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 31 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 31 22 15
Rank change year-on-year -9 -7 +17
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 352 229 455
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.87% 7.73% 8.10%
As % of the System Software category 52.46% 52.28% 55.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 233 173 312
10th Percentile £200 £200 £193
25th Percentile £300 £250 £312
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year - -2.44% +14.53%
75th Percentile £599 £623 £608
90th Percentile £700 £700 £638
England median daily rate £450 £450 £430
% change year-on-year - +4.65% -1.15%
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 3 18
10th Percentile £16.00 £21.58 £14.74
25th Percentile £24.37 £23.99 £17.69
Median hourly rate £47.54 £28.00 £17.75
Median % change year-on-year +69.79% +57.79% -4.08%
75th Percentile £53.75 - £18.51
90th Percentile £53.88 - £32.20
England median hourly rate £25.58 £19.62 £17.50
% change year-on-year +30.35% +12.11% -12.50%

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 671 438 822
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 11.19% 14.79% 14.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 503 320 524
10th Percentile £258 £208 £205
25th Percentile £406 £325 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £526
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.94% +5.20%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £710 £676 £650
England median daily rate £500 £513 £500
% change year-on-year -2.44% +2.50% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 26 9 48
10th Percentile £16.00 £26.39 £17.69
25th Percentile £31.86 £28.00 £17.80
Median hourly rate £48.72 £57.50 £54.88
Median % change year-on-year -15.27% +4.78% -0.23%
75th Percentile £53.75 £60.13 £64.06
90th Percentile £60.00 £67.25 £70.00
England median hourly rate £52.75 £28.21 £22.15
% change year-on-year +87.02% +27.34% -57.51%

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 31 May 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 31 May 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 31 May 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 -5 177 £467 -1.68% 36
Hampshire -8 101 £575 - 31
Berkshire -17 85 £492 -14.43% 14
Oxfordshire +4 66 £250 - 11
Surrey -13 31 £525 +147.06% 12
Buckinghamshire -15 26 £560 +136.20% 11
Kent 0 22 £200 -23.81% 12
West Sussex -9 11 £600 +200.00% 1
East Sussex +3 9 £550 +100.00% 2
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 72 (20.45%) Microsoft Exchange
2 35 (9.94%) 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 (4.55%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.14%) Microsoft Project
3 3 (0.85%) 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 11 (3.13%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.28%) Remedy AR System
2 1 (0.28%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 172 (48.86%) Azure
2 148 (42.05%) Entra ID
3 109 (30.97%) Microsoft 365
4 32 (9.09%) AWS
5 18 (5.11%) Power Platform
6 16 (4.55%) OneDrive
7 15 (4.26%) IaaS
8 14 (3.98%) GCP
9 11 (3.13%) Azure DevOps
10 9 (2.56%) Azure Logic Apps
10 9 (2.56%) PaaS
11 8 (2.27%) SaaS
12 7 (1.99%) Power Automate
13 6 (1.70%) Azure Monitor
13 6 (1.70%) PowerApps
14 5 (1.42%) Azure Key Vault
14 5 (1.42%) Mimecast
15 4 (1.14%) GitHub
15 4 (1.14%) Nutanix
15 4 (1.14%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 86 (24.43%) DNS
2 55 (15.63%) DHCP
3 33 (9.38%) Firewall
4 27 (7.67%) Wi-Fi
5 24 (6.82%) VPN
6 16 (4.55%) LAN
7 13 (3.69%) Kerberos
8 11 (3.13%) FTP
8 11 (3.13%) SAN
8 11 (3.13%) WAN
9 10 (2.84%) SSL
10 9 (2.56%) IPsec
10 9 (2.56%) Network Security
11 8 (2.27%) SD-WAN
12 7 (1.99%) NAS
12 7 (1.99%) SSH
13 5 (1.42%) BIG-IP
13 5 (1.42%) Unified Communications
14 4 (1.14%) Cisco ASA
14 4 (1.14%) MQTT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (10.23%) SQL Server
2 15 (4.26%) 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 14 (3.98%) JIRA
2 6 (1.70%) Robot Framework
3 5 (1.42%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.57%) Git
4 2 (0.57%) GitLab
4 2 (0.57%) MSI
5 1 (0.28%) Artifactory
5 1 (0.28%) Browser DevTools
5 1 (0.28%) Jenkins
General
1 101 (28.69%) Social Skills
2 47 (13.35%) Public Sector
3 34 (9.66%) Documentation Skills
4 20 (5.68%) Analytical Skills
5 15 (4.26%) Organisational Skills
6 14 (3.98%) Military
7 13 (3.69%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (2.27%) Marketing
9 6 (1.70%) Finance
9 6 (1.70%) Legal
9 6 (1.70%) Police
10 4 (1.14%) Retail
11 3 (0.85%) Games
11 3 (0.85%) Manufacturing
12 1 (0.28%) Aerospace
12 1 (0.28%) Back Office
12 1 (0.28%) Front Office
12 1 (0.28%) Health Technology
12 1 (0.28%) Local Government
12 1 (0.28%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 49 (13.92%) Support Engineer
2 45 (12.78%) IT Support
3 43 (12.22%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 37 (10.51%) Architect
4 37 (10.51%) IT Engineer
4 37 (10.51%) Senior
5 31 (8.81%) Analyst
5 31 (8.81%) IT Support Engineer
6 15 (4.26%) Lead
7 14 (3.98%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
8 13 (3.69%) 3rd Line Engineer
8 13 (3.69%) Cloud Engineer
9 11 (3.13%) Support Analyst
10 10 (2.84%) IT Analyst
11 9 (2.56%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
11 9 (2.56%) Desktop Support
11 9 (2.56%) Infrastructure Architect
11 9 (2.56%) IT Support Analyst
11 9 (2.56%) Product Owner
12 8 (2.27%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (10.80%) LDAP
2 20 (5.68%) OAuth
2 20 (5.68%) SAML
3 19 (5.40%) OpenID
4 15 (4.26%) OAuth2
4 15 (4.26%) REST
5 13 (3.69%) SailPoint
6 12 (3.41%) Web Services
7 6 (1.70%) ADO
8 5 (1.42%) .NET
8 5 (1.42%) Microsoft Graph
9 4 (1.14%) 802.1X
10 3 (0.85%) JSON
10 3 (0.85%) LAMP
10 3 (0.85%) LEMP Stack
10 3 (0.85%) Unreal Engine
10 3 (0.85%) YAML
11 2 (0.57%) .NET Framework
11 2 (0.57%) SOAP
11 2 (0.57%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 42 (11.93%) Onboarding
2 33 (9.38%) PKI
3 16 (4.55%) Replication
4 13 (3.69%) Data Centre
5 11 (3.13%) Driving Licence
5 11 (3.13%) Management Information System
5 11 (3.13%) Product Ownership
6 9 (2.56%) Legacy Systems
6 9 (2.56%) Operational Technology
7 7 (1.99%) Clustering
7 7 (1.99%) Hybrid Cloud
8 6 (1.70%) Analytical Mindset
8 6 (1.70%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.42%) Security Posture
10 4 (1.14%) Cyber Defence
10 4 (1.14%) SCADA
11 3 (0.85%) CMDB
12 2 (0.57%) Fat Client
12 2 (0.57%) Public Cloud
12 2 (0.57%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 222 (63.07%) Windows
2 102 (28.98%) Windows Server
3 61 (17.33%) Linux
4 32 (9.09%) Windows 10
5 24 (6.82%) Unix
6 14 (3.98%) Windows Server 2019
7 9 (2.56%) Mac OS
8 8 (2.27%) Windows 7
9 6 (1.70%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 6 (1.70%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (1.42%) CentOS
10 5 (1.42%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.85%) Apple iOS
11 3 (0.85%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.57%) VMS
13 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 77 (21.88%) Problem-Solving
2 65 (18.47%) ITIL
3 59 (16.76%) ITSM
4 52 (14.77%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 51 (14.49%) Cybersecurity
6 47 (13.35%) Customer Service
7 42 (11.93%) DevOps
8 39 (11.08%) SIEM
9 37 (10.51%) Agile
10 33 (9.38%) Runbook
11 32 (9.09%) Privileged Access Management
12 31 (8.81%) CI/CD
13 30 (8.52%) Information Security
14 29 (8.24%) Migration
15 28 (7.95%) Change Control
16 27 (7.67%) RBAC
17 25 (7.10%) Identity Access Management
18 24 (6.82%) High Availability
18 24 (6.82%) Roadmaps
18 24 (6.82%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 121 (34.38%) PowerShell
2 56 (15.91%) Python
3 23 (6.53%) SQL
4 11 (3.13%) JavaScript
5 6 (1.70%) Bash
5 6 (1.70%) C#
5 6 (1.70%) Java
6 4 (1.14%) Bicep
7 2 (0.57%) BeanShell
8 1 (0.28%) Korn
8 1 (0.28%) PHP
Qualifications
1 175 (49.72%) Security Cleared
2 108 (30.68%) SC Cleared
3 62 (17.61%) DV Cleared
4 37 (10.51%) Degree
5 21 (5.97%) CISSP
6 20 (5.68%) CISM
7 15 (4.26%) Microsoft Certification
8 8 (2.27%) Azure Certification
8 8 (2.27%) CESG Certified Professional
9 7 (1.99%) BPSS Clearance
10 6 (1.70%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (1.42%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 5 (1.42%) CRISC
11 5 (1.42%) GIAC
11 5 (1.42%) SANS
12 4 (1.14%) AWS Certification
12 4 (1.14%) GSEC
12 4 (1.14%) SSCP
13 3 (0.85%) A+ Certification
13 3 (0.85%) CCA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 57 (16.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 57 (16.19%) NIST
2 29 (8.24%) GDPR
3 13 (3.69%) Cyber Essentials
4 12 (3.41%) NCSC
5 10 (2.84%) SLA
6 5 (1.42%) ISO 31000
6 5 (1.42%) NIST 800
6 5 (1.42%) PCI DSS
7 4 (1.14%) Data Quality
8 3 (0.85%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 2 (0.57%) JSP 440
10 1 (0.28%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.28%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.28%) PMO
10 1 (0.28%) QA
System Software
1 73 (20.74%) VMware Infrastructure
2 26 (7.39%) Hyper-V
3 21 (5.97%) VMware ESXi
4 19 (5.40%) VMware NSX
5 11 (3.13%) vSphere
6 9 (2.56%) vCloud
6 9 (2.56%) Virtual Machines
7 8 (2.27%) Firmware
7 8 (2.27%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.85%) DFS Replication
8 3 (0.85%) Docker
8 3 (0.85%) Dovecot
8 3 (0.85%) Postfix
9 2 (0.57%) Terminal Services
9 2 (0.57%) UAG
10 1 (0.28%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.28%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 1 (0.28%) NFS
Systems Management
1 46 (13.07%) Microsoft Intune
2 24 (6.82%) Active Directory Federation Services
3 23 (6.53%) SCCM
4 21 (5.97%) Terraform
5 17 (4.83%) SCOM
6 16 (4.55%) vCenter Server
7 14 (3.98%) Ansible
7 14 (3.98%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (1.42%) WMI
9 4 (1.14%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (1.14%) Kubernetes
10 3 (0.85%) Clonezilla
10 3 (0.85%) HAProxy
10 3 (0.85%) SCSM
10 3 (0.85%) WSUS
11 2 (0.57%) Cisco CUCM
11 2 (0.57%) Grafana
12 1 (0.28%) FortiGate
12 1 (0.28%) McAfee ePO
12 1 (0.28%) Puppet
Vendors
1 207 (58.81%) Microsoft
2 85 (24.15%) VMware
3 34 (9.66%) BeyondTrust
4 31 (8.81%) CyberArk
4 31 (8.81%) ServiceNow
5 21 (5.97%) Cisco
6 17 (4.83%) Citrix
7 14 (3.98%) Meraki
8 12 (3.41%) Oracle
8 12 (3.41%) Remedy
9 11 (3.13%) BMC
10 8 (2.27%) Avaya
10 8 (2.27%) Mitel
10 8 (2.27%) SolarWinds
11 7 (1.99%) F5
11 7 (1.99%) Red Hat
12 6 (1.70%) Juniper
13 5 (1.42%) Palo Alto
13 5 (1.42%) Veeam
14 4 (1.14%) Becrypt