 £725 +11.54% 5
Kensington and Chelsea - 3 £150 -
Southwark -5 1 £550 -
Active Directory
London

Active Directory
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Central London by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 19 (21.59%) Microsoft Exchange
2 9 (10.23%) SharePoint
3 3 (3.41%) Confluence
4 2 (2.27%) Exchange Server 2013
4 2 (2.27%) IIS
5 1 (1.14%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 5 (5.68%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (2.27%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 6 (6.82%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (1.14%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 44 (50.00%) Entra ID
2 41 (46.59%) Azure
3 33 (37.50%) Microsoft 365
4 9 (10.23%) Power Platform
5 8 (9.09%) AWS
6 6 (6.82%) Azure DevOps
7 5 (5.68%) GitHub
7 5 (5.68%) OneDrive
8 3 (3.41%) GCP
8 3 (3.41%) IaaS
8 3 (3.41%) OpenShift
8 3 (3.41%) PaaS
8 3 (3.41%) Power Automate
8 3 (3.41%) PowerApps
8 3 (3.41%) Serverless
9 2 (2.27%) Azure Functions
9 2 (2.27%) Azure Logic Apps
9 2 (2.27%) Azure Service Bus
9 2 (2.27%) Azure Stack
9 2 (2.27%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 27 (30.68%) DNS
2 20 (22.73%) DHCP
3 13 (14.77%) VPN
4 9 (10.23%) Firewall
5 8 (9.09%) TCP/IP
6 4 (4.55%) Wi-Fi
7 3 (3.41%) SMTP
8 2 (2.27%) Cisco ISE
8 2 (2.27%) DMZ
8 2 (2.27%) LAN
8 2 (2.27%) Network Security
9 1 (1.14%) DKIM
9 1 (1.14%) DMARC
9 1 (1.14%) Internet
9 1 (1.14%) MPLS
9 1 (1.14%) Reverse Proxy
9 1 (1.14%) SD-WAN
9 1 (1.14%) WAN
9 1 (1.14%) Wireless
9 1 (1.14%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (9.09%) Power BI
2 7 (7.95%) SQL Server
3 5 (5.68%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 4 (4.55%) Big Data
5 3 (3.41%) Amazon RDS
5 3 (3.41%) Elasticsearch
5 3 (3.41%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 3 (3.41%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 1 (1.14%) Amazon Athena
6 1 (1.14%) Amazon QuickSight
6 1 (1.14%) Amazon Redshift
6 1 (1.14%) Delta Lake
6 1 (1.14%) NoSQL
6 1 (1.14%) Oracle BI EE
6 1 (1.14%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 9 (10.23%) JIRA
2 2 (2.27%) Git
3 1 (1.14%) Artifactory
3 1 (1.14%) GitLab
3 1 (1.14%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 28 (31.82%) Social Skills
2 12 (13.64%) Finance
3 8 (9.09%) Analytical Skills
4 3 (3.41%) Front Office
4 3 (3.41%) Presentation Skills
4 3 (3.41%) Telecoms
5 2 (2.27%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 2 (2.27%) Organisational Skills
5 2 (2.27%) Public Sector
5 2 (2.27%) Retail
6 1 (1.14%) Documentation Skills
6 1 (1.14%) Financial Institution
6 1 (1.14%) Influencing Skills
6 1 (1.14%) Law
6 1 (1.14%) Mandarin Language
6 1 (1.14%) Manufacturing
6 1 (1.14%) Marketing
6 1 (1.14%) Military
6 1 (1.14%) Police
Job Titles
1 24 (27.27%) Support Engineer
2 11 (12.50%) Analyst
2 11 (12.50%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 10 (11.36%) IT Support
4 9 (10.23%) IT Engineer
4 9 (10.23%) IT Support Engineer
5 7 (7.95%) Architect
6 6 (6.82%) Active Directory Engineer
6 6 (6.82%) Infrastructure Support
6 6 (6.82%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
6 6 (6.82%) Support Analyst
7 5 (5.68%) Platform Engineer
8 4 (4.55%) Azure Engineer
8 4 (4.55%) Desktop Support
8 4 (4.55%) Windows Engineer
9 3 (3.41%) 1st Line Support
9 3 (3.41%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
9 3 (3.41%) Network Engineer
9 3 (3.41%) Project Manager
9 3 (3.41%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (6.82%) OpenID
1 6 (6.82%) SAML
2 5 (5.68%) REST
3 3 (3.41%) 802.1X
3 3 (3.41%) OAuth
4 2 (2.27%) .NET
4 2 (2.27%) LDAP
4 2 (2.27%) SailPoint
5 1 (1.14%) .NET Core
5 1 (1.14%) ASP.NET
5 1 (1.14%) Bootstrap
5 1 (1.14%) CSS
5 1 (1.14%) HTML
5 1 (1.14%) HTML5 Canvas
5 1 (1.14%) Jakarta EE
5 1 (1.14%) JDBC
5 1 (1.14%) JSON
5 1 (1.14%) OAuth2
5 1 (1.14%) RESTful
5 1 (1.14%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 14 (15.91%) Onboarding
2 9 (10.23%) PKI
3 7 (7.95%) Video Conferencing
4 6 (6.82%) Clustering
4 6 (6.82%) Data Centre
5 4 (4.55%) Enterprise Software
5 4 (4.55%) iPhone
6 3 (3.41%) Fat Client
6 3 (3.41%) IoT
6 3 (3.41%) iPad
6 3 (3.41%) Thin Client
7 2 (2.27%) FMCG
7 2 (2.27%) Hybrid Cloud
7 2 (2.27%) Operational Technology
7 2 (2.27%) Virtual Team
8 1 (1.14%) BYOD
8 1 (1.14%) Cloud Native
8 1 (1.14%) Data Fabric
8 1 (1.14%) Legacy Systems
8 1 (1.14%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 58 (65.91%) Windows
2 25 (28.41%) Windows Server
3 14 (15.91%) Windows 10
4 13 (14.77%) Mac OS
5 8 (9.09%) Linux
6 6 (6.82%) Windows 7
7 5 (5.68%) Windows Server 2012
8 4 (4.55%) VMS
9 3 (3.41%) Windows Server 2008
9 3 (3.41%) Windows Server 2019
10 2 (2.27%) Android
10 2 (2.27%) OpenVMS
11 1 (1.14%) Apple iOS
11 1 (1.14%) Mac OS X
11 1 (1.14%) Ubuntu
11 1 (1.14%) Windows Server 2003
11 1 (1.14%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 26 (29.55%) Problem-Solving
2 15 (17.05%) ITIL
3 14 (15.91%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 13 (14.77%) Customer Service
4 13 (14.77%) Identity Access Management
4 13 (14.77%) Migration
5 11 (12.50%) DevOps
5 11 (12.50%) Stakeholder Management
6 9 (10.23%) CI/CD
6 9 (10.23%) Continuous Improvement
6 9 (10.23%) High Availability
7 8 (9.09%) AI
7 8 (9.09%) Project Delivery
7 8 (9.09%) Service Delivery
7 8 (9.09%) Service Management
8 7 (7.95%) Agile
8 7 (7.95%) Identity Management
9 6 (6.82%) Business Intelligence
9 6 (6.82%) Incident Management
9 6 (6.82%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 18 (20.45%) PowerShell
2 7 (7.95%) SQL
3 5 (5.68%) Bash
3 5 (5.68%) Python
4 2 (2.27%) Bicep
5 1 (1.14%) C#
5 1 (1.14%) Java
5 1 (1.14%) JavaScript
5 1 (1.14%) Korn
5 1 (1.14%) TypeScript
5 1 (1.14%) VB
Qualifications
1 18 (20.45%) Security Cleared
2 10 (11.36%) SC Cleared
3 7 (7.95%) Degree
3 7 (7.95%) DV Cleared
4 5 (5.68%) Microsoft Certification
5 4 (4.55%) A+ Certification
5 4 (4.55%) Azure Certification
6 3 (3.41%) Cisco Certification
6 3 (3.41%) CISSP
6 3 (3.41%) PMI Certification
6 3 (3.41%) PMP
7 2 (2.27%) CCNA
7 2 (2.27%) CCNP
7 2 (2.27%) CISM
8 1 (1.14%) CESG Certified Professional
8 1 (1.14%) Computer Science Degree
8 1 (1.14%) ITIL Certification
8 1 (1.14%) MCSE
8 1 (1.14%) Network+ Certification
8 1 (1.14%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (7.95%) SLA
2 5 (5.68%) QA
3 3 (3.41%) GDPR
4 2 (2.27%) Cyber Essentials
4 2 (2.27%) GRC
4 2 (2.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 2 (2.27%) NIST
4 2 (2.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 1 (1.14%) Data Quality
5 1 (1.14%) Government Security Classifications
5 1 (1.14%) HIPAA
5 1 (1.14%) NCSC
System Software
1 16 (18.18%) VMware Infrastructure
2 9 (10.23%) Virtual Desktop
2 9 (10.23%) VMware ESXi
3 5 (5.68%) Docker
3 5 (5.68%) Hyper-V
4 3 (3.41%) BitLocker
4 3 (3.41%) Microsoft App-V
4 3 (3.41%) Terminal Services
4 3 (3.41%) vSphere
5 1 (1.14%) Firmware
5 1 (1.14%) UAG
5 1 (1.14%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (1.14%) Virtual Servers
5 1 (1.14%) VMware NSX
5 1 (1.14%) zsh
Systems Management
1 23 (26.14%) Microsoft Intune
2 10 (11.36%) SCCM
3 8 (9.09%) vCenter Server
4 7 (7.95%) Ansible
4 7 (7.95%) Terraform
5 6 (6.82%) Single Sign-On
6 5 (5.68%) Kubernetes
7 4 (4.55%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (4.55%) Puppet
8 3 (3.41%) Microsoft Clustering
8 3 (3.41%) Nagios
8 3 (3.41%) SCOM
8 3 (3.41%) vMotion
8 3 (3.41%) WSUS
9 2 (2.27%) FortiGate
9 2 (2.27%) Nessus
9 2 (2.27%) NetBackup
10 1 (1.14%) Grafana
10 1 (1.14%) Salt
10 1 (1.14%) TrustSec
Vendors
1 63 (71.59%) Microsoft
2 19 (21.59%) VMware
3 11 (12.50%) Citrix
4 10 (11.36%) ServiceNow
5 9 (10.23%) Apple
6 6 (6.82%) Cisco
6 6 (6.82%) Remedy
7 5 (5.68%) Bloomberg
7 5 (5.68%) HP
7 5 (5.68%) Zscaler
8 4 (4.55%) Google
8 4 (4.55%) Oracle
9 3 (3.41%) BMC
9 3 (3.41%) Commvault
9 3 (3.41%) CyberArk
9 3 (3.41%) Symantec
10 2 (2.27%) BeyondTrust
10 2 (2.27%) SAP
10 2 (2.27%) Veeam
10 2 (2.27%) Veritas