Active Directory Contract Job Trends in Northern Ireland

Microsoft Active Directory
UK > Northern Ireland

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Northern Ireland requiring Active Directory skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 9 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 27 23 18
Rank change year-on-year -4 -5 -8
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 4 7 7
As % of all contract jobs in Northern Ireland 2.03% 4.79% 4.61%
As % of the System Software category 36.36% 53.85% 63.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 3 5
10th Percentile - £147 £290
25th Percentile £163 £150 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £175 £160 £500
Median % change year-on-year +9.38% -68.00% +212.50%
75th Percentile £188 £165 -
90th Percentile - - £523
UK median daily rate £450 £450 £406
% change year-on-year - +10.77% -4.41%

All System Software Skills
Northern Ireland

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 Northern Ireland.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 11 13 11
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Northern Ireland 5.58% 8.90% 7.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 3 5 5
10th Percentile £216 £149 £290
25th Percentile £297 £155 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £160 £500
Median % change year-on-year +189.06% -68.00% +8.11%
75th Percentile £494 £410 -
90th Percentile - £509 £523
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £485
% change year-on-year -4.76% +8.25% -7.62%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 0 2
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - - £30.63
Median hourly rate - - £31.25
75th Percentile - - £31.88
90th Percentile - - -
UK median hourly rate £51.00 £29.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year +75.86% +28.89% -55.00%

Active Directory
Job Vacancy Trend in Northern Ireland

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

Active Directory job vacancy trend in Northern Ireland

Active Directory
Daily Rate Trend in Northern Ireland

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Northern Ireland citing Active Directory.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Northern Ireland citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Hourly Rate Trend in Northern Ireland

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Northern Ireland citing Active Directory.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Northern Ireland citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Contract Job Locations in Northern Ireland

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 Northern Ireland region over the 6 months to 9 April 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
County Antrim -2 2 £175 +9.38% 1
Active Directory
UK

Active Directory
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Northern Ireland 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:

Applications
1 3 (75.00%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 3 (75.00%) Microsoft 365
2 2 (50.00%) WhatsApp
3 1 (25.00%) Azure
Communications & Networking
1 2 (50.00%) LAN
2 1 (25.00%) Cisco IOS
2 1 (25.00%) Remote Desktop
General
1 2 (50.00%) Social Skills
2 1 (25.00%) Analytical Skills
2 1 (25.00%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 2 (50.00%) Analyst
1 2 (50.00%) ICT Analyst
1 2 (50.00%) Service Analyst
2 1 (25.00%) Architect
2 1 (25.00%) Desktop Engineer
2 1 (25.00%) Desktop Support
2 1 (25.00%) Desktop Support Engineer
2 1 (25.00%) Infrastructure Architect
2 1 (25.00%) IT Architect
2 1 (25.00%) IT Infrastructure Architect
2 1 (25.00%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (25.00%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 2 (50.00%) Self-Motivation
2 1 (25.00%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 4 (100.00%) Windows
2 1 (25.00%) Android
2 1 (25.00%) Windows 10
2 1 (25.00%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 1 (25.00%) Break/Fix
1 1 (25.00%) Computer Science
1 1 (25.00%) Customer Service
1 1 (25.00%) Data Protection
1 1 (25.00%) Fault Analysis
1 1 (25.00%) Mobile Device Management
1 1 (25.00%) Preventative Maintenance
1 1 (25.00%) Problem-Solving
1 1 (25.00%) Stakeholder Management
Qualifications
1 1 (25.00%) A+ Certification
1 1 (25.00%) Degree
1 1 (25.00%) Microsoft Certification
1 1 (25.00%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (25.00%) SLA
System Software
1 1 (25.00%) VMware Infrastructure
Vendors
1 4 (100.00%) Microsoft
2 2 (50.00%) CrowdStrike
3 1 (25.00%) Apple
3 1 (25.00%) Cisco
3 1 (25.00%) VMware