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 13 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 64 57 48
Rank change year-on-year -7 -9 -10
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 80 66 93
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 3.72% 3.86% 4.39%
As % of the System Software category 46.24% 42.58% 38.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 57 44 62
10th Percentile £181 £231 £195
25th Percentile £235 £388 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £415 £496 £413
Median % change year-on-year -16.25% +20.12% -13.61%
75th Percentile £638 £617 £558
90th Percentile £661 £685 £688
Central London median daily rate £388 £492 £431
% change year-on-year -21.16% +13.97% -7.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 2 3
10th Percentile £19.73 £22.48 £84.40
25th Percentile £20.44 £23.19 £94.75
Median hourly rate £21.75 £25.25 £112.00
Median % change year-on-year -13.86% -77.46% -
75th Percentile £22.94 £28.19 -
90th Percentile £23.58 £29.43 -
Central London median hourly rate £21.75 £25.25 £112.00
% change year-on-year -13.86% -77.46% -

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 173 155 243
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 8.05% 9.06% 11.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 123 109 160
10th Percentile £221 £281 £320
25th Percentile £384 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £553
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% -0.59% +2.93%
75th Percentile £632 £668 £666
90th Percentile £678 £688 £732
Central London median daily rate £525 £536 £538
% change year-on-year -2.05% -0.28% +2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 2 3
10th Percentile £12.78 £22.48 £84.40
25th Percentile £16.94 £23.19 £94.75
Median hourly rate £21.75 £25.25 £112.00
Median % change year-on-year -13.86% -77.46% +208.97%
75th Percentile £25.75 £28.19 -
90th Percentile £28.90 £29.43 -
Central London median hourly rate £24.00 £25.25 £112.00
% change year-on-year -4.95% -77.46% +208.97%

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 13 October 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 (21.25%) Microsoft Exchange
2 4 (5.00%) IIS
2 4 (5.00%) SharePoint
3 3 (3.75%) Confluence
4 2 (2.50%) Exchange Server 2013
Applications
1 2 (2.50%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (6.25%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (1.25%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 40 (50.00%) Entra ID
2 31 (38.75%) Azure
3 29 (36.25%) Microsoft 365
4 8 (10.00%) AWS
5 6 (7.50%) Power Platform
6 4 (5.00%) OneDrive
7 3 (3.75%) Azure DevOps
7 3 (3.75%) GCP
7 3 (3.75%) IaaS
7 3 (3.75%) OpenShift
7 3 (3.75%) PaaS
8 2 (2.50%) GitHub
9 1 (1.25%) Azure Functions
9 1 (1.25%) Azure Service Bus
9 1 (1.25%) Dynamics 365
9 1 (1.25%) Google Workspace
9 1 (1.25%) Mimecast
9 1 (1.25%) PowerApps
9 1 (1.25%) SaaS
9 1 (1.25%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 32 (40.00%) DNS
2 23 (28.75%) DHCP
3 16 (20.00%) VPN
4 9 (11.25%) Firewall
5 8 (10.00%) TCP/IP
6 6 (7.50%) Wi-Fi
7 4 (5.00%) SMTP
8 3 (3.75%) LAN
9 2 (2.50%) Cisco ISE
9 2 (2.50%) DMZ
9 2 (2.50%) Network Security
9 2 (2.50%) Reverse Proxy
9 2 (2.50%) SSL
9 2 (2.50%) Wireless
10 1 (1.25%) BGP
10 1 (1.25%) Internet
10 1 (1.25%) MPLS
10 1 (1.25%) SD-WAN
10 1 (1.25%) TACACS
10 1 (1.25%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (12.50%) SQL Server
2 6 (7.50%) Power BI
2 6 (7.50%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 3 (3.75%) Amazon RDS
3 3 (3.75%) Big Data
3 3 (3.75%) Elasticsearch
3 3 (3.75%) SQL Server Analysis Services
3 3 (3.75%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 2 (2.50%) Relational Database
5 1 (1.25%) NoSQL
5 1 (1.25%) Oracle BI EE
5 1 (1.25%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 10 (12.50%) JIRA
2 1 (1.25%) Git
2 1 (1.25%) MSI
2 1 (1.25%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 29 (36.25%) Social Skills
2 18 (22.50%) Finance
3 9 (11.25%) Analytical Skills
4 5 (6.25%) Front Office
5 3 (3.75%) Banking
5 3 (3.75%) Public Sector
5 3 (3.75%) Telecoms
6 2 (2.50%) Financial Institution
6 2 (2.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 1 (1.25%) Documentation Skills
7 1 (1.25%) Influencing Skills
7 1 (1.25%) Investment Banking
7 1 (1.25%) Mandarin Language
7 1 (1.25%) Marketing
7 1 (1.25%) Military
7 1 (1.25%) Organisational Skills
7 1 (1.25%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 21 (26.25%) Support Engineer
2 12 (15.00%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 11 (13.75%) IT Support
4 9 (11.25%) Analyst
4 9 (11.25%) IT Engineer
4 9 (11.25%) IT Support Engineer
5 7 (8.75%) Active Directory Engineer
6 6 (7.50%) Infrastructure Support
6 6 (7.50%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
7 5 (6.25%) Architect
7 5 (6.25%) Support Analyst
8 4 (5.00%) IT Analyst
9 3 (3.75%) 3rd Line Engineer
9 3 (3.75%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
9 3 (3.75%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Support
9 3 (3.75%) Active Directory Support
9 3 (3.75%) Active Directory Support Engineer
9 3 (3.75%) Desktop Support
9 3 (3.75%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
9 3 (3.75%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (12.50%) OpenID
1 10 (12.50%) SAML
2 7 (8.75%) OAuth
3 6 (7.50%) REST
4 3 (3.75%) 802.1X
4 3 (3.75%) Terraform
5 2 (2.50%) .NET
5 2 (2.50%) LDAP
5 2 (2.50%) OAuth2
5 2 (2.50%) SailPoint
6 1 (1.25%) ASP.NET
6 1 (1.25%) Bootstrap
6 1 (1.25%) CSS
6 1 (1.25%) HTML
6 1 (1.25%) HTML5 Canvas
6 1 (1.25%) Jakarta EE
6 1 (1.25%) JDBC
6 1 (1.25%) JSON
6 1 (1.25%) RESTful
6 1 (1.25%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 16 (20.00%) Onboarding
2 12 (15.00%) PKI
3 8 (10.00%) Video Conferencing
4 7 (8.75%) Data Centre
5 6 (7.50%) Clustering
6 5 (6.25%) Enterprise Software
7 3 (3.75%) Fat Client
7 3 (3.75%) Hybrid Cloud
7 3 (3.75%) Thin Client
8 2 (2.50%) iPad
8 2 (2.50%) iPhone
8 2 (2.50%) Virtual Team
9 1 (1.25%) BYOD
9 1 (1.25%) CMDB
9 1 (1.25%) Data Fabric
9 1 (1.25%) Legacy Systems
9 1 (1.25%) Life Science
9 1 (1.25%) NHS
9 1 (1.25%) Product Ownership
9 1 (1.25%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 56 (70.00%) Windows
2 22 (27.50%) Windows Server
3 11 (13.75%) macOS
4 10 (12.50%) Windows 10
5 8 (10.00%) Linux
6 4 (5.00%) VMS
6 4 (5.00%) Windows Server 2012
7 3 (3.75%) Windows Server 2008
7 3 (3.75%) Windows Server 2019
8 2 (2.50%) Android
8 2 (2.50%) OpenVMS
8 2 (2.50%) Windows 7
9 1 (1.25%) Apple iOS
9 1 (1.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (1.25%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (1.25%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 27 (33.75%) Problem-Solving
2 16 (20.00%) Migration
3 14 (17.50%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 11 (13.75%) High Availability
4 11 (13.75%) ITIL
5 10 (12.50%) Customer Service
5 10 (12.50%) Stakeholder Management
6 9 (11.25%) Continuous Improvement
6 9 (11.25%) Service Delivery
7 8 (10.00%) Identity Access Management
7 8 (10.00%) Incident Management
8 7 (8.75%) Asset Management
8 7 (8.75%) Identity Management
8 7 (8.75%) Process Improvement
8 7 (8.75%) Project Delivery
9 6 (7.50%) Agile
9 6 (7.50%) AI
9 6 (7.50%) Collaborative Working
9 6 (7.50%) DevOps
9 6 (7.50%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 14 (17.50%) PowerShell
2 10 (12.50%) SQL
3 3 (3.75%) Python
4 2 (2.50%) Java
5 1 (1.25%) BeanShell
5 1 (1.25%) Bicep
5 1 (1.25%) C#
5 1 (1.25%) JavaScript
5 1 (1.25%) Korn
5 1 (1.25%) TypeScript
5 1 (1.25%) VB
Qualifications
1 16 (20.00%) Security Cleared
2 9 (11.25%) SC Cleared
3 7 (8.75%) Degree
4 6 (7.50%) DV Cleared
5 3 (3.75%) Cisco Certification
5 3 (3.75%) CISSP
6 2 (2.50%) CCNA
6 2 (2.50%) CCNP
6 2 (2.50%) ITIL Certification
7 1 (1.25%) CCIE
7 1 (1.25%) CESG Certified Professional
7 1 (1.25%) CISM
7 1 (1.25%) GIAC
7 1 (1.25%) GPEN
7 1 (1.25%) MCSE
7 1 (1.25%) Microsoft Certification
7 1 (1.25%) OSCP
7 1 (1.25%) PMI Certification
7 1 (1.25%) PMP
7 1 (1.25%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (5.00%) GDPR
1 4 (5.00%) QA
2 3 (3.75%) SLA
3 2 (2.50%) Cyber Essentials
3 2 (2.50%) GRC
3 2 (2.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 1 (1.25%) Data Quality
4 1 (1.25%) Government Security Classifications
4 1 (1.25%) HIPAA
4 1 (1.25%) NIST
4 1 (1.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
4 1 (1.25%) SOC 2
System Software
1 17 (21.25%) VMware Infrastructure
2 7 (8.75%) VMware ESXi
3 6 (7.50%) Hyper-V
4 5 (6.25%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (5.00%) Microsoft App-V
6 3 (3.75%) BitLocker
6 3 (3.75%) Docker
6 3 (3.75%) Terminal Services
6 3 (3.75%) vSphere
7 1 (1.25%) Firmware
7 1 (1.25%) UAG
7 1 (1.25%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (1.25%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 22 (27.50%) Microsoft Intune
2 14 (17.50%) SCCM
3 10 (12.50%) Single Sign-On
4 7 (8.75%) Ansible
5 6 (7.50%) vCenter Server
6 4 (5.00%) SCOM
7 3 (3.75%) Jamf Pro
7 3 (3.75%) Kubernetes
7 3 (3.75%) Microsoft Clustering
7 3 (3.75%) Nagios
7 3 (3.75%) Puppet
7 3 (3.75%) vMotion
7 3 (3.75%) WSUS
8 2 (2.50%) FortiGate
8 2 (2.50%) Nessus
8 2 (2.50%) NetBackup
9 1 (1.25%) AirWatch
9 1 (1.25%) Cisco CUCM
9 1 (1.25%) EMC NetWorker
9 1 (1.25%) SCOrch
Vendors
1 61 (76.25%) Microsoft
2 20 (25.00%) VMware
3 13 (16.25%) ServiceNow
4 11 (13.75%) Citrix
5 8 (10.00%) Apple
5 8 (10.00%) Cisco
6 7 (8.75%) Bloomberg
7 5 (6.25%) HP
7 5 (6.25%) Remedy
8 4 (5.00%) CyberArk
8 4 (5.00%) Google
8 4 (5.00%) Oracle
9 3 (3.75%) BeyondTrust
9 3 (3.75%) BMC
9 3 (3.75%) Commvault
9 3 (3.75%) Refinitiv
9 3 (3.75%) Symantec
9 3 (3.75%) Zscaler
10 2 (2.50%) EMC
10 2 (2.50%) Veritas