Active Directory Contract Job Trends in the South West

Microsoft Active Directory
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South West requiring Active Directory skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 9 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 28 18 23
Rank change year-on-year -10 +5 -5
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 151 173 191
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 6.19% 8.81% 6.58%
As % of the System Software category 49.83% 49.57% 50.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 118 125 125
10th Percentile £181 £200 £137
25th Percentile £275 £250 £200
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £494 £450 £300
Median % change year-on-year +9.72% +50.00% -32.13%
75th Percentile £575 £550 £630
90th Percentile £690 £638 £700
England median daily rate £453 £413 £395
% change year-on-year +9.82% +4.43% +1.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 5 17
10th Percentile £41.16 - £13.85
25th Percentile £94.25 £12.50 £14.93
Median hourly rate £195.00 £16.00 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year +1118.75% -17.95% -52.47%
75th Percentile £197.50 £64.50 £46.39
90th Percentile - £81.30 £69.62
England median hourly rate £22.27 £22.09 £19.00
% change year-on-year +0.79% +16.26% +2.70%

All System Software Skills
South West

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 West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 303 349 376
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 12.43% 17.78% 12.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 237 246 240
10th Percentile £220 £213 £170
25th Percentile £425 £413 £263
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -4.55% +7.32%
75th Percentile £650 £623 £675
90th Percentile £715 £725 £738
England median daily rate £500 £520 £500
% change year-on-year -3.85% +4.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 6 42
10th Percentile £61.25 £12.50 £15.26
25th Percentile £61.50 £13.25 £20.50
Median hourly rate £66.50 £37.00 £65.98
Median % change year-on-year +79.73% -43.92% +9.97%
75th Percentile £95.00 £62.88 £70.66
90th Percentile £197.50 £78.50 £90.00
England median hourly rate £42.69 £28.71 £47.70
% change year-on-year +48.70% -39.82% +78.31%

Active Directory
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Active Directory relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West.

Active Directory job vacancy trend in the South West

Active Directory
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Active Directory.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Daily Rate Histogram in the South West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Active Directory in the South West over the 6 months to 9 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Active Directory in the South West

Active Directory
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Active Directory.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Active Directory in the South West over the 6 months to 9 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Active Directory in the South West

Active Directory
Contract Job Locations in the South West

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 West region over the 6 months to 9 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
Gloucestershire +3 42 £325 -30.85% 13
Wiltshire -8 42 £575 +12.20% 17
Somerset +3 33 £475 +90.00% 14
Bristol -28 20 £525 +20.00% 28
Devon +8 11 £275 -16.67% 22
Dorset -14 1 £525 +23.53% 11
Active Directory
England

Active Directory
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South West 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 37 (24.50%) Microsoft Exchange
2 32 (21.19%) SharePoint
3 7 (4.64%) Skype for Business
4 4 (2.65%) IIS
4 4 (2.65%) SharePoint Server
5 3 (1.99%) Confluence
6 1 (0.66%) nginx
Applications
1 16 (10.60%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (1.99%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (1.32%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 2 (1.32%) assyst
1 2 (1.32%) Teamcenter
2 1 (0.66%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 64 (42.38%) Azure
2 41 (27.15%) Microsoft 365
3 36 (23.84%) Entra ID
4 14 (9.27%) AWS
5 9 (5.96%) GCP
6 7 (4.64%) Azure Monitor
6 7 (4.64%) Azure Sentinel
6 7 (4.64%) OneDrive
7 6 (3.97%) Power Platform
7 6 (3.97%) ShareGate
8 5 (3.31%) Azure DevOps
9 4 (2.65%) Azure AKS
9 4 (2.65%) SaaS
10 3 (1.99%) Azure Key Vault
10 3 (1.99%) IaaS
10 3 (1.99%) PaaS
11 2 (1.32%) Azure Cosmos DB
11 2 (1.32%) Azure Logic Apps
11 2 (1.32%) Microsoft Copilot
11 2 (1.32%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 40 (26.49%) DNS
2 23 (15.23%) Firewall
3 19 (12.58%) DHCP
4 17 (11.26%) VPN
5 14 (9.27%) Skype
6 5 (3.31%) Unified Communications
7 4 (2.65%) Network Security
7 4 (2.65%) TCP/IP
8 3 (1.99%) Kerberos
9 2 (1.32%) LAN
9 2 (1.32%) SMTP
9 2 (1.32%) WAN
10 1 (0.66%) Cisco IOS
10 1 (0.66%) DKIM
10 1 (0.66%) NAS
10 1 (0.66%) SAN
10 1 (0.66%) VLAN
10 1 (0.66%) VoIP
10 1 (0.66%) WebEx
10 1 (0.66%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (8.61%) SQL Server
2 6 (3.97%) Power BI
3 3 (1.99%) Metadata
4 2 (1.32%) Elasticsearch
4 2 (1.32%) Looker
4 2 (1.32%) MySQL
4 2 (1.32%) Tableau
5 1 (0.66%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 10 (6.62%) MSI
2 7 (4.64%) JIRA
3 5 (3.31%) AdminStudio
3 5 (3.31%) InstallShield
4 2 (1.32%) Git
General
1 64 (42.38%) Social Skills
2 21 (13.91%) Public Sector
3 17 (11.26%) Analytical Skills
3 17 (11.26%) Documentation Skills
4 9 (5.96%) Finance
5 3 (1.99%) Aerospace
6 2 (1.32%) Electronics
6 2 (1.32%) Law
6 2 (1.32%) Legal
6 2 (1.32%) Manufacturing
6 2 (1.32%) Marketing
6 2 (1.32%) Military
6 2 (1.32%) Organisational Skills
6 2 (1.32%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 19 (12.58%) Support Engineer
2 13 (8.61%) Desktop Engineer
2 13 (8.61%) Desktop Support
2 13 (8.61%) Desktop Support Engineer
2 13 (8.61%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 11 (7.28%) Architect
4 10 (6.62%) Analyst
4 10 (6.62%) Consultant
5 9 (5.96%) Applications Engineer
5 9 (5.96%) Deployment Engineer
6 8 (5.30%) Field Engineer
6 8 (5.30%) Platform Engineer
6 8 (5.30%) Wintel Engineer
7 7 (4.64%) IT Engineer
8 5 (3.31%) Developer
8 5 (3.31%) SC Cleared Deployment Engineer
8 5 (3.31%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
8 5 (3.31%) Solutions Architect
9 4 (2.65%) Administrator
9 4 (2.65%) Systems Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (16.56%) OAuth
1 25 (16.56%) SAML
2 23 (15.23%) OpenID
3 19 (12.58%) OAuth2
4 5 (3.31%) LDAP
5 3 (1.99%) .NET
5 3 (1.99%) ARM Templates
5 3 (1.99%) Express.js
5 3 (1.99%) React
5 3 (1.99%) SailPoint
6 2 (1.32%) Next.js
6 2 (1.32%) Node.js
6 2 (1.32%) RESTful
6 2 (1.32%) YAML
7 1 (0.66%) SOAP
7 1 (0.66%) Software Packaging
7 1 (0.66%) WCF
7 1 (0.66%) Web Services
7 1 (0.66%) WPF
7 1 (0.66%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 15 (9.93%) PKI
2 9 (5.96%) Hybrid Cloud
3 8 (5.30%) Driving Licence
4 6 (3.97%) Onboarding
4 6 (3.97%) Replication
5 5 (3.31%) Legacy Applications
5 5 (3.31%) Private Cloud
6 4 (2.65%) Cloud Native
6 4 (2.65%) Security Posture
7 3 (1.99%) iPad
7 3 (1.99%) iPhone
7 3 (1.99%) Legacy Systems
7 3 (1.99%) Operational Technology
7 3 (1.99%) Self-Motivation
8 2 (1.32%) Blackberry
8 2 (1.32%) Data Centre
9 1 (0.66%) Device Driver
9 1 (0.66%) Enterprise Software
9 1 (0.66%) Management Information System
9 1 (0.66%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 108 (71.52%) Windows
2 48 (31.79%) Windows 10
2 48 (31.79%) Windows Server
3 20 (13.25%) Linux
4 8 (5.30%) Windows Server 2012
5 7 (4.64%) Apple iOS
6 6 (3.97%) Windows Server 2016
7 5 (3.31%) Android
8 4 (2.65%) Windows Server 2019
9 3 (1.99%) CentOS
9 3 (1.99%) Mac OS
10 2 (1.32%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.66%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 37 (24.50%) ITIL
2 34 (22.52%) Problem-Solving
3 27 (17.88%) RBAC
4 23 (15.23%) Change Management
5 21 (13.91%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 19 (12.58%) Migration
7 18 (11.92%) Customer Service
7 18 (11.92%) DevOps
7 18 (11.92%) Root Cause Analysis
7 18 (11.92%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 17 (11.26%) Agile
9 15 (9.93%) Identity Access Management
10 13 (8.61%) Runbook
10 13 (8.61%) Service Management
11 11 (7.28%) Application Packaging
11 11 (7.28%) Load Balancing
12 10 (6.62%) Identity Management
12 10 (6.62%) Infrastructure as Code
12 10 (6.62%) Knowledge Transfer
13 9 (5.96%) Critical Thinking
Programming Languages
1 59 (39.07%) PowerShell
2 12 (7.95%) SQL
3 10 (6.62%) Bicep
4 8 (5.30%) VBScript
5 7 (4.64%) Python
6 4 (2.65%) JavaScript
6 4 (2.65%) TypeScript
7 3 (1.99%) C#
8 1 (0.66%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 98 (64.90%) Security Cleared
2 62 (41.06%) SC Cleared
3 41 (27.15%) Microsoft Certification
4 26 (17.22%) DV Cleared
5 10 (6.62%) ITIL Certification
5 10 (6.62%) MCSE
6 9 (5.96%) Azure Certification
6 9 (5.96%) Degree
7 7 (4.64%) A+ Certification
8 6 (3.97%) MCSA
9 5 (3.31%) CCNA
9 5 (3.31%) CCNP
9 5 (3.31%) Cisco Certification
9 5 (3.31%) Master's Degree
10 2 (1.32%) CISM
10 2 (1.32%) CISSP
11 1 (0.66%) MCITP
11 1 (0.66%) MCP
11 1 (0.66%) MCTS
11 1 (0.66%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (6.62%) GDPR
1 10 (6.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 4 (2.65%) NCSC
3 2 (1.32%) NIST
3 2 (1.32%) PSD2
3 2 (1.32%) Sarbanes-Oxley
3 2 (1.32%) SLA
3 2 (1.32%) SOC 2
4 1 (0.66%) Government Security Classifications
System Software
1 31 (20.53%) VMware Infrastructure
2 14 (9.27%) Hyper-V
3 12 (7.95%) Virtual Machines
4 8 (5.30%) Microsoft App-V
5 5 (3.31%) Microsoft Virtual Server
5 5 (3.31%) Virtual Servers
5 5 (3.31%) VMware NSX
6 4 (2.65%) Docker
7 3 (1.99%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.66%) Firmware
8 1 (0.66%) UAG
8 1 (0.66%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 30 (19.87%) Single Sign-On
2 29 (19.21%) Active Directory Federation Services
3 28 (18.54%) Microsoft Intune
4 27 (17.88%) SCCM
5 15 (9.93%) WSUS
6 12 (7.95%) vCenter Server
7 11 (7.28%) Terraform
8 5 (3.31%) Kubernetes
9 2 (1.32%) Ansible
9 2 (1.32%) Kibana
9 2 (1.32%) Microsoft Clustering
9 2 (1.32%) NetApp OnCommand
9 2 (1.32%) NetBackup
9 2 (1.32%) PingFederate
9 2 (1.32%) vMotion
10 1 (0.66%) CA Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.66%) Failover Clustering
10 1 (0.66%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.66%) Puppet
10 1 (0.66%) SCOM
Vendors
1 121 (80.13%) Microsoft
2 40 (26.49%) VMware
3 19 (12.58%) Cisco
4 11 (7.28%) SolarWinds
4 11 (7.28%) Veeam
5 5 (3.31%) Splunk
6 4 (2.65%) Citrix
6 4 (2.65%) ForgeRock
6 4 (2.65%) Ping Identity
7 3 (1.99%) Google
7 3 (1.99%) McAfee
7 3 (1.99%) Red Hat
7 3 (1.99%) SAP
7 3 (1.99%) ServiceNow
7 3 (1.99%) Starlink
8 2 (1.32%) CyberArk
8 2 (1.32%) IFS
8 2 (1.32%) Okta
8 2 (1.32%) Oracle
8 2 (1.32%) Salesforce