Active Directory Contract Job Trends in the City of London

Microsoft Active Directory
Central London > City of London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the City of London requiring Active Directory skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 31 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 61 59 36
Rank change year-on-year -2 -23 +1
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 79 68 102
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 3.43% 3.75% 4.90%
As % of the System Software category 43.41% 46.58% 40.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 58 44 76
10th Percentile £175 £216 £235
25th Percentile £242 £289 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £476 £500 £425
Median % change year-on-year -4.75% +17.65% -15.08%
75th Percentile £634 £578 £576
90th Percentile £671 £675 £700
Central London median daily rate £415 £496 £444
% change year-on-year -16.25% +11.66% -8.97%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 2 1
10th Percentile £19.73 £22.48 -
25th Percentile £20.44 £23.19 £77.50
Median hourly rate £21.75 £25.25 £85.00
Median % change year-on-year -13.86% -70.29% -
75th Percentile £22.94 £28.19 £92.50
90th Percentile £23.58 £29.43 -
Central London median hourly rate £21.75 £26.45 £85.00
% change year-on-year -17.77% -68.88% -

All System Software Skills
City of 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 the City of London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 182 146 252
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 7.91% 8.05% 12.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 130 102 177
10th Percentile £225 £263 £345
25th Percentile £411 £406 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £546 £560
Median % change year-on-year -3.89% -2.46% -2.61%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £688
90th Percentile £683 £688 £730
Central London median daily rate £525 £500 £550
% change year-on-year +5.00% -9.09% -4.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 2 1
10th Percentile £20.20 £22.48 -
25th Percentile £21.63 £23.19 £77.50
Median hourly rate £24.00 £25.25 £85.00
Median % change year-on-year -4.95% -70.29% +134.48%
75th Percentile £27.50 £28.19 £92.50
90th Percentile £29.60 £29.43 -
Central London median hourly rate £27.00 £26.45 £85.00
% change year-on-year +2.08% -68.88% +134.48%

Active Directory
Job Vacancy Trend in the City of London

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

Active Directory job vacancy trend in the City of London

Active Directory
Daily Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Active Directory.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Daily Rate Histogram in the City of London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Active Directory in the City of London over the 6 months to 31 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Active Directory in the City of London

Active Directory
Hourly Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Active Directory.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the City of 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 17 (21.52%) Microsoft Exchange
2 7 (8.86%) SharePoint
3 3 (3.80%) Confluence
4 2 (2.53%) Exchange Server 2013
4 2 (2.53%) IIS
5 1 (1.27%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 2 (2.53%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (1.27%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 5 (6.33%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (1.27%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 40 (50.63%) Entra ID
2 36 (45.57%) Azure
3 29 (36.71%) Microsoft 365
4 9 (11.39%) AWS
5 8 (10.13%) Power Platform
6 6 (7.59%) Azure DevOps
7 5 (6.33%) OneDrive
8 4 (5.06%) GitHub
9 3 (3.80%) GCP
9 3 (3.80%) IaaS
9 3 (3.80%) OpenShift
9 3 (3.80%) PaaS
9 3 (3.80%) Serverless
10 2 (2.53%) Azure Functions
10 2 (2.53%) Azure Key Vault
10 2 (2.53%) Azure Logic Apps
10 2 (2.53%) Azure Service Bus
10 2 (2.53%) Dynamics 365
10 2 (2.53%) Power Automate
10 2 (2.53%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 28 (35.44%) DNS
2 21 (26.58%) DHCP
3 14 (17.72%) VPN
4 10 (12.66%) Firewall
5 7 (8.86%) TCP/IP
6 4 (5.06%) SMTP
6 4 (5.06%) Wi-Fi
7 2 (2.53%) Cisco ISE
7 2 (2.53%) DMZ
7 2 (2.53%) LAN
7 2 (2.53%) Network Security
8 1 (1.27%) Internet
8 1 (1.27%) MPLS
8 1 (1.27%) OSPF
8 1 (1.27%) Reverse Proxy
8 1 (1.27%) SD-WAN
8 1 (1.27%) Unified Communications
8 1 (1.27%) WAN
8 1 (1.27%) Wireless
8 1 (1.27%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (10.13%) SQL Server
2 7 (8.86%) Power BI
3 6 (7.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 4 (5.06%) Big Data
5 3 (3.80%) Amazon RDS
5 3 (3.80%) Elasticsearch
5 3 (3.80%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 3 (3.80%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 1 (1.27%) Amazon Athena
6 1 (1.27%) Amazon QuickSight
6 1 (1.27%) Amazon Redshift
6 1 (1.27%) Delta Lake
6 1 (1.27%) NoSQL
6 1 (1.27%) Oracle BI EE
6 1 (1.27%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 9 (11.39%) JIRA
2 2 (2.53%) Git
3 1 (1.27%) Artifactory
3 1 (1.27%) GitLab
3 1 (1.27%) MSI
3 1 (1.27%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 27 (34.18%) Social Skills
2 15 (18.99%) Finance
3 9 (11.39%) Analytical Skills
4 4 (5.06%) Front Office
5 3 (3.80%) Public Sector
5 3 (3.80%) Telecoms
6 2 (2.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 2 (2.53%) Military
6 2 (2.53%) Organisational Skills
6 2 (2.53%) Presentation Skills
7 1 (1.27%) Banking
7 1 (1.27%) Documentation Skills
7 1 (1.27%) Financial Institution
7 1 (1.27%) Influencing Skills
7 1 (1.27%) Investment Banking
7 1 (1.27%) Law
7 1 (1.27%) Mandarin Language
7 1 (1.27%) Marketing
7 1 (1.27%) Police
Job Titles
1 22 (27.85%) Support Engineer
2 11 (13.92%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 10 (12.66%) IT Support
4 9 (11.39%) IT Engineer
4 9 (11.39%) IT Support Engineer
5 8 (10.13%) Analyst
6 7 (8.86%) Active Directory Engineer
6 7 (8.86%) Architect
7 6 (7.59%) Infrastructure Support
7 6 (7.59%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
8 4 (5.06%) Support Analyst
9 3 (3.80%) 3rd Line Engineer
9 3 (3.80%) 3rd Line Support
9 3 (3.80%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
9 3 (3.80%) Active Directory Support
9 3 (3.80%) Active Directory Support Engineer
9 3 (3.80%) Desktop Support
9 3 (3.80%) IT Analyst
9 3 (3.80%) Network Engineer
9 3 (3.80%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (8.86%) OpenID
1 7 (8.86%) SAML
2 6 (7.59%) REST
2 6 (7.59%) Terraform
3 5 (6.33%) OAuth
4 3 (3.80%) 802.1X
5 2 (2.53%) .NET
5 2 (2.53%) LDAP
5 2 (2.53%) OAuth2
5 2 (2.53%) SailPoint
6 1 (1.27%) ASP.NET
6 1 (1.27%) Bootstrap
6 1 (1.27%) CSS
6 1 (1.27%) HTML
6 1 (1.27%) HTML5 Canvas
6 1 (1.27%) Jakarta EE
6 1 (1.27%) JDBC
6 1 (1.27%) JSON
6 1 (1.27%) RESTful
6 1 (1.27%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 13 (16.46%) Onboarding
2 10 (12.66%) PKI
3 8 (10.13%) Video Conferencing
4 7 (8.86%) Data Centre
5 6 (7.59%) Clustering
6 4 (5.06%) Enterprise Software
7 3 (3.80%) Fat Client
7 3 (3.80%) Thin Client
8 2 (2.53%) Hybrid Cloud
8 2 (2.53%) iPad
8 2 (2.53%) iPhone
8 2 (2.53%) Virtual Team
9 1 (1.27%) BYOD
9 1 (1.27%) Data Fabric
9 1 (1.27%) IoT
9 1 (1.27%) Life Science
9 1 (1.27%) NHS
9 1 (1.27%) Product Ownership
9 1 (1.27%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 53 (67.09%) Windows
2 21 (26.58%) Windows Server
3 13 (16.46%) Mac OS
4 9 (11.39%) Windows 10
5 6 (7.59%) Linux
6 5 (6.33%) Windows Server 2012
7 4 (5.06%) VMS
8 3 (3.80%) Windows 7
8 3 (3.80%) Windows Server 2008
8 3 (3.80%) Windows Server 2019
9 2 (2.53%) Android
9 2 (2.53%) OpenVMS
10 1 (1.27%) Apple iOS
10 1 (1.27%) Mac OS X
10 1 (1.27%) Windows Server 2003
10 1 (1.27%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 27 (34.18%) Problem-Solving
2 16 (20.25%) Migration
3 13 (16.46%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 11 (13.92%) Customer Service
5 10 (12.66%) DevOps
5 10 (12.66%) High Availability
5 10 (12.66%) ITIL
5 10 (12.66%) Stakeholder Management
6 9 (11.39%) Identity Access Management
6 9 (11.39%) Service Delivery
7 8 (10.13%) Agile
7 8 (10.13%) AI
7 8 (10.13%) CI/CD
7 8 (10.13%) Identity Management
7 8 (10.13%) Project Delivery
8 7 (8.86%) Asset Management
8 7 (8.86%) Continuous Improvement
8 7 (8.86%) Incident Management
8 7 (8.86%) Process Improvement
9 6 (7.59%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 16 (20.25%) PowerShell
2 8 (10.13%) SQL
3 5 (6.33%) Python
4 4 (5.06%) Bash
5 2 (2.53%) Java
6 1 (1.27%) BeanShell
6 1 (1.27%) Bicep
6 1 (1.27%) C#
6 1 (1.27%) JavaScript
6 1 (1.27%) Korn
6 1 (1.27%) TypeScript
6 1 (1.27%) VB
Qualifications
1 17 (21.52%) Security Cleared
2 9 (11.39%) SC Cleared
3 7 (8.86%) Degree
4 6 (7.59%) DV Cleared
5 4 (5.06%) Microsoft Certification
6 3 (3.80%) Azure Certification
6 3 (3.80%) Cisco Certification
7 2 (2.53%) CCNA
7 2 (2.53%) CCNP
7 2 (2.53%) CISSP
8 1 (1.27%) CCIE
8 1 (1.27%) CESG Certified Professional
8 1 (1.27%) CISM
8 1 (1.27%) Computer Science Degree
8 1 (1.27%) ITIL Certification
8 1 (1.27%) MCSE
8 1 (1.27%) PMI Certification
8 1 (1.27%) PMP
8 1 (1.27%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (6.33%) QA
2 4 (5.06%) GDPR
3 3 (3.80%) SLA
4 2 (2.53%) Cyber Essentials
4 2 (2.53%) GRC
4 2 (2.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 1 (1.27%) Data Quality
5 1 (1.27%) Government Security Classifications
5 1 (1.27%) HIPAA
5 1 (1.27%) NIST
5 1 (1.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 1 (1.27%) SOC 2
System Software
1 15 (18.99%) VMware Infrastructure
2 7 (8.86%) VMware ESXi
3 6 (7.59%) Hyper-V
4 5 (6.33%) Docker
4 5 (6.33%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (5.06%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (3.80%) BitLocker
6 3 (3.80%) Terminal Services
7 2 (2.53%) vSphere
8 1 (1.27%) Firmware
8 1 (1.27%) UAG
8 1 (1.27%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (1.27%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 23 (29.11%) Microsoft Intune
2 12 (15.19%) SCCM
3 7 (8.86%) Ansible
3 7 (8.86%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (7.59%) vCenter Server
5 5 (6.33%) Kubernetes
6 4 (5.06%) Jamf Pro
6 4 (5.06%) Puppet
6 4 (5.06%) SCOM
7 3 (3.80%) Microsoft Clustering
7 3 (3.80%) Nagios
7 3 (3.80%) vMotion
7 3 (3.80%) WSUS
8 2 (2.53%) FortiGate
8 2 (2.53%) Nessus
8 2 (2.53%) NetBackup
9 1 (1.27%) Cisco CUCM
9 1 (1.27%) PowerCLI
9 1 (1.27%) Salt
9 1 (1.27%) SCOrch
Vendors
1 60 (75.95%) Microsoft
2 18 (22.78%) VMware
3 11 (13.92%) Citrix
4 9 (11.39%) Apple
4 9 (11.39%) ServiceNow
5 7 (8.86%) Cisco
6 6 (7.59%) Bloomberg
7 5 (6.33%) HP
7 5 (6.33%) Oracle
7 5 (6.33%) Remedy
8 4 (5.06%) Google
9 3 (3.80%) BMC
9 3 (3.80%) Commvault
9 3 (3.80%) CyberArk
9 3 (3.80%) Symantec
9 3 (3.80%) Zscaler
10 2 (2.53%) Refinitiv
10 2 (2.53%) SAP
10 2 (2.53%) Tenable
10 2 (2.53%) Veritas