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 6 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 30 23 23
Rank change year-on-year -7 0 +1
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 383 254 349
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.87% 7.20% 8.07%
As % of the System Software category 50.07% 51.52% 54.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 232 194 250
10th Percentile £225 £161 £200
25th Percentile £272 £200 £309
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £428 £478
Median % change year-on-year +16.96% -10.47% +46.92%
75th Percentile £582 £588 £611
90th Percentile £629 £621 £672
England median daily rate £450 £425 £425
% change year-on-year +5.88% - +6.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 2 9
10th Percentile £16.00 £45.49 £11.80
25th Percentile £43.81 £64.58 £16.00
Median hourly rate £52.50 £96.39 £24.50
Median % change year-on-year -45.53% +293.41% +8.89%
75th Percentile £77.50 £128.19 £28.75
90th Percentile £92.70 £147.28 £56.34
England median hourly rate £52.52 £22.00 £21.62
% change year-on-year +138.72% +1.78% +10.85%

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 765 493 641
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 11.72% 13.97% 14.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 498 348 427
10th Percentile £263 £190 £223
25th Percentile £425 £256 £360
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £505
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -0.99% +1.00%
75th Percentile £608 £588 £611
90th Percentile £691 £638 £673
England median daily rate £500 £500 £513
% change year-on-year - -2.44% +2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 60 13 27
10th Percentile £16.00 £56.25 £19.75
25th Percentile £33.70 £56.75 £30.92
Median hourly rate £60.00 £81.00 £57.25
Median % change year-on-year -25.93% +41.48% +4.09%
75th Percentile £69.99 - £70.00
90th Percentile £85.75 £88.30 -
England median hourly rate £63.14 £34.50 £28.75
% change year-on-year +83.00% +20.00% -37.74%

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 6 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 6 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 6 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 +5 199 £500 +82.32% 77
Hampshire -5 135 £538 +7.50% 79
Berkshire +9 87 £500 +42.86% 42
Oxfordshire +8 73 £350 +40.00% 19
Buckinghamshire -14 39 £590 +115.72% 16
West Sussex -13 16 £188 -6.25% 12
Surrey -35 16 £444 +106.40% 42
Kent -9 12 £275 +4.76% 17
East Sussex 0 4 £115 -32.35% 8
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 32 (8.36%) Microsoft Exchange
2 27 (7.05%) SharePoint
3 13 (3.39%) Confluence
4 8 (2.09%) Apache
4 8 (2.09%) nginx
5 4 (1.04%) IIS
6 3 (0.78%) Tomcat
Applications
1 18 (4.70%) 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 (2.87%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.52%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.52%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 179 (46.74%) Azure
2 132 (34.46%) Entra ID
3 100 (26.11%) Microsoft 365
4 43 (11.23%) AWS
5 19 (4.96%) Azure Monitor
5 19 (4.96%) GCP
6 14 (3.66%) IaaS
7 11 (2.87%) Azure Sentinel
8 10 (2.61%) Azure Key Vault
8 10 (2.61%) PaaS
9 9 (2.35%) Azure AKS
9 9 (2.35%) Azure DevOps
9 9 (2.35%) OneDrive
9 9 (2.35%) Power Platform
9 9 (2.35%) SaaS
10 7 (1.83%) Azure App Service
10 7 (1.83%) Azure Logic Apps
11 5 (1.31%) Azure API Management
11 5 (1.31%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 5 (1.31%) Azure Storage
Communications & Networking
1 96 (25.07%) DNS
2 47 (12.27%) DHCP
3 40 (10.44%) Firewall
4 37 (9.66%) VPN
5 18 (4.70%) TCP/IP
6 15 (3.92%) Network Security
7 14 (3.66%) LAN
8 13 (3.39%) SSL
9 12 (3.13%) VLAN
10 11 (2.87%) Wi-Fi
11 10 (2.61%) WAN
12 9 (2.35%) SSH
13 8 (2.09%) Wireless
14 7 (1.83%) Cisco ASA
14 7 (1.83%) Cisco Firepower
14 7 (1.83%) IPsec
15 5 (1.31%) FTP
15 5 (1.31%) X.509
16 4 (1.04%) NetScaler
16 4 (1.04%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 39 (10.18%) SQL Server
2 12 (3.13%) Azure SQL Database
3 8 (2.09%) Power BI
4 7 (1.83%) NoSQL
5 3 (0.78%) MySQL
5 3 (0.78%) Parquet
Development Applications
1 20 (5.22%) JIRA
2 5 (1.31%) Atlassian Bamboo
2 5 (1.31%) Bitbucket
2 5 (1.31%) Git
3 3 (0.78%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.52%) MSI
5 1 (0.26%) GitLab
5 1 (0.26%) Robot Framework
5 1 (0.26%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 113 (29.50%) Social Skills
2 46 (12.01%) Analytical Skills
3 41 (10.70%) Documentation Skills
4 40 (10.44%) Public Sector
5 14 (3.66%) Organisational Skills
6 13 (3.39%) Military
7 10 (2.61%) Marketing
8 8 (2.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 6 (1.57%) Finance
10 4 (1.04%) Aerospace
10 4 (1.04%) French Language
11 2 (0.52%) Advertising
11 2 (0.52%) Manufacturing
11 2 (0.52%) Police
11 2 (0.52%) Telecoms
12 1 (0.26%) Games
12 1 (0.26%) Legal
12 1 (0.26%) Local Government
12 1 (0.26%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 73 (19.06%) Support Engineer
2 47 (12.27%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 41 (10.70%) Senior
4 39 (10.18%) IT Support
5 38 (9.92%) IT Engineer
6 34 (8.88%) Cloud Engineer
7 29 (7.57%) IT Support Engineer
8 28 (7.31%) Architect
9 26 (6.79%) Analyst
10 18 (4.70%) 3rd Line Engineer
11 15 (3.92%) Consultant
11 15 (3.92%) Developer
11 15 (3.92%) IAM Specialist
12 14 (3.66%) Technical Architect
13 13 (3.39%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
14 12 (3.13%) Lead
15 11 (2.87%) 3rd Line Support
15 11 (2.87%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
16 10 (2.61%) 1st Line Support
16 10 (2.61%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (13.32%) LDAP
2 44 (11.49%) Terraform
3 36 (9.40%) OAuth
3 36 (9.40%) OpenID
3 36 (9.40%) SAML
4 22 (5.74%) OAuth2
5 20 (5.22%) SailPoint
6 19 (4.96%) REST
7 17 (4.44%) ARM Templates
7 17 (4.44%) Web Services
8 15 (3.92%) .NET
9 8 (2.09%) .NET Framework
9 8 (2.09%) OpenTofu
10 7 (1.83%) .NET Core
10 7 (1.83%) 802.1X
10 7 (1.83%) Entity Framework
10 7 (1.83%) Microsoft Graph
11 5 (1.31%) JSON
11 5 (1.31%) RESTful
12 3 (0.78%) LAMP
Miscellaneous
1 52 (13.58%) Onboarding
2 37 (9.66%) PKI
3 24 (6.27%) Management Information System
4 17 (4.44%) Hybrid Cloud
5 10 (2.61%) Driving Licence
6 9 (2.35%) Data Centre
7 8 (2.09%) Clustering
7 8 (2.09%) Enterprise Software
8 7 (1.83%) ARM Cortex
8 7 (1.83%) Operational Technology
8 7 (1.83%) Security Posture
9 5 (1.31%) Cyber Defence
10 4 (1.04%) Fibre Optics
10 4 (1.04%) SCADA
11 3 (0.78%) Device Driver
11 3 (0.78%) Legacy Systems
11 3 (0.78%) Public Cloud
11 3 (0.78%) Replication
11 3 (0.78%) Wiki
12 2 (0.52%) Enterprise Cloud
Operating Systems
1 252 (65.80%) Windows
2 121 (31.59%) Windows Server
3 86 (22.45%) Linux
4 58 (15.14%) Windows 10
5 27 (7.05%) Unix
5 27 (7.05%) Windows Server 2019
6 13 (3.39%) CentOS
6 13 (3.39%) Ubuntu
7 10 (2.61%) Mac OS
8 6 (1.57%) Windows 7
9 4 (1.04%) Apple iOS
10 3 (0.78%) Windows Server 2012
11 2 (0.52%) VMS
12 1 (0.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 93 (24.28%) Problem-Solving
2 84 (21.93%) ITSM
3 70 (18.28%) ITIL
4 66 (17.23%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 52 (13.58%) Cybersecurity
6 50 (13.05%) Technical Leadership
7 49 (12.79%) Privileged Access Management
8 48 (12.53%) Runbook
9 47 (12.27%) Agile
10 46 (12.01%) SIEM
11 45 (11.75%) RBAC
12 43 (11.23%) Analytics
13 39 (10.18%) Identity Access Management
13 39 (10.18%) Migration
14 36 (9.40%) Change Control
15 34 (8.88%) CI/CD
15 34 (8.88%) Information Security
16 32 (8.36%) Computer Science
16 32 (8.36%) Continuous Improvement
16 32 (8.36%) Customer Service
Programming Languages
1 150 (39.16%) PowerShell
2 65 (16.97%) Python
3 37 (9.66%) SQL
4 18 (4.70%) Bash
4 18 (4.70%) Bicep
5 8 (2.09%) C
6 7 (1.83%) C#
6 7 (1.83%) JavaScript
7 5 (1.31%) Java
8 2 (0.52%) BeanShell
9 1 (0.26%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 192 (50.13%) Security Cleared
2 100 (26.11%) DV Cleared
3 93 (24.28%) SC Cleared
4 56 (14.62%) Degree
5 29 (7.57%) Microsoft Certification
6 16 (4.18%) Azure Certification
7 13 (3.39%) CISSP
8 12 (3.13%) CISM
9 10 (2.61%) BPSS Clearance
9 10 (2.61%) MCSA
10 8 (2.09%) MCSE
11 6 (1.57%) CESG Certified Professional
11 6 (1.57%) Cisco Certification
12 5 (1.31%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 5 (1.31%) AWS Certification
12 5 (1.31%) CRISC
12 5 (1.31%) DBS Check
12 5 (1.31%) GIAC
12 5 (1.31%) SANS
13 4 (1.04%) GSEC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 59 (15.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 57 (14.88%) NIST
3 16 (4.18%) GDPR
4 15 (3.92%) NCSC
5 12 (3.13%) SLA
6 9 (2.35%) Cyber Essentials
6 9 (2.35%) Data Quality
7 5 (1.31%) ISO 31000
7 5 (1.31%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.78%) ISO/IEC 42001
8 3 (0.78%) PCI DSS
9 2 (0.52%) 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%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.26%) QA
System Software
1 79 (20.63%) VMware Infrastructure
2 52 (13.58%) VMware ESXi
3 27 (7.05%) Hyper-V
3 27 (7.05%) VMware NSX
4 16 (4.18%) vCloud
5 13 (3.39%) Virtual Desktop
5 13 (3.39%) Virtual Machines
6 10 (2.61%) vSphere
7 4 (1.04%) BitLocker
7 4 (1.04%) Virtual Servers
8 3 (0.78%) Dovecot
8 3 (0.78%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 3 (0.78%) OpenAM
8 3 (0.78%) Postfix
9 2 (0.52%) Docker
9 2 (0.52%) UAG
10 1 (0.26%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 50 (13.05%) vCenter Server
2 43 (11.23%) Microsoft Intune
3 35 (9.14%) SCCM
4 34 (8.88%) SCOM
5 15 (3.92%) Ansible
6 14 (3.66%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 11 (2.87%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (1.31%) Packer
9 4 (1.04%) Cisco CUCM
9 4 (1.04%) Clonezilla
9 4 (1.04%) Kubernetes
9 4 (1.04%) WMI
10 3 (0.78%) Dell DRAC
10 3 (0.78%) HAProxy
11 2 (0.52%) NetBackup
11 2 (0.52%) vMotion
11 2 (0.52%) WSUS
12 1 (0.26%) FortiGate
12 1 (0.26%) Grafana
12 1 (0.26%) McAfee ePO
Vendors
1 214 (55.87%) Microsoft
2 97 (25.33%) VMware
3 44 (11.49%) CyberArk
4 36 (9.40%) ServiceNow
5 31 (8.09%) BeyondTrust
6 25 (6.53%) SolarWinds
7 20 (5.22%) Cisco
8 14 (3.66%) Oracle
8 14 (3.66%) Remedy
9 12 (3.13%) Juniper
10 11 (2.87%) Broadcom
10 11 (2.87%) CrowdStrike
11 9 (2.35%) Citrix
12 8 (2.09%) BMC
12 8 (2.09%) Meraki
12 8 (2.09%) Palo Alto
13 6 (1.57%) Atlassian
13 6 (1.57%) Splunk
14 5 (1.31%) F5
14 5 (1.31%) Google