Active Directory Contract Job Trends in the North West

Microsoft Active Directory
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the North West requiring Active Directory skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 41 46 39
Rank change year-on-year +5 -7 -16
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 201 102 102
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 5.05% 4.64% 4.21%
As % of the System Software category 43.79% 39.84% 41.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 158 56 53
10th Percentile £156 £149 £177
25th Percentile £193 £200 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £325 £315 £425
Median % change year-on-year +3.17% -25.88% +54.55%
75th Percentile £488 £480 £500
90th Percentile £538 £594 £638
England median daily rate £450 £425 £425
% change year-on-year +5.88% - +6.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 11 9
10th Percentile £61.03 - £16.45
25th Percentile £128.67 £15.50 £17.44
Median hourly rate £172.50 £17.75 £19.18
Median % change year-on-year +871.83% -7.46% +3.68%
75th Percentile £178.75 £18.94 £24.18
90th Percentile - £20.00 £29.50
England median hourly rate £52.50 £22.00 £22.09
% change year-on-year +138.64% -0.41% +13.28%

All System Software Skills
North West

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 North West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 459 256 245
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 11.54% 11.64% 10.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 313 160 139
10th Percentile £190 £205 £213
25th Percentile £310 £316 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £448 £435 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.99% -13.00% +14.29%
75th Percentile £525 £510 £583
90th Percentile £630 £640 £658
England median daily rate £500 £500 £513
% change year-on-year - -2.44% +2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 12 11
10th Percentile £38.06 - £17.00
25th Percentile £69.50 £15.50 £17.44
Median hourly rate £77.00 £18.31 £22.09
Median % change year-on-year +320.54% -17.11% +19.41%
75th Percentile £91.25 £19.25 £30.63
90th Percentile £178.75 £39.75 £83.55
England median hourly rate £63.14 £34.50 £36.17
% change year-on-year +83.00% -4.60% -22.79%

Active Directory
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

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

Active Directory job vacancy trend in the North West

Active Directory
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Active Directory.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Active Directory in the North West over the 6 months to 10 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Active Directory in the North West

Active Directory
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Active Directory.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Active Directory in the North West over the 6 months to 10 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Active Directory in the North West

Active Directory
Contract Job Locations in the North West

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 North West region over the 6 months to 10 October 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
Manchester +10 84 £450 +2.74% 54
Cheshire -8 46 £325 - 5
Lancashire -2 29 £300 +71.43% 11
Merseyside +10 26 £200 +44.14% 11
Cumbria - 15 £420 - 5
Active Directory
England

Active Directory
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 30 (14.93%) SharePoint
2 27 (13.43%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (1.00%) IIS
4 1 (0.50%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.50%) Exchange Server 2010
4 1 (0.50%) SharePoint 2010
Applications
1 13 (6.47%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (2.49%) MS Visio
3 2 (1.00%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.50%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 5 (2.49%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 109 (54.23%) Microsoft 365
2 79 (39.30%) Azure
3 74 (36.82%) Entra ID
4 16 (7.96%) GCP
5 12 (5.97%) AWS
5 12 (5.97%) Power Platform
6 9 (4.48%) Google Workspace
6 9 (4.48%) SaaS
7 7 (3.48%) Google Drive
8 6 (2.99%) Azure Sentinel
8 6 (2.99%) OneDrive
9 5 (2.49%) AWS KMS
9 5 (2.49%) Azure DevOps
9 5 (2.49%) Azure Monitor
9 5 (2.49%) Mimecast
10 4 (1.99%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 4 (1.99%) AWS CloudFormation
10 4 (1.99%) AWS CloudTrail
10 4 (1.99%) AWS Lambda
10 4 (1.99%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 31 (15.42%) VPN
2 28 (13.93%) DNS
3 16 (7.96%) DHCP
4 15 (7.46%) TCP/IP
5 13 (6.47%) NetScaler
6 8 (3.98%) Firewall
6 8 (3.98%) SAN
7 7 (3.48%) VLAN
8 6 (2.99%) Network Security
9 5 (2.49%) LAN
9 5 (2.49%) Wi-Fi
10 4 (1.99%) NAS
11 3 (1.49%) DKIM
11 3 (1.49%) DMARC
11 3 (1.49%) WAN
11 3 (1.49%) Wireless
12 2 (1.00%) PABX
12 2 (1.00%) VoIP
13 1 (0.50%) Kerberos
13 1 (0.50%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (2.99%) Power BI
2 5 (2.49%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.50%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 9 (4.48%) JIRA
2 3 (1.49%) MSI
3 2 (1.00%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
4 1 (0.50%) Git
4 1 (0.50%) GitLab
General
1 78 (38.81%) Social Skills
2 25 (12.44%) Analytical Skills
2 25 (12.44%) Legal
3 21 (10.45%) Finance
4 11 (5.47%) Documentation Skills
5 10 (4.98%) Public Sector
6 8 (3.98%) Manufacturing
7 5 (2.49%) Games
8 4 (1.99%) Banking
8 4 (1.99%) Telecoms
9 3 (1.49%) Military
10 2 (1.00%) Advertising
10 2 (1.00%) Organisational Skills
10 2 (1.00%) Retail
11 1 (0.50%) Billing
11 1 (0.50%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 48 (23.88%) IT Support
2 46 (22.89%) Support Engineer
3 34 (16.92%) IT Engineer
3 34 (16.92%) IT Support Engineer
4 24 (11.94%) Analyst
5 18 (8.96%) Service Analyst
5 18 (8.96%) Service Desk Analyst
6 12 (5.97%) Administrator
6 12 (5.97%) Cloud Engineer
6 12 (5.97%) Desktop Engineer
7 10 (4.98%) Security Engineer
8 9 (4.48%) Applications Packager
9 8 (3.98%) 2nd Line Engineer
9 8 (3.98%) 2nd Line Support
9 8 (3.98%) IT Analyst
10 7 (3.48%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
10 7 (3.48%) Desktop Support
10 7 (3.48%) Desktop Support Engineer
10 7 (3.48%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 7 (3.48%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (6.47%) Terraform
2 9 (4.48%) SailPoint
2 9 (4.48%) SAML
3 5 (2.49%) ARM Templates
3 5 (2.49%) OAuth
4 4 (1.99%) Azure Blueprints
4 4 (1.99%) JSON
5 3 (1.49%) REST
6 2 (1.00%) Microsoft Graph
6 2 (1.00%) ODBC
6 2 (1.00%) XML
7 1 (0.50%) .NET
7 1 (0.50%) 802.1X
7 1 (0.50%) JDBC
7 1 (0.50%) LDAP
7 1 (0.50%) Software Packaging
7 1 (0.50%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 26 (12.94%) Onboarding
2 12 (5.97%) Enterprise Software
3 9 (4.48%) Management Information System
4 8 (3.98%) PKI
4 8 (3.98%) Security Posture
5 7 (3.48%) CMDB
5 7 (3.48%) Driving Licence
6 5 (2.49%) Animation
6 5 (2.49%) Video Conferencing
7 4 (1.99%) Cloud Native
7 4 (1.99%) Data Centre
8 3 (1.49%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (1.49%) Freedom of Information
9 2 (1.00%) Cloud Security Posture
9 2 (1.00%) Cyber Security Posture
9 2 (1.00%) Enterprise Storage
9 2 (1.00%) Handset
9 2 (1.00%) Hybrid Cloud
9 2 (1.00%) Legacy Applications
9 2 (1.00%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 139 (69.15%) Windows
2 65 (32.34%) Windows 10
3 43 (21.39%) Windows Server
4 13 (6.47%) Android
5 12 (5.97%) Apple iOS
6 11 (5.47%) Linux
7 8 (3.98%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 7 (3.48%) Mac OS
8 7 (3.48%) Windows Server 2003
9 6 (2.99%) Windows 7
10 4 (1.99%) Windows Server 2012
10 4 (1.99%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (1.49%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.50%) CentOS
12 1 (0.50%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.50%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 72 (35.82%) ITIL
2 66 (32.84%) Customer Service
3 56 (27.86%) Problem-Solving
4 33 (16.42%) User Experience
5 27 (13.43%) Continuous Improvement
6 25 (12.44%) RBAC
7 22 (10.95%) Root Cause Analysis
7 22 (10.95%) Service Management
8 21 (10.45%) Identity Access Management
9 19 (9.45%) Application Packaging
9 19 (9.45%) Migration
10 18 (8.96%) ITSM
11 17 (8.46%) Knowledge Transfer
12 16 (7.96%) Infrastructure as Code
12 16 (7.96%) Privileged Access Management
13 15 (7.46%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 15 (7.46%) Stakeholder Management
14 14 (6.97%) Cybersecurity
15 12 (5.97%) Service Delivery
15 12 (5.97%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 34 (16.92%) PowerShell
2 10 (4.98%) Python
3 9 (4.48%) Bicep
4 6 (2.99%) Bash
5 5 (2.49%) Java
6 3 (1.49%) SQL
7 2 (1.00%) T-SQL
8 1 (0.50%) BeanShell
8 1 (0.50%) C#
8 1 (0.50%) Google Apps Script
8 1 (0.50%) Lisp
8 1 (0.50%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 51 (25.37%) Security Cleared
2 39 (19.40%) SC Cleared
3 16 (7.96%) Microsoft Certification
4 15 (7.46%) Degree
5 11 (5.47%) BPSS Clearance
6 7 (3.48%) Azure Certification
7 5 (2.49%) CISSP
7 5 (2.49%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 4 (1.99%) A+ Certification
8 4 (1.99%) AWS Certification
8 4 (1.99%) Computer Science Degree
8 4 (1.99%) Network+ Certification
9 3 (1.49%) Cisco Certification
9 3 (1.49%) DBS Check
9 3 (1.49%) ITIL Certification
10 1 (0.50%) CCIE
10 1 (0.50%) CCNA
10 1 (0.50%) CCNP
10 1 (0.50%) PMI Certification
10 1 (0.50%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (9.95%) SLA
2 6 (2.99%) NIST
3 5 (2.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (1.49%) Cyber Essentials
4 3 (1.49%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 2 (1.00%) GDPR
5 2 (1.00%) QA
6 1 (0.50%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 24 (11.94%) VMware Infrastructure
2 18 (8.96%) Hyper-V
3 13 (6.47%) Citrix Hypervisor
4 11 (5.47%) Virtual Desktop
5 7 (3.48%) XenApp
5 7 (3.48%) XenDesktop
6 6 (2.99%) Docker
7 3 (1.49%) Microsoft App-V
7 3 (1.49%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.50%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 42 (20.90%) SCCM
2 38 (18.91%) Microsoft Intune
3 18 (8.96%) Single Sign-On
4 8 (3.98%) SysTrack
5 6 (2.99%) Kubernetes
6 5 (2.49%) Ansible
6 5 (2.49%) WSUS
7 4 (1.99%) Progress Chef
8 3 (1.49%) McAfee ePO
9 2 (1.00%) vCenter Server
9 2 (1.00%) WMI
10 1 (0.50%) AirWatch
10 1 (0.50%) Failover Clustering
10 1 (0.50%) Grafana
10 1 (0.50%) Microsoft Clustering
10 1 (0.50%) NetApp OnCommand
10 1 (0.50%) PaperCut
10 1 (0.50%) Prometheus
10 1 (0.50%) QRadar
10 1 (0.50%) vMotion
Vendors
1 147 (73.13%) Microsoft
2 47 (23.38%) ServiceNow
3 27 (13.43%) VMware
4 21 (10.45%) Citrix
5 20 (9.95%) BeyondTrust
6 16 (7.96%) iManage
7 15 (7.46%) Google
8 9 (4.48%) Okta
9 8 (3.98%) Ivanti
9 8 (3.98%) Nexthink
10 7 (3.48%) Apple
10 7 (3.48%) Tanium
11 6 (2.99%) Perforce
11 6 (2.99%) Red Hat
12 5 (2.49%) Bomgar
12 5 (2.49%) Remedy
12 5 (2.49%) Sophos
13 3 (1.49%) McAfee
14 2 (1.00%) Cisco
14 2 (1.00%) Juniper