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 1 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 29 24 20
Rank change year-on-year -5 -4 -4
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 279 274 393
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.33% 7.66% 7.98%
As % of the System Software category 52.64% 50.28% 50.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 207 210 249
10th Percentile £180 £190 £148
25th Percentile £255 £250 £175
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £435 £330
Median % change year-on-year +10.63% +31.82% -14.29%
75th Percentile £538 £638 £550
90th Percentile £618 £671 £613
England median daily rate £450 £413 £395
% change year-on-year +9.09% +4.43% +3.81%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 1 18
10th Percentile £36.95 - £16.03
25th Percentile £63.72 - £19.25
Median hourly rate £87.00 £19.97 £30.25
Median % change year-on-year +335.65% -33.98% +63.51%
75th Percentile £101.38 - £62.85
90th Percentile £121.85 - £71.44
England median hourly rate £22.27 £22.09 £19.06
% change year-on-year +0.79% +15.90% +3.03%

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 530 545 781
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 12.03% 15.23% 15.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 391 380 488
10th Percentile £190 £200 £158
25th Percentile £313 £351 £225
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% - -5.00%
75th Percentile £574 £613 £581
90th Percentile £640 £670 £641
England median daily rate £500 £515 £500
% change year-on-year -2.91% +3.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 13 56
10th Percentile £45.69 £45.50 £19.25
25th Percentile £70.00 £54.63 £39.06
Median hourly rate £81.00 £57.25 £61.25
Median % change year-on-year +41.48% -6.53% +68.97%
75th Percentile £89.63 £71.25 £71.90
90th Percentile £102.20 £81.00 £77.02
England median hourly rate £48.11 £28.41 £46.29
% change year-on-year +69.34% -38.62% +79.75%

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 1 January 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 1 January 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 1 January 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 0 130 £473 -17.74% 61
Berkshire -6 93 £479 -23.30% 28
Hampshire -10 83 £500 +6.38% 38
Surrey -4 31 £281 -4.50% 15
Buckinghamshire +5 20 £450 +19.21% 15
Oxfordshire -6 17 £275 -33.33% 19
Kent +7 13 £180 +5.88% 27
East Sussex +4 11 £190 -62.93%
West Sussex -21 8 £286 +43.00% 8
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 43 (15.41%) Microsoft Exchange
2 27 (9.68%) SharePoint
3 15 (5.38%) Skype for Business
4 9 (3.23%) Exchange Server 2010
5 7 (2.51%) Exchange Server 2003
5 7 (2.51%) Exchange Server 2007
5 7 (2.51%) Exchange Server 2013
5 7 (2.51%) Mattermost
5 7 (2.51%) Office Communications Server
5 7 (2.51%) SharePoint Server
6 2 (0.72%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.72%) WordPress
7 1 (0.36%) Confluence
Applications
1 32 (11.47%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.36%) MS Visio
2 1 (0.36%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 8 (2.87%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.36%) assyst
2 1 (0.36%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.36%) Remedy AR System
2 1 (0.36%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 94 (33.69%) Azure
1 94 (33.69%) Microsoft 365
2 61 (21.86%) Entra ID
3 35 (12.54%) AWS
4 23 (8.24%) GCP
5 16 (5.73%) OneDrive
6 9 (3.23%) GitHub
7 8 (2.87%) Power Platform
7 8 (2.87%) SaaS
8 7 (2.51%) IaaS
8 7 (2.51%) PaaS
9 6 (2.15%) Azure DevOps
9 6 (2.15%) Power Automate
10 4 (1.43%) AWS CloudFormation
10 4 (1.43%) Azure Monitor
10 4 (1.43%) Azure Sentinel
11 3 (1.08%) GitHub Actions
11 3 (1.08%) Nutanix
11 3 (1.08%) PowerApps
11 3 (1.08%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 64 (22.94%) DNS
2 44 (15.77%) DHCP
3 33 (11.83%) Firewall
4 21 (7.53%) VPN
5 19 (6.81%) Cisco IOS
6 18 (6.45%) TCP/IP
7 17 (6.09%) Cisco Firepower
7 17 (6.09%) Cisco ISE
7 17 (6.09%) Junos
8 15 (5.38%) Wi-Fi
9 12 (4.30%) SAN
10 9 (3.23%) 4G
11 8 (2.87%) Skype
12 7 (2.51%) DDNS
13 6 (2.15%) FTP
13 6 (2.15%) Remote Desktop
13 6 (2.15%) VLAN
14 5 (1.79%) Unified Communications
15 4 (1.43%) SSL
15 4 (1.43%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (4.66%) SQL Server
2 4 (1.43%) Azure SQL Database
3 3 (1.08%) Power BI
4 2 (0.72%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 7 (2.51%) JIRA
2 3 (1.08%) Git
2 3 (1.08%) Robot Framework
2 3 (1.08%) Sonatype Nexus
3 2 (0.72%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.36%) Burp Suite
4 1 (0.36%) Fiddler
General
1 113 (40.50%) Social Skills
2 22 (7.89%) Documentation Skills
3 19 (6.81%) Finance
4 17 (6.09%) Public Sector
5 10 (3.58%) Analytical Skills
6 8 (2.87%) Legal
7 5 (1.79%) Law
7 5 (1.79%) Organisational Skills
8 3 (1.08%) Games
8 3 (1.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 3 (1.08%) Manufacturing
9 2 (0.72%) Back Office
9 2 (0.72%) Front Office
9 2 (0.72%) Military
9 2 (0.72%) Retail
10 1 (0.36%) Banking
10 1 (0.36%) Billing
10 1 (0.36%) French Language
10 1 (0.36%) German Language
10 1 (0.36%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 57 (20.43%) Support Engineer
2 33 (11.83%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 29 (10.39%) Analyst
3 29 (10.39%) IT Support
4 28 (10.04%) Architect
5 23 (8.24%) IT Engineer
6 22 (7.89%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 18 (6.45%) IT Support Engineer
7 18 (6.45%) Senior
8 17 (6.09%) Network Engineer
9 16 (5.73%) 3rd Line Network Engineer
9 16 (5.73%) 3rd Line Support
9 16 (5.73%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
9 16 (5.73%) Cloud Engineer
9 16 (5.73%) Cloud Network Engineer
10 15 (5.38%) Deployment Engineer
10 15 (5.38%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
10 15 (5.38%) Network Support
10 15 (5.38%) Network Support Engineer
11 12 (4.30%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (7.89%) LDAP
2 10 (3.58%) SailPoint
3 9 (3.23%) OAuth
4 8 (2.87%) SAML
5 7 (2.51%) .NET
6 6 (2.15%) OpenID
7 5 (1.79%) OAuth2
8 3 (1.08%) .NET Core
8 3 (1.08%) .NET Framework
8 3 (1.08%) Microsoft Graph
8 3 (1.08%) Middleware
9 2 (0.72%) ADO
9 2 (0.72%) ARM Templates
9 2 (0.72%) ASP.NET
9 2 (0.72%) GraphQL
9 2 (0.72%) Jinja
9 2 (0.72%) Kafka
9 2 (0.72%) REST
10 1 (0.36%) Entity Framework
10 1 (0.36%) Razor View Engine
Miscellaneous
1 27 (9.68%) PKI
2 14 (5.02%) Onboarding
3 11 (3.94%) Fat Client
3 11 (3.94%) Thin Client
4 9 (3.23%) Replication
4 9 (3.23%) Video Conferencing
5 8 (2.87%) Self-Motivation
6 5 (1.79%) Data Centre
6 5 (1.79%) Operational Technology
7 4 (1.43%) Analytical Mindset
7 4 (1.43%) Driving Licence
7 4 (1.43%) NHS
8 3 (1.08%) CMDB
8 3 (1.08%) Linux Command Line
8 3 (1.08%) Private Cloud
8 3 (1.08%) Security Posture
8 3 (1.08%) Virtual Team
9 2 (0.72%) Data Protection Act
9 2 (0.72%) Enterprise Software
9 2 (0.72%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 177 (63.44%) Windows
2 68 (24.37%) Windows Server
3 57 (20.43%) Windows 10
4 22 (7.89%) Linux
5 11 (3.94%) Windows 7
6 9 (3.23%) Mac OS
7 7 (2.51%) Windows Server 2003
7 7 (2.51%) Windows Server 2012
7 7 (2.51%) Windows Server 2016
8 5 (1.79%) Windows Server 2019
9 4 (1.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.72%) Android
11 1 (0.36%) Kali Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (21.15%) Problem-Solving
2 50 (17.92%) ITIL
3 45 (16.13%) Cybersecurity
4 43 (15.41%) ITSM
5 39 (13.98%) DevOps
6 38 (13.62%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 30 (10.75%) CI/CD
8 27 (9.68%) Customer Service
9 26 (9.32%) Agile
10 25 (8.96%) Service Management
11 24 (8.60%) DevSecOps
11 24 (8.60%) SIEM
12 18 (6.45%) Infrastructure as Code
13 17 (6.09%) Identity Access Management
14 14 (5.02%) Privileged Access Management
14 14 (5.02%) Prototyping
15 13 (4.66%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 13 (4.66%) Validation
16 12 (4.30%) Identity Management
16 12 (4.30%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 77 (27.60%) PowerShell
2 43 (15.41%) Python
3 19 (6.81%) SQL
4 12 (4.30%) Java
5 9 (3.23%) Bash
6 8 (2.87%) BeanShell
7 3 (1.08%) C#
7 3 (1.08%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.72%) PHP
8 2 (0.72%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.36%) VB
Qualifications
1 135 (48.39%) Security Cleared
2 77 (27.60%) SC Cleared
3 52 (18.64%) DV Cleared
4 18 (6.45%) CISSP
5 17 (6.09%) CISM
6 12 (4.30%) Microsoft Certification
7 11 (3.94%) Degree
8 7 (2.51%) ITIL Certification
9 6 (2.15%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 5 (1.79%) DBS Check
10 5 (1.79%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 4 (1.43%) AWS Certification
12 3 (1.08%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 2 (0.72%) A+ Certification
13 2 (0.72%) Azure Certification
13 2 (0.72%) CCNP
13 2 (0.72%) Cisco Certification
13 2 (0.72%) Computer Science Degree
13 2 (0.72%) MCSE
14 1 (0.36%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (10.04%) GDPR
2 26 (9.32%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 24 (8.60%) NIST
4 6 (2.15%) SLA
5 4 (1.43%) Cyber Essentials
6 3 (1.08%) Data Quality
7 2 (0.72%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 1 (0.36%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.36%) JSP 440
8 1 (0.36%) NCSC
8 1 (0.36%) NIST 800
8 1 (0.36%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.36%) PMO
8 1 (0.36%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 41 (14.70%) VMware Infrastructure
2 19 (6.81%) VMware NSX
3 12 (4.30%) Hyper-V
4 8 (2.87%) Virtual Desktop
5 7 (2.51%) Brightmail
5 7 (2.51%) ISA Server
5 7 (2.51%) Terminal Services
5 7 (2.51%) vSphere
6 4 (1.43%) Docker
7 3 (1.08%) DFS Replication
7 3 (1.08%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (1.08%) VMware ESXi
8 2 (0.72%) NFS
9 1 (0.36%) Sendmail
9 1 (0.36%) UAG
Systems Management
1 44 (15.77%) SCCM
2 28 (10.04%) Microsoft Intune
3 23 (8.24%) vCenter Server
4 19 (6.81%) Terraform
5 13 (4.66%) SCOM
6 11 (3.94%) Ansible
6 11 (3.94%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (3.58%) WMI
8 7 (2.51%) HP SiteScope
8 7 (2.51%) Microsoft Clustering
9 6 (2.15%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 6 (2.15%) Jamf Pro
9 6 (2.15%) Kubernetes
10 2 (0.72%) logstash
10 2 (0.72%) WhatsUp Gold
11 1 (0.36%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.36%) Cisco UCCE
11 1 (0.36%) EMC NetWorker
11 1 (0.36%) Red Hat Satellite
11 1 (0.36%) WSUS
Vendors
1 158 (56.63%) Microsoft
2 64 (22.94%) VMware
3 32 (11.47%) Cisco
4 31 (11.11%) ServiceNow
5 25 (8.96%) CyberArk
6 21 (7.53%) BeyondTrust
6 21 (7.53%) Citrix
7 17 (6.09%) Juniper
7 17 (6.09%) SolarWinds
8 13 (4.66%) Splunk
9 9 (3.23%) Remedy
10 4 (1.43%) Google
10 4 (1.43%) McAfee
11 3 (1.08%) Dell
12 2 (0.72%) F5
12 2 (0.72%) NetApp
12 2 (0.72%) Oracle
12 2 (0.72%) Red Hat
12 2 (0.72%) SAP
12 2 (0.72%) Sophos