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 vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 September 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 44 39 22
Rank change year-on-year -5 -17 -4
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 101 90 210
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West 4.72% 3.80% 7.40%
As % of the System Software category 38.55% 43.06% 49.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 54 58 146
10th Percentile £177 £185 £171
25th Percentile £201 £213 £200
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £347 £401 £270
Median % change year-on-year -13.58% +48.61% -3.57%
75th Percentile £481 £500 £434
90th Percentile £601 £643 £544
England median daily rate £425 £450 £400
% change year-on-year -5.56% +12.50% +9.59%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 7 23
10th Percentile - £15.90 £16.05
25th Percentile £15.50 £17.22 £16.25
Median hourly rate £17.75 £17.44 £18.50
Median % change year-on-year +1.78% -5.73% +5.71%
75th Percentile £18.87 £23.97 £20.00
90th Percentile - £30.25 £37.93
England median hourly rate £23.00 £19.59 £19.50
% change year-on-year +17.41% +0.46% +11.43%

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 262 209 425
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 12.23% 8.82% 14.98%
Number of daily rates quoted 161 133 296
10th Percentile £206 £213 £195
25th Percentile £350 £350 £270
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £447 £500 £445
Median % change year-on-year -10.60% +12.36% -1.11%
75th Percentile £514 £576 £550
90th Percentile £625 £670 £638
England median daily rate £500 £513 £513
% change year-on-year -2.44% - -2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 9 35
10th Percentile £15.50 £16.45 £15.73
25th Percentile £16.44 £17.44 £16.25
Median hourly rate £18.87 £19.18 £18.50
Median % change year-on-year -1.62% +3.68% +5.71%
75th Percentile £43.06 £32.50 £35.43
90th Percentile £75.85 £84.00 £47.45
England median hourly rate £37.50 £24.20 £47.86
% change year-on-year +54.96% -49.44% +117.56%

Active Directory
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Job postings citing Active Directory as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Job vacancy trend for Active Directory 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 15 September 2025.

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
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 15 September 2025. 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
Cheshire +11 61 £325 -27.78% 9
Manchester -8 20 £471 +4.67% 32
Lancashire +7 13 £175 -57.58% 34
Merseyside -12 4 £188 -16.67% 14
Cumbria - 1 £425 - 4
Active Directory
England

Active Directory
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North West by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 26 (25.74%) Microsoft Exchange
2 16 (15.84%) Skype for Business
3 14 (13.86%) JBoss
4 12 (11.88%) IIS
5 11 (10.89%) SharePoint
6 10 (9.90%) WebSphere
7 9 (8.91%) Apache
7 9 (8.91%) iPlanet
7 9 (8.91%) WebSphere Application Server
8 8 (7.92%) Mattermost
9 7 (6.93%) Exchange Server 2013
10 5 (4.95%) Exchange Server 2010
11 1 (0.99%) Confluence
Applications
1 12 (11.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 12 (11.88%) MS Visio
2 11 (10.89%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (6.93%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.99%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 39 (38.61%) Microsoft 365
2 30 (29.70%) Azure
3 22 (21.78%) AWS
4 14 (13.86%) Entra ID
5 13 (12.87%) OneDrive
6 12 (11.88%) OpenShift
7 5 (4.95%) SaaS
8 3 (2.97%) IaaS
9 2 (1.98%) Azure Logic Apps
9 2 (1.98%) Azure Monitor
9 2 (1.98%) Azure Sentinel
9 2 (1.98%) GCP
9 2 (1.98%) Power Platform
10 1 (0.99%) Azure Stack
10 1 (0.99%) Google Workspace
10 1 (0.99%) PaaS
10 1 (0.99%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 16 (15.84%) Skype
2 14 (13.86%) DNS
3 11 (10.89%) Firewall
3 11 (10.89%) Unified Communications
4 10 (9.90%) LAN
4 10 (9.90%) VPN
4 10 (9.90%) WebEx
5 9 (8.91%) Kerberos
6 8 (7.92%) Softphone
6 8 (7.92%) TCP/IP
7 6 (5.94%) Network Security
7 6 (5.94%) SAN
8 5 (4.95%) DHCP
9 4 (3.96%) Internet
9 4 (3.96%) SSL
9 4 (3.96%) Wi-Fi
10 3 (2.97%) Remote Desktop
10 3 (2.97%) VLAN
10 3 (2.97%) WLAN
11 2 (1.98%) Intrusion Detection
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (8.91%) Oracle Database
2 5 (4.95%) RDBMS
2 5 (4.95%) Relational Database
3 4 (3.96%) Elasticsearch
4 3 (2.97%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 14 (13.86%) Git
1 14 (13.86%) Jenkins
2 13 (12.87%) Bitbucket Server
2 13 (12.87%) CA Release Automation
3 12 (11.88%) Sonatype Nexus
4 5 (4.95%) JIRA
4 5 (4.95%) SonarQube
4 5 (4.95%) TeamCity
5 1 (0.99%) Bitbucket
General
1 48 (47.52%) Social Skills
2 17 (16.83%) Finance
3 12 (11.88%) Analytical Skills
4 11 (10.89%) Manufacturing
5 9 (8.91%) Public Sector
6 7 (6.93%) Documentation Skills
6 7 (6.93%) Organisational Skills
7 5 (4.95%) Presentation Skills
8 4 (3.96%) Legal
9 3 (2.97%) Japanese Language
9 3 (2.97%) Telecoms
10 2 (1.98%) Banking
10 2 (1.98%) Military
11 1 (0.99%) Automotive
11 1 (0.99%) Electronics
11 1 (0.99%) Italian Language
11 1 (0.99%) Pharmaceutical
11 1 (0.99%) Polish Language
11 1 (0.99%) Retail
11 1 (0.99%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 23 (22.77%) Support Engineer
2 22 (21.78%) Analyst
3 17 (16.83%) Support Analyst
4 14 (13.86%) 2nd Line Support
4 14 (13.86%) Operational Support Analyst
4 14 (13.86%) Operations Analyst
4 14 (13.86%) Operations Support Analyst
5 12 (11.88%) Desktop Engineer
6 10 (9.90%) Desktop Support
6 10 (9.90%) Desktop Support Engineer
7 9 (8.91%) Support Technician
8 8 (7.92%) 2nd Line Engineer
8 8 (7.92%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
8 8 (7.92%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 8 (7.92%) Messaging Engineer
8 8 (7.92%) Messaging Support
8 8 (7.92%) Messaging Support Engineer
8 8 (7.92%) Operations Engineer
8 8 (7.92%) Operations Support Engineer
8 8 (7.92%) Senior
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (12.87%) LDAP
2 10 (9.90%) OAuth
2 10 (9.90%) SAML
3 9 (8.91%) OpenID
3 9 (8.91%) XMPP
4 5 (4.95%) Elastic Stack
4 5 (4.95%) Spring Boot
5 2 (1.98%) JSON
5 2 (1.98%) Middleware
6 1 (0.99%) 802.1X
6 1 (0.99%) SailPoint
6 1 (0.99%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 13 (12.87%) Management Information System
2 12 (11.88%) Onboarding
3 6 (5.94%) Data Centre
4 5 (4.95%) Enterprise Software
5 3 (2.97%) Cloud Security Posture
5 3 (2.97%) Clustering
5 3 (2.97%) Replication
5 3 (2.97%) Security Posture
5 3 (2.97%) Video Conferencing
6 2 (1.98%) CMDB
6 2 (1.98%) Low-Code
7 1 (0.99%) Data Protection Act
7 1 (0.99%) Enterprise Storage
7 1 (0.99%) Hybrid Cloud
7 1 (0.99%) IBM XIV
7 1 (0.99%) Legacy Applications
7 1 (0.99%) PMI
7 1 (0.99%) Private Cloud
7 1 (0.99%) Product Ownership
7 1 (0.99%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 68 (67.33%) Windows
2 31 (30.69%) Windows Server
3 30 (29.70%) Linux
4 15 (14.85%) Windows 10
5 11 (10.89%) Unix
6 8 (7.92%) Windows Server 2003
7 7 (6.93%) Apple iOS
7 7 (6.93%) Windows Server 2012
7 7 (6.93%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (5.94%) Windows 8
8 6 (5.94%) Windows Server 2019
9 5 (4.95%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 5 (4.95%) Windows Server 2008
9 5 (4.95%) Windows XP
10 4 (3.96%) Android
11 3 (2.97%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.99%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 33 (32.67%) ITIL
2 26 (25.74%) Problem-Solving
3 21 (20.79%) Problem Management
4 20 (19.80%) Migration
5 14 (13.86%) DevOps
6 13 (12.87%) CI/CD
7 12 (11.88%) Asset Management
7 12 (11.88%) Validation
8 11 (10.89%) Customer Service
8 11 (10.89%) Project Delivery
9 10 (9.90%) Cybersecurity
9 10 (9.90%) Stakeholder Management
10 9 (8.91%) Analytics
10 9 (8.91%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 8 (7.92%) B2B
11 8 (7.92%) Deployment Automation
11 8 (7.92%) Identity Access Management
11 8 (7.92%) Proactive Maintenance
11 8 (7.92%) Procure-to-Pay
11 8 (7.92%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 19 (18.81%) PowerShell
2 9 (8.91%) Groovy
2 9 (8.91%) SQL
3 7 (6.93%) Shell Script
4 5 (4.95%) Perl
4 5 (4.95%) Python
5 4 (3.96%) Java
6 2 (1.98%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 16 (15.84%) Microsoft Certification
2 15 (14.85%) Degree
3 10 (9.90%) Security Cleared
4 8 (7.92%) ITIL Certification
5 7 (6.93%) SC Cleared
6 5 (4.95%) AWS Certification
6 5 (4.95%) Azure Certification
6 5 (4.95%) BPSS Clearance
6 5 (4.95%) DBS Check
7 3 (2.97%) CISSP
7 3 (2.97%) CompTIA Security+
7 3 (2.97%) MCSA
7 3 (2.97%) MCSE
8 2 (1.98%) A+ Certification
9 1 (0.99%) CBAP
9 1 (0.99%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (2.97%) SLA
2 2 (1.98%) NIST
3 1 (0.99%) GDPR
3 1 (0.99%) HIPAA
3 1 (0.99%) NCSC
3 1 (0.99%) PCI DSS
3 1 (0.99%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 12 (11.88%) Docker
2 7 (6.93%) Tivoli Directory Server
2 7 (6.93%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (2.97%) Hyper-V
3 3 (2.97%) vSphere
4 2 (1.98%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (1.98%) Virtual Servers
4 2 (1.98%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.99%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 26 (25.74%) SCCM
2 23 (22.77%) Microsoft Intune
3 12 (11.88%) Progress Chef
4 9 (8.91%) CA Single Sign-On
4 9 (8.91%) CA Wily
5 8 (7.92%) SCOM
6 7 (6.93%) Tivoli
7 6 (5.94%) Kubernetes
8 5 (4.95%) Kibana
8 5 (4.95%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (4.95%) vCenter Server
9 4 (3.96%) Jamf Pro
10 3 (2.97%) Backup Exec
10 3 (2.97%) CASB
10 3 (2.97%) Nessus
10 3 (2.97%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 2 (1.98%) Microsoft Clustering
11 2 (1.98%) NetApp OnCommand
11 2 (1.98%) vMotion
11 2 (1.98%) WSUS
Vendors
1 79 (78.22%) Microsoft
2 25 (24.75%) Splunk
3 16 (15.84%) Cisco
4 14 (13.86%) AppDynamics
5 13 (12.87%) Red Hat
6 12 (11.88%) VMware
7 11 (10.89%) IBM
7 11 (10.89%) Oracle
8 10 (9.90%) ServiceNow
9 9 (8.91%) Broadcom
10 6 (5.94%) Remedy
11 5 (4.95%) Canon
11 5 (4.95%) Citrix
11 5 (4.95%) Cloudera
11 5 (4.95%) Veeam
12 4 (3.96%) Apple
12 4 (3.96%) CyberArk
12 4 (3.96%) Zscaler
13 3 (2.97%) Symantec
13 3 (2.97%) Tenable