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

6 months to
16 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 38 46 37
Rank change year-on-year +8 -9 -15
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 205 104 103
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 5.07% 4.64% 4.27%
As % of the System Software category 43.71% 39.54% 41.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 163 58 52
10th Percentile £156 £146 £176
25th Percentile £191 £200 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £325 £304 £438
Median % change year-on-year +7.01% -30.58% +52.17%
75th Percentile £488 £480 £500
90th Percentile £540 £586 £638
England median daily rate £450 £425 £425
% change year-on-year +5.88% - +6.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 11 11
10th Percentile £15.96 - £17.00
25th Percentile £15.99 £15.50 £17.44
Median hourly rate £94.81 £17.75 £22.09
Median % change year-on-year +434.13% -19.65% +19.41%
75th Percentile £178.75 £18.94 £24.18
90th Percentile - £20.00 £28.75
England median hourly rate £52.25 £22.00 £23.10
% change year-on-year +137.50% -4.76% +18.46%

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 469 263 250
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 11.59% 11.74% 10.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 323 162 142
10th Percentile £186 £201 £214
25th Percentile £310 £314 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £428 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -14.50% +14.29%
75th Percentile £525 £504 £581
90th Percentile £630 £639 £656
England median daily rate £500 £500 £511
% change year-on-year - -2.17% +2.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 12 13
10th Percentile £25.10 - £17.09
25th Percentile £62.19 £15.50 £17.44
Median hourly rate £76.00 £18.31 £22.09
Median % change year-on-year +315.07% -17.11% +19.41%
75th Percentile £86.56 £19.25 £28.75
90th Percentile £120.13 £39.75 £73.34
England median hourly rate £62.50 £34.00 £31.00
% change year-on-year +83.82% +9.68% -34.74%

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 16 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 16 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 16 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 +13 84 £465 +6.16% 55
Cheshire -8 47 £325 +6.56% 6
Lancashire -3 30 £300 +26.32% 10
Merseyside +6 27 £200 +45.45% 12
Cumbria - 16 £420 - 4
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 29 (14.15%) SharePoint
2 27 (13.17%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (1.46%) IIS
4 1 (0.49%) Apache
4 1 (0.49%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.49%) Exchange Server 2010
4 1 (0.49%) SharePoint 2010
Applications
1 13 (6.34%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (2.44%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.98%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.49%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 5 (2.44%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 108 (52.68%) Microsoft 365
2 80 (39.02%) Azure
3 77 (37.56%) Entra ID
4 15 (7.32%) GCP
5 13 (6.34%) AWS
6 12 (5.85%) Power Platform
7 7 (3.41%) Google Workspace
7 7 (3.41%) SaaS
8 6 (2.93%) Azure Sentinel
8 6 (2.93%) OneDrive
9 5 (2.44%) AWS KMS
9 5 (2.44%) Azure DevOps
9 5 (2.44%) Azure Monitor
9 5 (2.44%) Google Drive
9 5 (2.44%) Mimecast
10 4 (1.95%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 4 (1.95%) AWS CloudFormation
10 4 (1.95%) AWS CloudTrail
10 4 (1.95%) AWS Lambda
10 4 (1.95%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 33 (16.10%) VPN
2 29 (14.15%) DNS
3 18 (8.78%) DHCP
4 16 (7.80%) TCP/IP
5 13 (6.34%) NetScaler
6 11 (5.37%) Firewall
7 8 (3.90%) SAN
7 8 (3.90%) VLAN
8 7 (3.41%) LAN
8 7 (3.41%) Network Security
9 6 (2.93%) Wi-Fi
10 5 (2.44%) WAN
11 4 (1.95%) NAS
11 4 (1.95%) Wireless
12 2 (0.98%) IPsec
12 2 (0.98%) Kerberos
12 2 (0.98%) PABX
12 2 (0.98%) Remote Desktop
12 2 (0.98%) SSL
12 2 (0.98%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (2.93%) Power BI
2 5 (2.44%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.49%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 7 (3.41%) JIRA
2 3 (1.46%) MSI
3 2 (0.98%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
4 1 (0.49%) Git
4 1 (0.49%) GitLab
General
1 80 (39.02%) Social Skills
2 28 (13.66%) Legal
3 24 (11.71%) Analytical Skills
4 21 (10.24%) Finance
5 11 (5.37%) Documentation Skills
6 8 (3.90%) Manufacturing
6 8 (3.90%) Public Sector
7 5 (2.44%) Games
8 4 (1.95%) Banking
9 3 (1.46%) Military
9 3 (1.46%) Telecoms
10 2 (0.98%) Advertising
10 2 (0.98%) Organisational Skills
10 2 (0.98%) Retail
11 1 (0.49%) Billing
11 1 (0.49%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 48 (23.41%) IT Support
2 46 (22.44%) Support Engineer
3 35 (17.07%) IT Engineer
4 34 (16.59%) IT Support Engineer
5 24 (11.71%) Analyst
6 19 (9.27%) Service Analyst
6 19 (9.27%) Service Desk Analyst
7 13 (6.34%) Cloud Engineer
8 12 (5.85%) Desktop Engineer
8 12 (5.85%) Security Engineer
9 10 (4.88%) Administrator
10 9 (4.39%) Applications Packager
11 8 (3.90%) 2nd Line Engineer
11 8 (3.90%) 2nd Line Support
11 8 (3.90%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 7 (3.41%) Cybersecurity Engineer
12 7 (3.41%) Desktop Support
12 7 (3.41%) Desktop Support Engineer
12 7 (3.41%) IT Analyst
12 7 (3.41%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (6.34%) Terraform
2 9 (4.39%) SailPoint
2 9 (4.39%) SAML
3 5 (2.44%) ARM Templates
4 4 (1.95%) Azure Blueprints
4 4 (1.95%) JSON
5 3 (1.46%) OAuth
5 3 (1.46%) REST
6 2 (0.98%) LDAP
6 2 (0.98%) Microsoft Graph
6 2 (0.98%) ODBC
6 2 (0.98%) XML
7 1 (0.49%) .NET
7 1 (0.49%) 802.1X
7 1 (0.49%) JDBC
7 1 (0.49%) Regular Expression
7 1 (0.49%) Software Packaging
7 1 (0.49%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 26 (12.68%) Onboarding
2 12 (5.85%) Enterprise Software
3 10 (4.88%) PKI
4 8 (3.90%) Security Posture
5 7 (3.41%) CMDB
5 7 (3.41%) Driving Licence
5 7 (3.41%) Management Information System
6 5 (2.44%) Animation
6 5 (2.44%) Video Conferencing
7 4 (1.95%) Cloud Native
7 4 (1.95%) Data Centre
8 3 (1.46%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (1.46%) Replication
9 2 (0.98%) Cloud Security Posture
9 2 (0.98%) Cyber Security Posture
9 2 (0.98%) Enterprise Storage
9 2 (0.98%) Handset
9 2 (0.98%) Hybrid Cloud
9 2 (0.98%) Legacy Applications
10 1 (0.49%) Enterprise Cloud
Operating Systems
1 143 (69.76%) Windows
2 65 (31.71%) Windows 10
3 44 (21.46%) Windows Server
4 14 (6.83%) Android
5 13 (6.34%) Apple iOS
6 12 (5.85%) Linux
7 8 (3.90%) macOS
7 8 (3.90%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 7 (3.41%) Windows Server 2003
9 6 (2.93%) Windows 7
10 5 (2.44%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (1.95%) Windows Server 2012
11 4 (1.95%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.49%) CentOS
12 1 (0.49%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.49%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 72 (35.12%) ITIL
2 68 (33.17%) Customer Service
3 55 (26.83%) Problem-Solving
4 34 (16.59%) User Experience
5 26 (12.68%) Continuous Improvement
5 26 (12.68%) RBAC
6 24 (11.71%) Identity Access Management
7 23 (11.22%) Service Management
8 22 (10.73%) Root Cause Analysis
9 21 (10.24%) ITSM
10 19 (9.27%) Application Packaging
11 18 (8.78%) Knowledge Transfer
12 17 (8.29%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 17 (8.29%) Migration
12 17 (8.29%) Privileged Access Management
13 16 (7.80%) Infrastructure as Code
13 16 (7.80%) Stakeholder Management
14 13 (6.34%) Cybersecurity
14 13 (6.34%) Service Delivery
14 13 (6.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 36 (17.56%) PowerShell
2 11 (5.37%) Python
3 9 (4.39%) Bicep
4 6 (2.93%) Bash
5 5 (2.44%) Java
6 4 (1.95%) SQL
7 2 (0.98%) T-SQL
8 1 (0.49%) BeanShell
8 1 (0.49%) C#
8 1 (0.49%) Google Apps Script
8 1 (0.49%) Lisp
8 1 (0.49%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 50 (24.39%) Security Cleared
2 40 (19.51%) SC Cleared
3 15 (7.32%) Microsoft Certification
4 14 (6.83%) Degree
5 11 (5.37%) BPSS Clearance
6 7 (3.41%) Azure Certification
7 5 (2.44%) CISSP
7 5 (2.44%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 4 (1.95%) AWS Certification
9 3 (1.46%) A+ Certification
9 3 (1.46%) Cisco Certification
9 3 (1.46%) Computer Science Degree
9 3 (1.46%) DBS Check
9 3 (1.46%) ITIL Certification
9 3 (1.46%) Network+ Certification
10 1 (0.49%) CCIE
10 1 (0.49%) CISM
10 1 (0.49%) GIAC
10 1 (0.49%) PMI Certification
10 1 (0.49%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (10.24%) SLA
2 7 (3.41%) NIST
3 6 (2.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (1.46%) Cyber Essentials
4 3 (1.46%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 2 (0.98%) GDPR
5 2 (0.98%) PCI DSS
5 2 (0.98%) QA
System Software
1 24 (11.71%) VMware Infrastructure
2 18 (8.78%) Hyper-V
3 13 (6.34%) Citrix Hypervisor
4 11 (5.37%) Virtual Desktop
5 7 (3.41%) XenApp
5 7 (3.41%) XenDesktop
6 6 (2.93%) Docker
7 3 (1.46%) Microsoft App-V
7 3 (1.46%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.49%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 43 (20.98%) SCCM
2 38 (18.54%) Microsoft Intune
3 17 (8.29%) Single Sign-On
4 8 (3.90%) SysTrack
5 6 (2.93%) Kubernetes
6 5 (2.44%) Ansible
6 5 (2.44%) WSUS
7 4 (1.95%) Progress Chef
8 3 (1.46%) McAfee ePO
9 2 (0.98%) vCenter Server
9 2 (0.98%) WMI
10 1 (0.49%) AirWatch
10 1 (0.49%) Failover Clustering
10 1 (0.49%) Grafana
10 1 (0.49%) Microsoft Clustering
10 1 (0.49%) NetApp OnCommand
10 1 (0.49%) PaperCut
10 1 (0.49%) Prometheus
10 1 (0.49%) QRadar
10 1 (0.49%) vMotion
Vendors
1 152 (74.15%) Microsoft
2 50 (24.39%) ServiceNow
3 27 (13.17%) VMware
4 22 (10.73%) BeyondTrust
5 21 (10.24%) Citrix
6 16 (7.80%) iManage
7 13 (6.34%) Google
8 11 (5.37%) Okta
9 8 (3.90%) Ivanti
9 8 (3.90%) Nexthink
10 7 (3.41%) Apple
10 7 (3.41%) Tanium
11 6 (2.93%) Perforce
11 6 (2.93%) Red Hat
12 5 (2.44%) Bomgar
12 5 (2.44%) Remedy
12 5 (2.44%) Sophos
13 3 (1.46%) Cisco
13 3 (1.46%) McAfee
13 3 (1.46%) Splunk