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 vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 16 September 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 26 24 24
Rank change year-on-year -2 0 +5
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 119 178 218
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the South West 6.07% 6.74% 6.69%
As % of the System Software category 48.57% 40.55% 46.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 91 129 128
10th Percentile £200 £143 £164
25th Percentile £225 £205 £200
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £295 £475 £488
Median % change year-on-year -37.89% -2.56% +21.88%
75th Percentile £531 £600 £582
90th Percentile £588 £675 £675
England median daily rate £425 £450 £400
% change year-on-year -5.56% +12.50% +10.34%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 3 22
10th Percentile - £13.10 -
25th Percentile £57.50 £14.00 £13.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £16.00 £17.23
Median % change year-on-year +306.25% -7.14% -21.68%
75th Percentile £72.50 £54.50 £21.50
90th Percentile - £77.30 £69.62
England median hourly rate £23.00 £20.00 £19.50
% change year-on-year +15.00% +2.58% +11.41%

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 245 439 468
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 12.49% 16.62% 14.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 186 307 305
10th Percentile £213 £195 £200
25th Percentile £290 £461 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £538 £525
Median % change year-on-year -6.98% +2.38% +2.44%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £619
90th Percentile £694 £673 £683
England median daily rate £500 £513 £513
% change year-on-year -2.44% - -2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 9 45
10th Percentile £64.25 £14.90 £13.25
25th Percentile £74.38 £58.00 £18.28
Median hourly rate £85.00 £80.00 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +6.25% +33.33% +23.76%
75th Percentile £95.00 £85.00 £70.65
90th Percentile - £90.50 £78.00
England median hourly rate £36.00 £24.35 £47.86
% change year-on-year +47.84% -49.13% +117.56%

Active Directory
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Job postings citing Active Directory as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the South West.

Job vacancy trend for Active Directory 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 16 September 2025.

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
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 16 September 2025. 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 +23 38 £325 -30.85% 27
Wiltshire -7 24 £538 +4.88% 13
Somerset +8 23 £250 -18.37% 16
Bristol -12 23 £500 +2.56% 19
Devon -10 8 £275 +65.41% 15
Dorset +4 6 £205 -36.92% 4
Avon - 2 £275 - 9
Active Directory
England

Active Directory
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the South West by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 34 (28.57%) Microsoft Exchange
2 25 (21.01%) SharePoint
3 9 (7.56%) Skype for Business
4 6 (5.04%) Confluence
5 4 (3.36%) IIS
6 2 (1.68%) SharePoint Server
7 1 (0.84%) nginx
Applications
1 26 (21.85%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (1.68%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (1.68%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 2 (1.68%) Teamcenter
2 1 (0.84%) assyst
2 1 (0.84%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 38 (31.93%) Microsoft 365
2 28 (23.53%) Azure
3 11 (9.24%) Entra ID
4 6 (5.04%) AWS
5 5 (4.20%) OneDrive
6 4 (3.36%) GCP
7 3 (2.52%) Azure DevOps
7 3 (2.52%) SaaS
8 2 (1.68%) Azure AKS
8 2 (1.68%) Azure Cosmos DB
8 2 (1.68%) Azure Sentinel
8 2 (1.68%) Power Platform
8 2 (1.68%) ShareGate
9 1 (0.84%) IaaS
9 1 (0.84%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 30 (25.21%) DNS
2 18 (15.13%) DHCP
2 18 (15.13%) VPN
3 12 (10.08%) Skype
4 11 (9.24%) VoIP
5 7 (5.88%) Firewall
5 7 (5.88%) LAN
5 7 (5.88%) WAN
6 6 (5.04%) Wi-Fi
7 5 (4.20%) Unified Communications
8 4 (3.36%) VLAN
8 4 (3.36%) VSAN
9 3 (2.52%) NetScaler
10 2 (1.68%) Kerberos
10 2 (1.68%) SMTP
11 1 (0.84%) Cisco IOS
11 1 (0.84%) Network Security
11 1 (0.84%) TCP/IP
11 1 (0.84%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (6.72%) SQL Server
2 2 (1.68%) Elasticsearch
2 2 (1.68%) Metadata
2 2 (1.68%) MySQL
2 2 (1.68%) Power BI
2 2 (1.68%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 11 (9.24%) JIRA
2 8 (6.72%) MSI
3 5 (4.20%) AdminStudio
3 5 (4.20%) InstallShield
4 1 (0.84%) Bitbucket
General
1 45 (37.82%) Social Skills
2 18 (15.13%) Public Sector
3 13 (10.92%) Analytical Skills
4 10 (8.40%) Finance
5 8 (6.72%) Documentation Skills
6 5 (4.20%) Billing
7 3 (2.52%) Manufacturing
8 2 (1.68%) Aerospace
8 2 (1.68%) Law
8 2 (1.68%) Legal
8 2 (1.68%) Military
8 2 (1.68%) Organisational Skills
9 1 (0.84%) Electronics
9 1 (0.84%) Marketing
9 1 (0.84%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 29 (24.37%) Support Engineer
2 16 (13.45%) Desktop Engineer
2 16 (13.45%) Desktop Support
2 16 (13.45%) Desktop Support Engineer
3 12 (10.08%) Deployment Engineer
4 9 (7.56%) Analyst
5 8 (6.72%) Applications Engineer
6 7 (5.88%) IT Engineer
6 7 (5.88%) IT Support
6 7 (5.88%) Technical Support
7 6 (5.04%) Field Engineer
7 6 (5.04%) Platform Engineer
7 6 (5.04%) Technical Engineer
7 6 (5.04%) Technical Support Engineer
7 6 (5.04%) Wintel Engineer
8 5 (4.20%) Consultant
8 5 (4.20%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 5 (4.20%) SC Cleared Deployment Engineer
8 5 (4.20%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
9 4 (3.36%) Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (4.20%) LDAP
2 4 (3.36%) OAuth
2 4 (3.36%) OpenID
2 4 (3.36%) SailPoint
2 4 (3.36%) SAML
3 3 (2.52%) Express.js
3 3 (2.52%) React
4 2 (1.68%) Next.js
4 2 (1.68%) Node.js
4 2 (1.68%) OAuth2
5 1 (0.84%) .NET
5 1 (0.84%) AngularJS
5 1 (0.84%) ASP.NET Web API
5 1 (0.84%) Bootstrap
5 1 (0.84%) Middleware
5 1 (0.84%) SOAP
5 1 (0.84%) Software Packaging
5 1 (0.84%) WCF
5 1 (0.84%) WPF
5 1 (0.84%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 13 (10.92%) PKI
2 8 (6.72%) Enterprise Software
3 6 (5.04%) Driving Licence
4 5 (4.20%) Legacy Applications
5 4 (3.36%) Self-Motivation
6 3 (2.52%) iPad
6 3 (2.52%) iPhone
7 2 (1.68%) Blackberry
7 2 (1.68%) Cloud Native
7 2 (1.68%) Legacy Systems
7 2 (1.68%) Onboarding
7 2 (1.68%) Operational Technology
8 1 (0.84%) Cyber Threat
8 1 (0.84%) Data Centre
8 1 (0.84%) FMCG
8 1 (0.84%) Management Information System
8 1 (0.84%) NHS
8 1 (0.84%) Reinsurance
8 1 (0.84%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 82 (68.91%) Windows
2 46 (38.66%) Windows 10
3 23 (19.33%) Windows Server
4 13 (10.92%) Linux
5 11 (9.24%) Windows Server 2012
6 8 (6.72%) Android
7 7 (5.88%) Apple iOS
8 6 (5.04%) Mac OS
9 4 (3.36%) Windows Server 2016
10 2 (1.68%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (1.68%) Ubuntu
10 2 (1.68%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.84%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 35 (29.41%) ITIL
2 25 (21.01%) Customer Service
3 20 (16.81%) Agile
4 19 (15.97%) Problem-Solving
5 15 (12.61%) Root Cause Analysis
6 13 (10.92%) Service Delivery
6 13 (10.92%) Service Management
7 12 (10.08%) ITSM
7 12 (10.08%) Migration
8 10 (8.40%) Collaborative Working
8 10 (8.40%) DevOps
9 8 (6.72%) Application Packaging
9 8 (6.72%) Critical Thinking
10 7 (5.88%) Case Management
10 7 (5.88%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 7 (5.88%) Knowledge Transfer
11 6 (5.04%) Antivirus Management
11 6 (5.04%) Platform Engineering
11 6 (5.04%) Runbook
11 6 (5.04%) System Testing
Programming Languages
1 23 (19.33%) PowerShell
2 11 (9.24%) SQL
3 7 (5.88%) VBScript
4 2 (1.68%) Bicep
4 2 (1.68%) TypeScript
5 1 (0.84%) C#
5 1 (0.84%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 67 (56.30%) Security Cleared
2 50 (42.02%) SC Cleared
3 19 (15.97%) Microsoft Certification
4 16 (13.45%) Degree
5 15 (12.61%) DV Cleared
6 8 (6.72%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 8 (6.72%) MCSE
7 7 (5.88%) A+ Certification
7 7 (5.88%) ITIL Certification
8 6 (5.04%) MCSA
9 4 (3.36%) CCNA
9 4 (3.36%) CCNP
9 4 (3.36%) Cisco Certification
9 4 (3.36%) Master's Degree
10 2 (1.68%) CISM
10 2 (1.68%) CISSP
10 2 (1.68%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 1 (0.84%) MCITP
11 1 (0.84%) MCP
11 1 (0.84%) MCTS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (10.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 10 (8.40%) SLA
3 6 (5.04%) GDPR
4 2 (1.68%) NIST
4 2 (1.68%) SOC 2
5 1 (0.84%) HIPAA
5 1 (0.84%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 33 (27.73%) VMware Infrastructure
2 8 (6.72%) Virtual Machines
3 7 (5.88%) Microsoft App-V
3 7 (5.88%) VMware ESXi
3 7 (5.88%) VMware NSX
4 5 (4.20%) Hyper-V
4 5 (4.20%) Microsoft Virtual Server
4 5 (4.20%) Virtual Servers
5 4 (3.36%) vSphere
6 3 (2.52%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (2.52%) XenDesktop
7 2 (1.68%) Docker
Systems Management
1 26 (21.85%) SCCM
2 24 (20.17%) Microsoft Intune
3 11 (9.24%) WSUS
4 10 (8.40%) vCenter Server
5 7 (5.88%) Single Sign-On
6 6 (5.04%) VxRail
7 4 (3.36%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 4 (3.36%) Kubernetes
8 3 (2.52%) AppManager
8 3 (2.52%) vRealize
9 2 (1.68%) Kibana
9 2 (1.68%) Microsoft Clustering
9 2 (1.68%) Nessus
9 2 (1.68%) NetApp OnCommand
9 2 (1.68%) PingFederate
9 2 (1.68%) vMotion
10 1 (0.84%) AirWatch
10 1 (0.84%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.84%) Packer
10 1 (0.84%) Terraform
Vendors
1 82 (68.91%) Microsoft
2 36 (30.25%) VMware
3 17 (14.29%) ServiceNow
4 16 (13.45%) Cisco
5 11 (9.24%) Citrix
6 8 (6.72%) Veeam
7 7 (5.88%) SolarWinds
8 6 (5.04%) Ivanti
9 5 (4.20%) Remedy
10 4 (3.36%) Splunk
11 3 (2.52%) Infoblox
11 3 (2.52%) McAfee
11 3 (2.52%) Starlink
12 2 (1.68%) Atlassian
12 2 (1.68%) CyberArk
12 2 (1.68%) HP
12 2 (1.68%) Meraki
12 2 (1.68%) Ping Identity
12 2 (1.68%) PTC
12 2 (1.68%) Salesforce