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

6 months to
28 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 355 229 455
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.92% 7.84% 8.17%
As % of the System Software category 52.83% 53.50% 55.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 235 173 315
10th Percentile £200 £200 £181
25th Percentile £291 £250 £305
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year - -2.44% +15.80%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £608
90th Percentile £700 £700 £648
England median daily rate £450 £450 £425
% change year-on-year - +5.88% -2.30%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 3 17
10th Percentile £16.00 £21.58 £14.32
25th Percentile £26.80 £23.99 -
Median hourly rate £47.54 £28.00 £17.69
Median % change year-on-year +69.79% +58.28% -4.38%
75th Percentile £53.75 - £17.80
90th Percentile £54.00 - £33.35
England median hourly rate £26.00 £18.25 £17.50
% change year-on-year +42.47% +4.29% -7.89%

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 672 428 819
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 11.21% 14.65% 14.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 506 313 527
10th Percentile £250 £208 £205
25th Percentile £406 £325 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £606 £600 £608
90th Percentile £700 £685 £650
England median daily rate £500 £518 £500
% change year-on-year -3.51% +3.64% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 10 47
10th Percentile £17.73 £27.20 £17.69
25th Percentile £43.81 £32.25 £17.80
Median hourly rate £48.72 £56.25 £54.88
Median % change year-on-year -13.39% +2.51% +0.58%
75th Percentile £53.75 £61.91 £64.38
90th Percentile £60.00 £67.13 £70.00
England median hourly rate £54.00 £28.50 £22.00
% change year-on-year +89.47% +29.55% -57.80%

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 28 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 28 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 28 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 -4 179 £471 -0.84% 42
Hampshire -8 98 £575 - 36
Berkshire -18 84 £492 -14.43% 19
Oxfordshire +4 66 £250 - 12
Surrey -7 34 £525 +144.19% 13
Buckinghamshire -13 29 £560 +136.20% 11
Kent -2 23 £200 -23.81% 12
West Sussex -14 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 (20.28%) Microsoft Exchange
2 36 (10.14%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.41%) Confluence
3 5 (1.41%) IIS
4 3 (0.85%) Apache
4 3 (0.85%) nginx
4 3 (0.85%) Tomcat
Applications
1 24 (6.76%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.13%) 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 (3.10%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.28%) Remedy AR System
2 1 (0.28%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 176 (49.58%) Azure
2 149 (41.97%) Entra ID
3 112 (31.55%) Microsoft 365
4 31 (8.73%) AWS
5 18 (5.07%) Power Platform
6 16 (4.51%) OneDrive
7 15 (4.23%) IaaS
8 14 (3.94%) GCP
9 11 (3.10%) Azure DevOps
10 9 (2.54%) Azure Logic Apps
10 9 (2.54%) PaaS
11 8 (2.25%) SaaS
12 7 (1.97%) Power Automate
13 6 (1.69%) Azure Monitor
13 6 (1.69%) PowerApps
14 5 (1.41%) Azure Key Vault
14 5 (1.41%) Mimecast
14 5 (1.41%) Nutanix
15 4 (1.13%) GitHub
15 4 (1.13%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 83 (23.38%) DNS
2 53 (14.93%) DHCP
3 32 (9.01%) Firewall
4 27 (7.61%) Wi-Fi
5 23 (6.48%) VPN
6 14 (3.94%) LAN
7 13 (3.66%) Kerberos
8 11 (3.10%) FTP
8 11 (3.10%) SAN
9 10 (2.82%) WAN
10 9 (2.54%) SSL
11 8 (2.25%) IPsec
11 8 (2.25%) Network Security
11 8 (2.25%) SD-WAN
12 7 (1.97%) NAS
12 7 (1.97%) SSH
13 5 (1.41%) BIG-IP
13 5 (1.41%) Unified Communications
14 4 (1.13%) MQTT
14 4 (1.13%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (11.27%) SQL Server
2 15 (4.23%) Power BI
3 6 (1.69%) Azure SQL Database
4 5 (1.41%) MySQL
5 3 (0.85%) Data Mining
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 (3.94%) JIRA
2 6 (1.69%) Robot Framework
3 5 (1.41%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.56%) Git
4 2 (0.56%) GitLab
4 2 (0.56%) MSI
5 1 (0.28%) Artifactory
5 1 (0.28%) Browser DevTools
5 1 (0.28%) Jenkins
General
1 101 (28.45%) Social Skills
2 50 (14.08%) Public Sector
3 36 (10.14%) Documentation Skills
4 19 (5.35%) Analytical Skills
5 15 (4.23%) Organisational Skills
6 14 (3.94%) Military
7 13 (3.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (2.25%) Marketing
9 7 (1.97%) Legal
10 6 (1.69%) Finance
10 6 (1.69%) Police
11 4 (1.13%) Retail
12 3 (0.85%) Games
12 3 (0.85%) Manufacturing
13 1 (0.28%) Aerospace
13 1 (0.28%) Back Office
13 1 (0.28%) Front Office
13 1 (0.28%) Health Technology
13 1 (0.28%) Local Government
13 1 (0.28%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 48 (13.52%) Support Engineer
2 44 (12.39%) IT Support
3 43 (12.11%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 40 (11.27%) Architect
5 38 (10.70%) Senior
6 37 (10.42%) IT Engineer
7 34 (9.58%) Analyst
8 31 (8.73%) IT Support Engineer
9 15 (4.23%) Lead
10 14 (3.94%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 13 (3.66%) 3rd Line Engineer
12 12 (3.38%) Cloud Engineer
13 11 (3.10%) Support Analyst
14 10 (2.82%) IT Analyst
14 10 (2.82%) Service Analyst
14 10 (2.82%) Service Desk Analyst
15 9 (2.54%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
15 9 (2.54%) IT Support Analyst
15 9 (2.54%) Product Owner
15 9 (2.54%) Senior Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (10.42%) LDAP
2 19 (5.35%) OAuth
2 19 (5.35%) SAML
3 18 (5.07%) OpenID
4 15 (4.23%) OAuth2
5 14 (3.94%) REST
6 13 (3.66%) SailPoint
7 11 (3.10%) Web Services
8 8 (2.25%) .NET
9 6 (1.69%) ADO
10 5 (1.41%) Microsoft Graph
11 4 (1.13%) 802.1X
12 3 (0.85%) LAMP
12 3 (0.85%) LEMP Stack
12 3 (0.85%) Unreal Engine
12 3 (0.85%) YAML
13 2 (0.56%) .NET Core
13 2 (0.56%) .NET Framework
13 2 (0.56%) JSON
13 2 (0.56%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 41 (11.55%) Onboarding
2 32 (9.01%) PKI
3 16 (4.51%) Replication
4 13 (3.66%) Data Centre
5 11 (3.10%) Driving Licence
5 11 (3.10%) Management Information System
5 11 (3.10%) Product Ownership
6 9 (2.54%) Legacy Systems
6 9 (2.54%) Operational Technology
7 7 (1.97%) Clustering
7 7 (1.97%) Hybrid Cloud
8 6 (1.69%) Analytical Mindset
8 6 (1.69%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.41%) Security Posture
10 4 (1.13%) Cyber Defence
10 4 (1.13%) SCADA
11 3 (0.85%) CMDB
12 2 (0.56%) Enterprise Cloud
12 2 (0.56%) Fat Client
12 2 (0.56%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 221 (62.25%) Windows
2 101 (28.45%) Windows Server
3 60 (16.90%) Linux
4 32 (9.01%) Windows 10
5 24 (6.76%) Unix
6 14 (3.94%) Windows Server 2019
7 9 (2.54%) Mac OS
8 8 (2.25%) Windows 7
9 6 (1.69%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 6 (1.69%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (1.41%) CentOS
10 5 (1.41%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.85%) Apple iOS
11 3 (0.85%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.56%) VMS
13 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 75 (21.13%) Problem-Solving
2 70 (19.72%) ITIL
3 57 (16.06%) ITSM
4 52 (14.65%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 51 (14.37%) Cybersecurity
6 47 (13.24%) Customer Service
7 41 (11.55%) DevOps
8 39 (10.99%) SIEM
9 36 (10.14%) Agile
10 33 (9.30%) Runbook
11 32 (9.01%) Privileged Access Management
12 30 (8.45%) CI/CD
12 30 (8.45%) Information Security
13 28 (7.89%) Change Control
13 28 (7.89%) Migration
14 27 (7.61%) RBAC
15 26 (7.32%) Identity Access Management
16 24 (6.76%) Roadmaps
17 23 (6.48%) High Availability
18 21 (5.92%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 120 (33.80%) PowerShell
2 56 (15.77%) Python
3 26 (7.32%) SQL
4 11 (3.10%) JavaScript
5 6 (1.69%) Bash
5 6 (1.69%) C#
6 5 (1.41%) Java
7 4 (1.13%) Bicep
8 2 (0.56%) BeanShell
9 1 (0.28%) Korn
9 1 (0.28%) PHP
Qualifications
1 175 (49.30%) Security Cleared
2 108 (30.42%) SC Cleared
3 61 (17.18%) DV Cleared
4 36 (10.14%) Degree
5 21 (5.92%) CISSP
6 20 (5.63%) CISM
7 15 (4.23%) Microsoft Certification
8 8 (2.25%) CESG Certified Professional
9 7 (1.97%) Azure Certification
9 7 (1.97%) BPSS Clearance
10 6 (1.69%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (1.41%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 5 (1.41%) CRISC
11 5 (1.41%) GIAC
11 5 (1.41%) SANS
12 4 (1.13%) GSEC
12 4 (1.13%) SSCP
13 3 (0.85%) A+ Certification
13 3 (0.85%) CCA
13 3 (0.85%) Citrix Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 57 (16.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 56 (15.77%) NIST
3 28 (7.89%) GDPR
4 13 (3.66%) Cyber Essentials
5 11 (3.10%) NCSC
6 10 (2.82%) SLA
7 5 (1.41%) ISO 31000
7 5 (1.41%) NIST 800
7 5 (1.41%) PCI DSS
8 4 (1.13%) Data Quality
9 3 (0.85%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 2 (0.56%) JSP 440
11 1 (0.28%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.28%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.28%) PMO
11 1 (0.28%) QA
System Software
1 71 (20.00%) VMware Infrastructure
2 26 (7.32%) Hyper-V
3 20 (5.63%) VMware ESXi
4 17 (4.79%) VMware NSX
5 12 (3.38%) Virtual Desktop
6 11 (3.10%) vSphere
7 9 (2.54%) Virtual Machines
8 8 (2.25%) Firmware
8 8 (2.25%) vCloud
9 3 (0.85%) DFS Replication
9 3 (0.85%) Docker
9 3 (0.85%) Dovecot
9 3 (0.85%) Postfix
10 2 (0.56%) Terminal Services
10 2 (0.56%) UAG
11 1 (0.28%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.28%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 1 (0.28%) NFS
Systems Management
1 46 (12.96%) Microsoft Intune
2 26 (7.32%) SCCM
3 23 (6.48%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 21 (5.92%) Terraform
5 16 (4.51%) SCOM
6 15 (4.23%) Single Sign-On
6 15 (4.23%) vCenter Server
7 14 (3.94%) Ansible
8 5 (1.41%) WMI
9 4 (1.13%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (1.13%) Kubernetes
10 3 (0.85%) HAProxy
10 3 (0.85%) SCSM
10 3 (0.85%) WSUS
11 2 (0.56%) Clonezilla
11 2 (0.56%) Grafana
12 1 (0.28%) CASB
12 1 (0.28%) Dell DRAC
12 1 (0.28%) Prometheus
12 1 (0.28%) WhatsUp Gold
Vendors
1 211 (59.44%) Microsoft
2 83 (23.38%) VMware
3 34 (9.58%) BeyondTrust
4 31 (8.73%) CyberArk
5 30 (8.45%) ServiceNow
6 20 (5.63%) Cisco
7 17 (4.79%) Citrix
8 14 (3.94%) Meraki
9 12 (3.38%) Oracle
9 12 (3.38%) Remedy
10 11 (3.10%) BMC
11 8 (2.25%) Avaya
11 8 (2.25%) Mitel
12 7 (1.97%) F5
12 7 (1.97%) Red Hat
12 7 (1.97%) SolarWinds
13 6 (1.69%) Juniper
14 5 (1.41%) Veeam
15 4 (1.13%) Broadcom
15 4 (1.13%) Fortinet