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 21 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 31 20 16
Rank change year-on-year -11 -4 +17
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 353 238 462
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.71% 7.83% 7.97%
As % of the System Software category 53.65% 53.48% 54.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 232 175 307
10th Percentile £200 £200 £198
25th Percentile £295 £250 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - +23.53%
75th Percentile £596 £623 £608
90th Percentile £700 £700 £645
England median daily rate £450 £450 £450
% change year-on-year - - +4.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 3 21
10th Percentile £16.00 - £16.00
25th Percentile £19.62 - £17.69
Median hourly rate £47.54 £28.00 £17.80
Median % change year-on-year +69.79% +57.30% -20.89%
75th Percentile £53.75 £30.39 £28.75
90th Percentile £77.50 £31.82 £50.00
England median hourly rate £26.00 £23.00 £17.69
% change year-on-year +13.04% +30.02% -11.55%

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 658 445 845
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 10.64% 14.65% 14.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 489 315 529
10th Percentile £261 £208 £205
25th Percentile £406 £325 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £538
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -6.98% +7.50%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £713 £675 £650
England median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 8 54
10th Percentile £16.00 £28.00 £17.69
25th Percentile £25.72 £31.58 £22.29
Median hourly rate £50.00 £56.19 £54.88
Median % change year-on-year -11.01% +2.39% -0.23%
75th Percentile £55.00 £59.09 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £67.96 £70.00
England median hourly rate £52.50 £29.00 £22.50
% change year-on-year +81.03% +28.89% -55.00%

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 21 June 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 21 June 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 21 June 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 -9 185 £465 +3.33% 44
Hampshire -9 101 £575 - 47
Berkshire -16 82 £475 -17.39% 17
Oxfordshire +5 74 £250 - 14
Buckinghamshire -24 29 £560 +104.25% 13
Surrey -17 28 £525 +144.19% 12
Kent -2 18 £200 -53.49% 9
West Sussex -10 12 £600 +200.00% 9
East Sussex +3 8 £500 +81.82%
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 66 (18.70%) Microsoft Exchange
2 35 (9.92%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.42%) Confluence
3 5 (1.42%) IIS
4 3 (0.85%) Apache
4 3 (0.85%) nginx
4 3 (0.85%) Tomcat
Applications
1 16 (4.53%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.13%) Microsoft Project
3 2 (0.57%) SOLIDWORKS
4 1 (0.28%) AutoCAD
4 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.28%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 13 (3.68%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.57%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 172 (48.73%) Azure
2 153 (43.34%) Entra ID
3 107 (30.31%) Microsoft 365
4 32 (9.07%) AWS
5 19 (5.38%) Power Platform
6 15 (4.25%) OneDrive
7 13 (3.68%) GCP
8 12 (3.40%) IaaS
9 10 (2.83%) Azure DevOps
9 10 (2.83%) Azure Logic Apps
10 8 (2.27%) SaaS
11 7 (1.98%) PaaS
11 7 (1.98%) Power Automate
12 6 (1.70%) Azure Monitor
12 6 (1.70%) PowerApps
13 5 (1.42%) Azure Key Vault
13 5 (1.42%) Mimecast
14 4 (1.13%) GitHub
14 4 (1.13%) Serverless
15 3 (0.85%) Cloudflare
Communications & Networking
1 81 (22.95%) DNS
2 46 (13.03%) DHCP
3 27 (7.65%) Firewall
4 25 (7.08%) Wi-Fi
5 23 (6.52%) VPN
6 16 (4.53%) LAN
7 13 (3.68%) Kerberos
8 12 (3.40%) SSL
9 11 (3.12%) FTP
9 11 (3.12%) WAN
10 9 (2.55%) Network Security
11 8 (2.27%) IPsec
11 8 (2.27%) SAN
11 8 (2.27%) SSH
12 7 (1.98%) NAS
12 7 (1.98%) SD-WAN
13 5 (1.42%) BIG-IP
13 5 (1.42%) Unified Communications
14 4 (1.13%) Cisco ASA
14 4 (1.13%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 39 (11.05%) SQL Server
2 16 (4.53%) Power BI
3 5 (1.42%) MySQL
4 3 (0.85%) Data Mining
5 2 (0.57%) Azure SQL Database
6 1 (0.28%) Amazon Athena
6 1 (0.28%) Amazon QuickSight
6 1 (0.28%) Amazon Redshift
6 1 (0.28%) MariaDB
6 1 (0.28%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.28%) Parquet
6 1 (0.28%) PostgreSQL
6 1 (0.28%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 13 (3.68%) JIRA
2 5 (1.42%) Robot Framework
3 4 (1.13%) Sonatype Nexus
4 3 (0.85%) MSI
5 2 (0.57%) Git
5 2 (0.57%) GitLab
6 1 (0.28%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.28%) Browser DevTools
6 1 (0.28%) Jenkins
General
1 102 (28.90%) Social Skills
2 52 (14.73%) Public Sector
3 37 (10.48%) Documentation Skills
4 29 (8.22%) Analytical Skills
5 15 (4.25%) Military
6 13 (3.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 13 (3.68%) Organisational Skills
7 10 (2.83%) Marketing
8 9 (2.55%) Finance
9 7 (1.98%) Legal
10 6 (1.70%) Police
11 5 (1.42%) Manufacturing
12 4 (1.13%) Retail
13 2 (0.57%) Aerospace
13 2 (0.57%) Games
14 1 (0.28%) Health Technology
14 1 (0.28%) Local Government
14 1 (0.28%) Publishing
14 1 (0.28%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 48 (13.60%) Support Engineer
2 44 (12.46%) IT Support
3 42 (11.90%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 38 (10.76%) Senior
5 37 (10.48%) Architect
6 36 (10.20%) IT Engineer
7 30 (8.50%) Analyst
7 30 (8.50%) IT Support Engineer
8 16 (4.53%) Cloud Engineer
8 16 (4.53%) Lead
9 14 (3.97%) 3rd Line Engineer
10 13 (3.68%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 11 (3.12%) IAM Specialist
11 11 (3.12%) Support Analyst
12 10 (2.83%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
12 10 (2.83%) IT Analyst
12 10 (2.83%) Product Owner
13 9 (2.55%) 3rd Line Support
13 9 (2.55%) Desktop Engineer
13 9 (2.55%) Desktop Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (12.46%) LDAP
2 25 (7.08%) OAuth
2 25 (7.08%) SAML
3 24 (6.80%) OpenID
4 17 (4.82%) OAuth2
5 16 (4.53%) SailPoint
6 15 (4.25%) REST
6 15 (4.25%) Web Services
7 6 (1.70%) Microsoft Graph
8 5 (1.42%) .NET
8 5 (1.42%) ADO
9 4 (1.13%) 802.1X
10 3 (0.85%) JSON
10 3 (0.85%) LAMP
10 3 (0.85%) LEMP Stack
10 3 (0.85%) Software Packaging
10 3 (0.85%) YAML
11 2 (0.57%) .NET Framework
11 2 (0.57%) Entity Framework
11 2 (0.57%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 44 (12.46%) Onboarding
2 34 (9.63%) PKI
3 17 (4.82%) Management Information System
4 16 (4.53%) Replication
5 12 (3.40%) Data Centre
5 12 (3.40%) Product Ownership
6 10 (2.83%) Legacy Systems
7 9 (2.55%) Driving Licence
8 8 (2.27%) Operational Technology
9 7 (1.98%) Clustering
9 7 (1.98%) Hybrid Cloud
10 6 (1.70%) Enterprise Software
10 6 (1.70%) Security Posture
11 5 (1.42%) Analytical Mindset
12 4 (1.13%) CMDB
12 4 (1.13%) Cyber Defence
12 4 (1.13%) SCADA
13 3 (0.85%) Cloud Native
13 3 (0.85%) Self-Motivation
14 2 (0.57%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 220 (62.32%) Windows
2 103 (29.18%) Windows Server
3 67 (18.98%) Linux
4 29 (8.22%) Unix
5 28 (7.93%) Windows 10
6 14 (3.97%) Windows Server 2019
7 7 (1.98%) Mac OS
7 7 (1.98%) Windows 7
8 6 (1.70%) Windows Server 2012
9 5 (1.42%) CentOS
10 4 (1.13%) Apple iOS
10 4 (1.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 4 (1.13%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.85%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.57%) VMS
13 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 83 (23.51%) Problem-Solving
2 69 (19.55%) ITSM
3 62 (17.56%) ITIL
4 54 (15.30%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 53 (15.01%) Cybersecurity
6 44 (12.46%) Customer Service
7 43 (12.18%) SIEM
8 41 (11.61%) Runbook
9 37 (10.48%) Agile
9 37 (10.48%) DevOps
10 36 (10.20%) Privileged Access Management
11 35 (9.92%) Change Control
11 35 (9.92%) Information Security
12 32 (9.07%) RBAC
13 31 (8.78%) CI/CD
14 29 (8.22%) Identity Access Management
14 29 (8.22%) Migration
15 28 (7.93%) Computer Science
16 26 (7.37%) High Availability
16 26 (7.37%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 136 (38.53%) PowerShell
2 62 (17.56%) Python
3 24 (6.80%) SQL
4 11 (3.12%) JavaScript
5 6 (1.70%) Bash
5 6 (1.70%) C#
6 5 (1.42%) Bicep
6 5 (1.42%) Java
7 2 (0.57%) BeanShell
7 2 (0.57%) C
8 1 (0.28%) Korn
8 1 (0.28%) PHP
Qualifications
1 178 (50.42%) Security Cleared
2 108 (30.59%) SC Cleared
3 64 (18.13%) DV Cleared
4 45 (12.75%) Degree
5 22 (6.23%) Microsoft Certification
6 20 (5.67%) CISSP
7 19 (5.38%) CISM
8 11 (3.12%) Azure Certification
9 10 (2.83%) BPSS Clearance
10 8 (2.27%) CESG Certified Professional
10 8 (2.27%) MCSA
10 8 (2.27%) MCSE
11 6 (1.70%) CCA
11 6 (1.70%) Cisco Certification
11 6 (1.70%) Citrix Certification
12 5 (1.42%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 5 (1.42%) AWS Certification
12 5 (1.42%) CRISC
12 5 (1.42%) GIAC
12 5 (1.42%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 65 (18.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 63 (17.85%) NIST
3 30 (8.50%) GDPR
4 12 (3.40%) NCSC
5 11 (3.12%) Cyber Essentials
6 8 (2.27%) SLA
7 5 (1.42%) Data Quality
7 5 (1.42%) ISO 31000
7 5 (1.42%) PCI DSS
8 4 (1.13%) NIST 800
9 3 (0.85%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 1 (0.28%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.28%) GRC
10 1 (0.28%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.28%) JSP 440
10 1 (0.28%) QA
System Software
1 73 (20.68%) VMware Infrastructure
2 29 (8.22%) Hyper-V
2 29 (8.22%) VMware ESXi
3 22 (6.23%) VMware NSX
4 12 (3.40%) Virtual Machines
4 12 (3.40%) vSphere
5 11 (3.12%) vCloud
6 10 (2.83%) Virtual Desktop
7 8 (2.27%) Firmware
8 3 (0.85%) Docker
8 3 (0.85%) Dovecot
8 3 (0.85%) Postfix
9 2 (0.57%) BitLocker
9 2 (0.57%) UAG
10 1 (0.28%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.28%) NFS
10 1 (0.28%) OpenAM
Systems Management
1 47 (13.31%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (7.08%) Active Directory Federation Services
2 25 (7.08%) Terraform
3 24 (6.80%) SCCM
4 21 (5.95%) vCenter Server
5 20 (5.67%) SCOM
6 15 (4.25%) Ansible
6 15 (4.25%) Single Sign-On
7 5 (1.42%) WMI
8 4 (1.13%) Clonezilla
8 4 (1.13%) Kubernetes
9 3 (0.85%) HAProxy
9 3 (0.85%) Jamf Pro
9 3 (0.85%) SCSM
10 2 (0.57%) Cisco CUCM
10 2 (0.57%) Grafana
10 2 (0.57%) vMotion
10 2 (0.57%) WSUS
11 1 (0.28%) FortiGate
11 1 (0.28%) Puppet
Vendors
1 209 (59.21%) Microsoft
2 84 (23.80%) VMware
3 37 (10.48%) BeyondTrust
4 34 (9.63%) CyberArk
5 33 (9.35%) ServiceNow
6 20 (5.67%) Cisco
7 18 (5.10%) Citrix
8 16 (4.53%) Oracle
9 14 (3.97%) Meraki
9 14 (3.97%) Remedy
10 11 (3.12%) SolarWinds
11 10 (2.83%) BMC
12 8 (2.27%) Avaya
12 8 (2.27%) Mitel
13 7 (1.98%) Juniper
14 6 (1.70%) F5
14 6 (1.70%) Red Hat
15 5 (1.42%) Palo Alto
15 5 (1.42%) Veeam
16 4 (1.13%) Becrypt