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

6 months to
30 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 29 16 26
Rank change year-on-year -13 +10 -9
Contract jobs citing Active Directory 165 171 195
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 6.28% 9.06% 6.25%
As % of the System Software category 50.77% 48.86% 52.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 126 125 129
10th Percentile £173 £184 £141
25th Percentile £275 £213 £200
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £504 £425 £300
Median % change year-on-year +18.53% +41.67% -33.33%
75th Percentile £588 £550 £650
90th Percentile £698 £638 £703
England median daily rate £463 £413 £400
% change year-on-year +12.12% +3.13% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 4 22
10th Percentile £41.16 - £14.03
25th Percentile £94.25 £12.50 £15.76
Median hourly rate £195.00 £14.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +1244.83% -63.75% -2.51%
75th Percentile £197.50 £28.50 -
90th Percentile - £50.10 £69.62
England median hourly rate £22.27 £22.30 £18.50
% change year-on-year -0.13% +20.51% -

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 325 350 368
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 12.38% 18.54% 11.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 248 257 239
10th Percentile £220 £210 £170
25th Percentile £423 £400 £263
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% - -
75th Percentile £638 £625 £675
90th Percentile £714 £725 £738
England median daily rate £500 £525 £488
% change year-on-year -4.76% +7.69% -8.02%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 5 45
10th Percentile £61.25 - £14.67
25th Percentile £61.50 £12.50 £40.00
Median hourly rate £66.50 £16.00 £65.98
Median % change year-on-year +315.63% -75.75% +9.97%
75th Percentile £95.00 £58.00 £70.66
90th Percentile £197.50 £61.90 £90.00
England median hourly rate £41.94 £29.00 £40.25
% change year-on-year +44.62% -27.95% +4.55%

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 30 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 30 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 30 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
Wiltshire -12 48 £575 +9.52% 17
Gloucestershire -1 42 £300 -29.41% 16
Somerset +5 33 £475 +90.00% 6
Bristol -30 26 £538 +138.89% 13
Devon +12 14 £275 -15.38% 16
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 38 (23.03%) Microsoft Exchange
2 31 (18.79%) SharePoint
3 7 (4.24%) Skype for Business
4 4 (2.42%) IIS
4 4 (2.42%) SharePoint Server
5 2 (1.21%) Confluence
6 1 (0.61%) nginx
Applications
1 14 (8.48%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (1.82%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (1.21%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 2 (1.21%) Teamcenter
2 1 (0.61%) assyst
2 1 (0.61%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 68 (41.21%) Azure
2 40 (24.24%) Microsoft 365
3 36 (21.82%) Entra ID
4 15 (9.09%) AWS
5 9 (5.45%) GCP
6 7 (4.24%) Azure Monitor
6 7 (4.24%) Azure Sentinel
6 7 (4.24%) OneDrive
7 6 (3.64%) Azure DevOps
7 6 (3.64%) Power Platform
7 6 (3.64%) ShareGate
8 4 (2.42%) Azure AKS
8 4 (2.42%) IaaS
8 4 (2.42%) PaaS
8 4 (2.42%) SaaS
9 3 (1.82%) Azure Key Vault
9 3 (1.82%) OCI
10 2 (1.21%) Azure Logic Apps
10 2 (1.21%) Microsoft Copilot
10 2 (1.21%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 44 (26.67%) DNS
2 29 (17.58%) Firewall
3 21 (12.73%) DHCP
4 17 (10.30%) VPN
5 14 (8.48%) Skype
6 8 (4.85%) Network Security
7 5 (3.03%) TCP/IP
7 5 (3.03%) Unified Communications
8 3 (1.82%) Kerberos
8 3 (1.82%) LAN
8 3 (1.82%) WAN
9 2 (1.21%) NAS
9 2 (1.21%) SAN
9 2 (1.21%) SMTP
10 1 (0.61%) DKIM
10 1 (0.61%) DMARC
10 1 (0.61%) SD-WAN
10 1 (0.61%) VLAN
10 1 (0.61%) VoIP
10 1 (0.61%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (7.88%) SQL Server
2 6 (3.64%) Power BI
3 3 (1.82%) Metadata
4 2 (1.21%) Elasticsearch
4 2 (1.21%) Looker
4 2 (1.21%) MySQL
4 2 (1.21%) Tableau
5 1 (0.61%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 9 (5.45%) MSI
2 7 (4.24%) JIRA
3 5 (3.03%) AdminStudio
3 5 (3.03%) InstallShield
4 3 (1.82%) Git
5 1 (0.61%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.61%) GitLab
5 1 (0.61%) Jenkins
General
1 72 (43.64%) Social Skills
2 19 (11.52%) Analytical Skills
2 19 (11.52%) Public Sector
3 18 (10.91%) Documentation Skills
4 11 (6.67%) Finance
5 3 (1.82%) Aerospace
6 2 (1.21%) Electronics
6 2 (1.21%) Law
6 2 (1.21%) Legal
6 2 (1.21%) Manufacturing
6 2 (1.21%) Marketing
6 2 (1.21%) Military
6 2 (1.21%) Telecoms
7 1 (0.61%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 20 (12.12%) Support Engineer
2 16 (9.70%) Architect
2 16 (9.70%) Desktop Engineer
2 16 (9.70%) Desktop Support
2 16 (9.70%) Desktop Support Engineer
3 14 (8.48%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 13 (7.88%) Analyst
5 10 (6.06%) Consultant
6 9 (5.45%) Applications Engineer
6 9 (5.45%) Deployment Engineer
7 8 (4.85%) Field Engineer
7 8 (4.85%) Platform Engineer
7 8 (4.85%) Wintel Engineer
8 7 (4.24%) IT Engineer
9 6 (3.64%) Solutions Architect
10 5 (3.03%) Developer
10 5 (3.03%) IT Support
10 5 (3.03%) SC Cleared Deployment Engineer
10 5 (3.03%) SC Cleared Desktop Support
10 5 (3.03%) Technical Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (16.36%) OAuth
1 27 (16.36%) SAML
2 25 (15.15%) OpenID
3 21 (12.73%) OAuth2
4 6 (3.64%) LDAP
5 4 (2.42%) ARM Templates
6 3 (1.82%) .NET
6 3 (1.82%) Express.js
6 3 (1.82%) React
6 3 (1.82%) SailPoint
7 2 (1.21%) Next.js
7 2 (1.21%) Node.js
7 2 (1.21%) RESTful
7 2 (1.21%) YAML
8 1 (0.61%) Apache NiFi
8 1 (0.61%) ASP.NET Web API
8 1 (0.61%) Middleware
8 1 (0.61%) Software Packaging
8 1 (0.61%) WCF
8 1 (0.61%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 15 (9.09%) PKI
2 13 (7.88%) Hybrid Cloud
3 12 (7.27%) Driving Licence
4 7 (4.24%) Private Cloud
4 7 (4.24%) Replication
5 5 (3.03%) Cloud Native
5 5 (3.03%) Data Centre
5 5 (3.03%) Legacy Applications
6 4 (2.42%) Onboarding
6 4 (2.42%) Security Posture
7 3 (1.82%) iPad
7 3 (1.82%) iPhone
7 3 (1.82%) Legacy Systems
7 3 (1.82%) Operational Technology
7 3 (1.82%) Self-Motivation
8 1 (0.61%) CMDB
8 1 (0.61%) Data Protection Act
8 1 (0.61%) Enterprise Software
8 1 (0.61%) Management Information System
8 1 (0.61%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 118 (71.52%) Windows
2 54 (32.73%) Windows Server
3 47 (28.48%) Windows 10
4 26 (15.76%) Linux
5 8 (4.85%) Windows Server 2012
6 6 (3.64%) Windows Server 2016
7 4 (2.42%) Windows Server 2019
8 3 (1.82%) Apple iOS
8 3 (1.82%) CentOS
9 2 (1.21%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.61%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 37 (22.42%) Problem-Solving
2 36 (21.82%) ITIL
3 30 (18.18%) RBAC
4 25 (15.15%) Change Management
5 23 (13.94%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 21 (12.73%) Customer Service
7 19 (11.52%) DevOps
7 19 (11.52%) Identity Access Management
7 19 (11.52%) Migration
7 19 (11.52%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 17 (10.30%) Root Cause Analysis
9 16 (9.70%) Agile
10 15 (9.09%) Infrastructure as Code
11 14 (8.48%) Service Management
12 13 (7.88%) Load Balancing
12 13 (7.88%) Runbook
12 13 (7.88%) Technical Leadership
13 11 (6.67%) Identity Management
14 10 (6.06%) Application Packaging
14 10 (6.06%) High Availability
Programming Languages
1 65 (39.39%) PowerShell
2 13 (7.88%) SQL
3 10 (6.06%) Bicep
4 8 (4.85%) VBScript
5 7 (4.24%) Python
6 4 (2.42%) JavaScript
6 4 (2.42%) TypeScript
7 3 (1.82%) C#
8 1 (0.61%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 102 (61.82%) Security Cleared
2 59 (35.76%) SC Cleared
3 43 (26.06%) Microsoft Certification
4 33 (20.00%) DV Cleared
5 11 (6.67%) ITIL Certification
6 10 (6.06%) Azure Certification
7 9 (5.45%) Degree
7 9 (5.45%) MCSE
8 7 (4.24%) A+ Certification
9 5 (3.03%) CCNA
9 5 (3.03%) CCNP
9 5 (3.03%) Cisco Certification
9 5 (3.03%) Master's Degree
9 5 (3.03%) MCSA
10 2 (1.21%) BPSS Clearance
10 2 (1.21%) CISM
10 2 (1.21%) CISSP
11 1 (0.61%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 1 (0.61%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (6.06%) GDPR
1 10 (6.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 4 (2.42%) NCSC
3 3 (1.82%) SLA
4 2 (1.21%) NIST
4 2 (1.21%) PSD2
4 2 (1.21%) Sarbanes-Oxley
4 2 (1.21%) SOC 2
5 1 (0.61%) Government Security Classifications
System Software
1 37 (22.42%) VMware Infrastructure
2 14 (8.48%) Hyper-V
3 12 (7.27%) Virtual Machines
4 8 (4.85%) Microsoft App-V
4 8 (4.85%) VMware NSX
5 5 (3.03%) Docker
5 5 (3.03%) Microsoft Virtual Server
5 5 (3.03%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (2.42%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.61%) Firmware
7 1 (0.61%) UAG
7 1 (0.61%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 35 (21.21%) Active Directory Federation Services
2 33 (20.00%) Single Sign-On
3 28 (16.97%) SCCM
4 27 (16.36%) Microsoft Intune
5 15 (9.09%) WSUS
6 13 (7.88%) Terraform
7 12 (7.27%) vCenter Server
8 7 (4.24%) Kubernetes
9 4 (2.42%) Ansible
10 3 (1.82%) Kibana
11 2 (1.21%) Microsoft Clustering
11 2 (1.21%) NetApp OnCommand
11 2 (1.21%) NetBackup
11 2 (1.21%) PingFederate
11 2 (1.21%) Puppet
11 2 (1.21%) vMotion
12 1 (0.61%) CA Single Sign-On
12 1 (0.61%) Failover Clustering
12 1 (0.61%) Grafana
12 1 (0.61%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 126 (76.36%) Microsoft
2 46 (27.88%) VMware
3 19 (11.52%) Cisco
4 11 (6.67%) SolarWinds
4 11 (6.67%) Veeam
5 5 (3.03%) Splunk
6 4 (2.42%) ForgeRock
6 4 (2.42%) Ping Identity
7 3 (1.82%) Citrix
7 3 (1.82%) Google
7 3 (1.82%) McAfee
7 3 (1.82%) Red Hat
7 3 (1.82%) Starlink
8 2 (1.21%) Commvault
8 2 (1.21%) NetApp
8 2 (1.21%) NetIQ
8 2 (1.21%) Oracle
8 2 (1.21%) Salesforce
8 2 (1.21%) SAP
8 2 (1.21%) Veritas