Active Directory Contract Job Trends in the South East

Microsoft Active Directory
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East 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 29 23 22
Rank change year-on-year -6 -1 +1
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 389 267 344
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.91% 7.37% 8.03%
As % of the System Software category 50.06% 52.46% 53.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 244 199 250
10th Percentile £225 £162 £200
25th Percentile £272 £200 £309
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £425 £478
Median % change year-on-year +17.65% -10.99% +46.92%
75th Percentile £582 £553 £625
90th Percentile £625 £603 £671
England median daily rate £450 £425 £425
% change year-on-year +5.88% - +6.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 33 3 6
10th Percentile £16.00 £21.35 £22.33
25th Percentile £18.44 £25.64 £23.36
Median hourly rate £52.50 £32.77 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +60.21% +19.16% +1.85%
75th Percentile £77.50 £96.39 £46.94
90th Percentile £95.30 £134.55 £61.34
England median hourly rate £52.25 £22.00 £23.10
% change year-on-year +137.50% -4.76% +18.46%

All System Software Skills
South East

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 South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 777 509 647
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 11.80% 14.06% 15.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 506 358 433
10th Percentile £263 £190 £221
25th Percentile £416 £256 £360
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £483 £500
Median % change year-on-year +8.81% -3.50% -
75th Percentile £605 £575 £613
90th Percentile £688 £638 £672
England median daily rate £500 £500 £511
% change year-on-year - -2.17% +2.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 62 12 24
10th Percentile £16.15 £35.17 £26.25
25th Percentile £33.70 £67.44 £52.44
Median hourly rate £60.00 £81.00 £58.49
Median % change year-on-year -25.93% +38.49% +2.70%
75th Percentile £69.74 £81.50 £70.00
90th Percentile £91.75 £88.97 -
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 South East

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

Active Directory job vacancy trend in the South East

Active Directory
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Active Directory.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Active Directory in the South East over the 6 months to 16 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Active Directory in the South East

Active Directory
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Active Directory.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Active Directory in the South East over the 6 months to 16 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Active Directory in the South East

Active Directory
Contract Job Locations in the South East

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 South East 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
Thames Valley +5 201 £500 +81.82% 22
Hampshire -3 139 £538 +7.50% 33
Berkshire -3 87 £500 +37.93% 6
Oxfordshire +9 70 £400 +52.38% 8
Buckinghamshire -13 44 £595 +117.37% 8
West Sussex -13 19 £200 - 5
Surrey -34 13 £413 +77.42% 14
Kent -9 12 £275 +4.76% 6
East Sussex -5 4 £115 -36.11%
Home Counties - 2 £600 -
Active Directory
England

Active Directory
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 28 (7.20%) Microsoft Exchange
2 26 (6.68%) SharePoint
3 13 (3.34%) Confluence
4 8 (2.06%) Apache
4 8 (2.06%) nginx
5 4 (1.03%) IIS
6 3 (0.77%) Tomcat
Applications
1 18 (4.63%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.26%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.26%) Microsoft Project
2 1 (0.26%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 11 (2.83%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.51%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.51%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 188 (48.33%) Azure
2 142 (36.50%) Entra ID
3 101 (25.96%) Microsoft 365
4 41 (10.54%) AWS
5 25 (6.43%) Azure Monitor
6 19 (4.88%) GCP
7 17 (4.37%) Azure Sentinel
8 14 (3.60%) IaaS
9 10 (2.57%) Azure Key Vault
9 10 (2.57%) PaaS
9 10 (2.57%) SaaS
10 9 (2.31%) Azure AKS
10 9 (2.31%) Azure DevOps
10 9 (2.31%) Power Platform
11 8 (2.06%) OneDrive
12 7 (1.80%) Azure App Service
12 7 (1.80%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 5 (1.29%) Azure API Management
13 5 (1.29%) Azure Logic Apps
13 5 (1.29%) Azure Storage
Communications & Networking
1 97 (24.94%) DNS
2 48 (12.34%) DHCP
3 46 (11.83%) Firewall
4 43 (11.05%) VPN
5 23 (5.91%) TCP/IP
6 15 (3.86%) LAN
6 15 (3.86%) Network Security
7 13 (3.34%) VLAN
8 12 (3.08%) SSH
9 11 (2.83%) WAN
10 10 (2.57%) SSL
11 9 (2.31%) Wi-Fi
12 8 (2.06%) Wireless
13 7 (1.80%) Cisco ASA
13 7 (1.80%) Cisco Firepower
13 7 (1.80%) IPsec
14 6 (1.54%) NetScaler
15 5 (1.29%) X.509
16 4 (1.03%) Kerberos
16 4 (1.03%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (7.97%) SQL Server
2 12 (3.08%) Azure SQL Database
3 8 (2.06%) Power BI
4 7 (1.80%) NoSQL
5 3 (0.77%) MySQL
5 3 (0.77%) Parquet
Development Applications
1 20 (5.14%) JIRA
2 5 (1.29%) Atlassian Bamboo
2 5 (1.29%) Bitbucket
2 5 (1.29%) Git
3 3 (0.77%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.51%) MSI
5 1 (0.26%) GitLab
5 1 (0.26%) Robot Framework
5 1 (0.26%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 115 (29.56%) Social Skills
2 45 (11.57%) Analytical Skills
3 40 (10.28%) Documentation Skills
4 36 (9.25%) Public Sector
5 13 (3.34%) Military
5 13 (3.34%) Organisational Skills
6 10 (2.57%) Marketing
7 8 (2.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 6 (1.54%) Finance
9 5 (1.29%) Aerospace
10 4 (1.03%) French Language
11 2 (0.51%) Advertising
11 2 (0.51%) Manufacturing
11 2 (0.51%) Police
11 2 (0.51%) Telecoms
12 1 (0.26%) Games
12 1 (0.26%) Legal
12 1 (0.26%) Local Government
12 1 (0.26%) Pharmaceutical
12 1 (0.26%) Retail
Job Titles
1 75 (19.28%) Support Engineer
2 49 (12.60%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 44 (11.31%) Senior
4 40 (10.28%) IT Support
5 39 (10.03%) IT Engineer
6 35 (9.00%) Cloud Engineer
7 30 (7.71%) IT Support Engineer
8 29 (7.46%) Architect
9 26 (6.68%) Analyst
10 21 (5.40%) 3rd Line Engineer
11 19 (4.88%) IAM Specialist
12 16 (4.11%) Consultant
12 16 (4.11%) Developer
12 16 (4.11%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
13 14 (3.60%) Technical Architect
14 12 (3.08%) 3rd Line Support
15 11 (2.83%) 2nd Line Support
15 11 (2.83%) Azure Engineer
15 11 (2.83%) IT Analyst
15 11 (2.83%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (15.42%) LDAP
2 51 (13.11%) Terraform
3 40 (10.28%) OAuth
3 40 (10.28%) OpenID
3 40 (10.28%) SAML
4 26 (6.68%) OAuth2
4 26 (6.68%) SailPoint
5 22 (5.66%) ARM Templates
6 21 (5.40%) REST
7 17 (4.37%) Web Services
8 15 (3.86%) .NET
9 9 (2.31%) OpenTofu
10 8 (2.06%) .NET Framework
11 7 (1.80%) .NET Core
11 7 (1.80%) 802.1X
11 7 (1.80%) Entity Framework
12 6 (1.54%) Microsoft Graph
13 5 (1.29%) JSON
13 5 (1.29%) RESTful
14 3 (0.77%) LAMP
Miscellaneous
1 52 (13.37%) Onboarding
2 37 (9.51%) PKI
3 22 (5.66%) Management Information System
4 21 (5.40%) Hybrid Cloud
5 11 (2.83%) ARM Cortex
6 10 (2.57%) Driving Licence
7 8 (2.06%) Clustering
7 8 (2.06%) Enterprise Software
7 8 (2.06%) Security Posture
8 7 (1.80%) Data Centre
8 7 (1.80%) Operational Technology
9 5 (1.29%) Cyber Defence
10 4 (1.03%) Fibre Optics
10 4 (1.03%) Replication
10 4 (1.03%) SCADA
11 3 (0.77%) Device Driver
11 3 (0.77%) Enterprise Cloud
11 3 (0.77%) Legacy Systems
11 3 (0.77%) Public Cloud
11 3 (0.77%) Wiki
Operating Systems
1 252 (64.78%) Windows
2 120 (30.85%) Windows Server
3 85 (21.85%) Linux
4 60 (15.42%) Windows 10
5 26 (6.68%) Windows Server 2019
6 21 (5.40%) Unix
7 13 (3.34%) CentOS
7 13 (3.34%) Ubuntu
8 11 (2.83%) macOS
9 4 (1.03%) Apple iOS
9 4 (1.03%) Windows 7
10 3 (0.77%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.26%) VMS
11 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2008
11 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 89 (22.88%) Problem-Solving
2 82 (21.08%) ITSM
3 72 (18.51%) ITIL
4 67 (17.22%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 55 (14.14%) RBAC
6 52 (13.37%) Cybersecurity
7 50 (12.85%) Technical Leadership
8 49 (12.60%) Analytics
9 46 (11.83%) Agile
10 45 (11.57%) Privileged Access Management
11 43 (11.05%) Runbook
12 42 (10.80%) Identity Access Management
13 40 (10.28%) CI/CD
13 40 (10.28%) Migration
13 40 (10.28%) SIEM
14 35 (9.00%) DevOps
14 35 (9.00%) Stakeholder Management
15 34 (8.74%) Customer Service
16 33 (8.48%) Service Management
17 32 (8.23%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 154 (39.59%) PowerShell
2 60 (15.42%) Python
3 38 (9.77%) SQL
4 24 (6.17%) Bash
4 24 (6.17%) Bicep
5 9 (2.31%) C
6 7 (1.80%) C#
6 7 (1.80%) JavaScript
7 5 (1.29%) Java
8 2 (0.51%) BeanShell
9 1 (0.26%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 194 (49.87%) Security Cleared
2 103 (26.48%) DV Cleared
3 93 (23.91%) SC Cleared
4 49 (12.60%) Degree
5 29 (7.46%) Microsoft Certification
6 16 (4.11%) Azure Certification
7 14 (3.60%) CISSP
8 13 (3.34%) CISM
9 10 (2.57%) MCSA
10 8 (2.06%) BPSS Clearance
10 8 (2.06%) MCSE
11 6 (1.54%) CESG Certified Professional
11 6 (1.54%) Cisco Certification
12 5 (1.29%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 5 (1.29%) AWS Certification
12 5 (1.29%) CRISC
12 5 (1.29%) DBS Check
12 5 (1.29%) GIAC
12 5 (1.29%) SANS
13 4 (1.03%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (13.88%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 51 (13.11%) NIST
3 17 (4.37%) GDPR
4 13 (3.34%) NCSC
4 13 (3.34%) SLA
5 10 (2.57%) Data Quality
6 9 (2.31%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (1.29%) ISO 31000
7 5 (1.29%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.77%) PCI DSS
9 2 (0.51%) GxP
10 1 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.26%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.26%) GRC
10 1 (0.26%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 1 (0.26%) QA
System Software
1 75 (19.28%) VMware Infrastructure
2 49 (12.60%) VMware ESXi
3 26 (6.68%) VMware NSX
4 24 (6.17%) Hyper-V
5 16 (4.11%) vCloud
6 13 (3.34%) Virtual Desktop
7 11 (2.83%) Virtual Machines
7 11 (2.83%) vSphere
8 4 (1.03%) BitLocker
8 4 (1.03%) Virtual Servers
9 3 (0.77%) Dovecot
9 3 (0.77%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 3 (0.77%) OpenAM
9 3 (0.77%) Postfix
10 2 (0.51%) Docker
11 1 (0.26%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 1 (0.26%) Firmware
11 1 (0.26%) XenApp
11 1 (0.26%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 49 (12.60%) vCenter Server
2 48 (12.34%) Microsoft Intune
3 40 (10.28%) SCCM
4 34 (8.74%) SCOM
5 19 (4.88%) Ansible
6 13 (3.34%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 13 (3.34%) Single Sign-On
7 5 (1.29%) Packer
8 4 (1.03%) Cisco CUCM
8 4 (1.03%) Clonezilla
8 4 (1.03%) Kubernetes
8 4 (1.03%) WMI
9 3 (0.77%) Dell DRAC
9 3 (0.77%) HAProxy
10 2 (0.51%) NetBackup
10 2 (0.51%) vMotion
10 2 (0.51%) WSUS
11 1 (0.26%) Failover Clustering
11 1 (0.26%) Grafana
11 1 (0.26%) QRadar
Vendors
1 224 (57.58%) Microsoft
2 93 (23.91%) VMware
3 43 (11.05%) ServiceNow
4 39 (10.03%) CyberArk
5 25 (6.43%) SolarWinds
6 24 (6.17%) BeyondTrust
7 19 (4.88%) Cisco
8 15 (3.86%) CrowdStrike
9 14 (3.60%) Remedy
10 12 (3.08%) Juniper
11 11 (2.83%) Broadcom
11 11 (2.83%) Citrix
12 8 (2.06%) BMC
12 8 (2.06%) Oracle
12 8 (2.06%) Palo Alto
13 6 (1.54%) Atlassian
13 6 (1.54%) Meraki
13 6 (1.54%) Splunk
14 5 (1.29%) F5
14 5 (1.29%) Google