Active Directory Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Microsoft Active Directory
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Active Directory skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 56 36 28
Rank change year-on-year -20 -8 +15
Permanent jobs citing Active Directory 1,756 1,611 4,221
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 3.37% 5.71% 7.29%
As % of the System Software category 61.64% 44.02% 50.47%
Number of salaries quoted 1,276 1,169 3,680
10th Percentile £26,250 £25,500 £24,000
25th Percentile £28,250 £28,500 £27,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £33,875 £37,500 £35,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.67% +7.14% -2.78%
75th Percentile £47,250 £50,000 £48,750
90th Percentile £59,750 £60,000 £57,500
UK median annual salary £37,500 £42,000 £39,000
% change year-on-year -10.71% +7.69% -2.50%

All System Software Skills
UK excluding London

Active Directory falls under the System Software category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring system software skills in the UK excluding London.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 2,849 3,660 8,363
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 5.46% 12.98% 14.43%
Number of salaries quoted 2,052 2,485 6,978
10th Percentile £26,500 £26,925 £25,760
25th Percentile £30,500 £33,125 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £50,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -15.00% +11.11% -5.26%
75th Percentile £62,500 £70,000 £61,250
90th Percentile £75,000 £85,000 £75,000
UK median annual salary £50,000 £57,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -13.04% +15.00% -9.09%

Active Directory
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Active Directory relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Active Directory job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Active Directory
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Active Directory.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Active Directory in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 10 March 2026.

Salary histogram for Active Directory in the UK excluding London

Active Directory
Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Active Directory within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 10 March 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
South East +7 504 £36,000 -15.29% 198
North of England -19 375 £33,000 -5.71% 130
Midlands -27 270 £32,500 -7.14% 77
South West -2 268 £32,500 -8.45% 60
Yorkshire -18 175 £32,500 +8.33% 39
East of England -24 167 £35,340 +8.74% 58
North West -29 158 £37,500 -6.25% 78
East Midlands -9 145 £30,000 -0.83% 34
West Midlands -42 124 £33,500 -16.25% 43
Scotland +11 106 £27,500 -21.43% 30
North East -11 42 £31,500 -10.00% 20
Wales +9 41 £35,000 -28.72% 10
Northern Ireland -24 19 £32,000 -39.05% 4
Isle of Man +6 6 £45,000 +55.17% 1
Active Directory
UK

Active Directory
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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
1 497 (28.30%) Microsoft Exchange
2 340 (19.36%) SharePoint
3 23 (1.31%) Exchange Server 2003
4 13 (0.74%) Confluence
4 13 (0.74%) Exchange Server 2013
5 11 (0.63%) Exchange Server 2007
5 11 (0.63%) Exchange Server 2010
5 11 (0.63%) IIS
6 6 (0.34%) CMS
7 3 (0.17%) Apache
7 3 (0.17%) Tomcat
7 3 (0.17%) WebLogic
7 3 (0.17%) WebLogic Portal
8 2 (0.11%) Skype for Business
8 2 (0.11%) WordPress
9 1 (0.057%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 268 (15.26%) Microsoft Office
2 40 (2.28%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (0.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.17%) AutoCAD
4 3 (0.17%) CATIA
5 1 (0.057%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 16 (0.91%) Oracle ERP
2 13 (0.74%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.40%) NetSuite
4 6 (0.34%) Remedy ITSM
5 5 (0.28%) Dynamics NAV
5 5 (0.28%) Primavera
6 4 (0.23%) Dynamics GP
6 4 (0.23%) Markit EDM
7 3 (0.17%) Oracle EBS
8 2 (0.11%) Alphatax
8 2 (0.11%) Exchequer
8 2 (0.11%) Shopify
9 1 (0.057%) Cognos Business Intelligence
9 1 (0.057%) Dynamics AX
9 1 (0.057%) Sage 200
9 1 (0.057%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 1,245 (70.90%) Microsoft 365
2 958 (54.56%) Azure
3 615 (35.02%) Entra ID
4 133 (7.57%) OneDrive
5 132 (7.52%) AWS
6 102 (5.81%) Google Workspace
7 85 (4.84%) SaaS
8 70 (3.99%) Power Platform
9 38 (2.16%) IaaS
10 34 (1.94%) Azure DevOps
10 34 (1.94%) Azure Monitor
10 34 (1.94%) GCP
11 32 (1.82%) PaaS
12 28 (1.59%) Nutanix
13 26 (1.48%) Mimecast
14 24 (1.37%) OCI
14 24 (1.37%) PowerApps
15 22 (1.25%) GitHub
16 20 (1.14%) Microsoft Purview
17 19 (1.08%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 621 (35.36%) DNS
2 584 (33.26%) DHCP
3 416 (23.69%) Firewall
4 275 (15.66%) VPN
5 235 (13.38%) TCP/IP
6 191 (10.88%) VLAN
7 174 (9.91%) WAN
8 171 (9.74%) LAN
9 142 (8.09%) Wi-Fi
10 89 (5.07%) VoIP
11 74 (4.21%) Wireless
12 58 (3.30%) Network Security
12 58 (3.30%) Remote Desktop
13 46 (2.62%) Broadband
14 43 (2.45%) SAN
15 27 (1.54%) SD-WAN
16 18 (1.03%) Internet
16 18 (1.03%) Unified Communications
17 15 (0.85%) Ethernet
17 15 (0.85%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 90 (5.13%) Amazon RDS
2 68 (3.87%) SQL Server
3 39 (2.22%) Power BI
4 26 (1.48%) Oracle Database
5 23 (1.31%) Oracle Database 10g
6 20 (1.14%) PostgreSQL
7 19 (1.08%) MySQL
8 10 (0.57%) Azure SQL Database
9 9 (0.51%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 8 (0.46%) GIS
11 6 (0.34%) Data Warehouse
12 5 (0.28%) Relational Database
13 3 (0.17%) Data Mining
13 3 (0.17%) Oracle Discoverer
13 3 (0.17%) Oracle Reports
14 2 (0.11%) DTS
14 2 (0.11%) NoSQL
15 1 (0.057%) Cognos Connection
15 1 (0.057%) Cognos Framework Manager
15 1 (0.057%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 69 (3.93%) JIRA
2 19 (1.08%) Jenkins
2 19 (1.08%) Oracle Forms
3 17 (0.97%) Git
4 7 (0.40%) GitLab
5 5 (0.28%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 4 (0.23%) LabVIEW
7 3 (0.17%) Oracle APEX
7 3 (0.17%) Subversion
8 2 (0.11%) Visual Studio
9 1 (0.057%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.057%) Metasploit
General
1 805 (45.84%) Social Skills
2 188 (10.71%) Analytical Skills
3 160 (9.11%) Organisational Skills
4 144 (8.20%) Finance
5 76 (4.33%) Manufacturing
6 63 (3.59%) Retail
7 60 (3.42%) Documentation Skills
8 48 (2.73%) Law
9 47 (2.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 43 (2.45%) Legal
11 39 (2.22%) Advertising
12 37 (2.11%) Games
13 33 (1.88%) Public Sector
14 29 (1.65%) Telecoms
15 19 (1.08%) Marketing
16 10 (0.57%) Local Government
17 8 (0.46%) Aerospace
18 5 (0.28%) Automotive
19 4 (0.23%) French Language
19 4 (0.23%) German Language
Job Titles
1 705 (40.15%) IT Support
2 482 (27.45%) Support Engineer
3 391 (22.27%) IT Engineer
4 340 (19.36%) IT Support Engineer
5 237 (13.50%) Analyst
6 177 (10.08%) 2nd Line Support
7 175 (9.97%) Support Technician
8 172 (9.79%) Support Analyst
9 152 (8.66%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 138 (7.86%) Senior
11 133 (7.57%) IT Analyst
12 129 (7.35%) IT Technician
13 123 (7.00%) IT Support Technician
14 116 (6.61%) IT Support Analyst
15 113 (6.44%) Systems Engineer
16 95 (5.41%) 3rd Line Support
17 94 (5.35%) 2nd Line Engineer
18 86 (4.90%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
19 82 (4.67%) 1st Line Support
20 63 (3.59%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 55 (3.13%) SOAP
2 52 (2.96%) SAML
3 48 (2.73%) OAuth
3 48 (2.73%) OpenID
4 47 (2.68%) LDAP
5 44 (2.51%) REST
6 39 (2.22%) GraphQL
7 26 (1.48%) JSON
7 26 (1.48%) XML
8 21 (1.20%) RESTful
9 17 (0.97%) .NET
10 11 (0.63%) ARM Templates
11 10 (0.57%) CSS
11 10 (0.57%) HTML
11 10 (0.57%) React
12 9 (0.51%) .NET Framework
12 9 (0.51%) OAuth2
13 6 (0.34%) Web Services
14 5 (0.28%) FreeSWITCH
15 4 (0.23%) Razor View Engine
Miscellaneous
1 276 (15.72%) Driving Licence
2 116 (6.61%) Onboarding
3 79 (4.50%) Self-Motivation
4 78 (4.44%) Legacy Systems
5 61 (3.47%) Enterprise Software
6 43 (2.45%) Hybrid Cloud
7 42 (2.39%) Cyberattack
8 41 (2.33%) Cyber Threat
9 31 (1.77%) Cloud Native
9 31 (1.77%) Management Information System
9 31 (1.77%) Replication
10 29 (1.65%) Data Centre
11 25 (1.42%) Public Cloud
12 21 (1.20%) CMDB
13 17 (0.97%) Client/Server
14 15 (0.85%) PKI
15 14 (0.80%) Clustering
15 14 (0.80%) iPad
15 14 (0.80%) Video Conferencing
16 13 (0.74%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 1,246 (70.96%) Windows
2 740 (42.14%) Windows Server
3 293 (16.69%) Windows 10
4 197 (11.22%) Linux
5 131 (7.46%) Windows Server 2016
6 92 (5.24%) Mac OS
7 77 (4.38%) Apple iOS
8 75 (4.27%) Android
9 53 (3.02%) Windows Server 2019
10 42 (2.39%) Windows 7
11 33 (1.88%) Windows Server 2012
12 32 (1.82%) Windows Server 2008
13 28 (1.59%) Unix
14 23 (1.31%) HPUX
14 23 (1.31%) Solaris
14 23 (1.31%) Windows Server 2003
15 12 (0.68%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
15 12 (0.68%) Windows 8
16 7 (0.40%) VMS
17 6 (0.34%) CentOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 630 (35.88%) Problem-Solving
2 524 (29.84%) Customer Service
3 418 (23.80%) ITIL
4 257 (14.64%) Cybersecurity
5 216 (12.30%) Mentoring
6 199 (11.33%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 194 (11.05%) Continuous Improvement
8 175 (9.97%) ITSM
9 160 (9.11%) Service Delivery
10 144 (8.20%) Disaster Recovery
11 133 (7.57%) Migration
12 125 (7.12%) Incident Management
13 122 (6.95%) Coaching
14 114 (6.49%) Vulnerability Remediation
15 97 (5.52%) Asset Management
16 95 (5.41%) Identity Access Management
16 95 (5.41%) Kalman Filter
17 94 (5.35%) Agile
18 93 (5.30%) Web Filtering
19 90 (5.13%) Customer Experience
Programming Languages
1 301 (17.14%) PowerShell
2 125 (7.12%) SQL
3 79 (4.50%) Bash
4 56 (3.19%) Python
5 49 (2.79%) T-SQL
6 22 (1.25%) Perl
7 20 (1.14%) Shell Script
8 19 (1.08%) PL/SQL
9 18 (1.03%) Java
9 18 (1.03%) JavaScript
10 14 (0.80%) C#
11 8 (0.46%) R
11 8 (0.46%) VB
12 5 (0.28%) Bicep
12 5 (0.28%) VBA
13 2 (0.11%) C
13 2 (0.11%) Groovy
13 2 (0.11%) TypeScript
14 1 (0.057%) Korn
14 1 (0.057%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 223 (12.70%) Security Cleared
2 173 (9.85%) SC Cleared
3 162 (9.23%) Degree
4 155 (8.83%) Microsoft Certification
5 73 (4.16%) DV Cleared
6 46 (2.62%) DBS Check
7 44 (2.51%) Azure Certification
8 37 (2.11%) Cisco Certification
9 36 (2.05%) A+ Certification
10 33 (1.88%) Microsoft Certified Professional
11 31 (1.77%) CCNA
12 22 (1.25%) Network+ Certification
13 21 (1.20%) ITIL Certification
13 21 (1.20%) MCSE
14 19 (1.08%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 17 (0.97%) HNC
16 16 (0.91%) MCSA
17 15 (0.85%) HND
18 12 (0.68%) CCNP
19 11 (0.63%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 149 (8.49%) SLA
2 144 (8.20%) Cyber Essentials
3 84 (4.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 80 (4.56%) PCI DSS
5 52 (2.96%) NIST
6 42 (2.39%) GDPR
7 39 (2.22%) NCSC
8 26 (1.48%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 15 (0.85%) QA
10 9 (0.51%) Accessibility
11 8 (0.46%) Data Quality
12 5 (0.28%) PMO
13 4 (0.23%) 21 CFR Part 11
13 4 (0.23%) GxP
13 4 (0.23%) ISO 22301
13 4 (0.23%) ITGC
13 4 (0.23%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 2 (0.11%) Disclosure Scotland
15 1 (0.057%) GRC
15 1 (0.057%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 349 (19.87%) Hyper-V
2 248 (14.12%) VMware Infrastructure
3 74 (4.21%) Terminal Server
4 42 (2.39%) vSphere
5 39 (2.22%) VMware ESXi
6 38 (2.16%) Virtual Desktop
7 23 (1.31%) Virtual Machines
8 15 (0.85%) BitLocker
8 15 (0.85%) Docker
9 11 (0.63%) Firmware
9 11 (0.63%) VMware Workstation
10 9 (0.51%) VMware NSX
11 8 (0.46%) XenApp
12 6 (0.34%) DFS Replication
13 4 (0.23%) Terminal Services
13 4 (0.23%) Virtual Servers
14 3 (0.17%) Citrix Hypervisor
14 3 (0.17%) Lustre
14 3 (0.17%) Slurm Workload Manager
15 2 (0.11%) Samba
Systems Management
1 362 (20.62%) Microsoft Intune
2 138 (7.86%) SCCM
3 46 (2.62%) Single Sign-On
4 44 (2.51%) vCenter Server
5 42 (2.39%) Terraform
6 32 (1.82%) Jamf Pro
7 18 (1.03%) Autotask
7 18 (1.03%) FortiGate
8 17 (0.97%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 17 (0.97%) Ansible
9 15 (0.85%) WSUS
10 12 (0.68%) Kubernetes
11 11 (0.63%) SCOM
12 10 (0.57%) ZABBIX
13 9 (0.51%) Backup Exec
14 7 (0.40%) Proxmox
15 6 (0.34%) Failover Clustering
15 6 (0.34%) Nagios
15 6 (0.34%) SmoothWall
15 6 (0.34%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 1,269 (72.27%) Microsoft
2 459 (26.14%) VMware
3 159 (9.05%) Veeam
4 112 (6.38%) SolarWinds
5 97 (5.52%) Nimble Storage
6 94 (5.35%) Cisco
7 91 (5.18%) Apple
8 88 (5.01%) Citrix
9 87 (4.95%) Splunk
10 83 (4.73%) Google
11 76 (4.33%) ServiceNow
12 74 (4.21%) Tanium
13 72 (4.10%) Brocade
14 63 (3.59%) HP
15 49 (2.79%) Dell
16 48 (2.73%) Oracle
17 34 (1.94%) Meraki
18 25 (1.42%) Dell Compellent
18 25 (1.42%) SonicWALL
19 21 (1.20%) Fortinet