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 17 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 52 37 27
Rank change year-on-year -15 -10 +13
Permanent jobs citing Active Directory 1,785 1,775 3,711
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 3.72% 5.51% 7.38%
As % of the System Software category 61.96% 43.08% 49.24%
Number of salaries quoted 1,238 1,085 3,294
10th Percentile £26,250 £25,750 £24,250
25th Percentile £28,000 £29,000 £27,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £34,000 £37,500 £35,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.33% +7.14% -4.11%
75th Percentile £47,500 £52,500 £48,750
90th Percentile £60,000 £61,250 £57,500
UK median annual salary £37,500 £42,500 £40,000
% change year-on-year -11.76% +6.25% -

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 2,881 4,120 7,536
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 6.00% 12.79% 14.98%
Number of salaries quoted 2,016 2,380 6,346
10th Percentile £26,500 £27,500 £26,000
25th Percentile £30,500 £35,000 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £51,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -17.48% +14.44% -5.26%
75th Percentile £62,500 £70,000 £61,250
90th Percentile £76,250 £85,000 £75,000
UK median annual salary £50,860 £57,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -11.55% +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 17 February 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 17 February 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 +17 485 £36,000 -15.29% 241
North of England -25 372 £33,750 -10.00% 126
South West +7 297 £32,500 -2.99% 77
Midlands -22 267 £31,500 -14.86% 82
East of England -16 179 £32,500 -2.99% 68
North West -10 168 £37,500 -6.25% 65
Yorkshire -19 163 £32,500 - 50
East Midlands +4 159 £29,000 -6.45% 34
Scotland +12 120 £27,750 -25.00% 28
West Midlands -50 107 £32,500 -18.75% 48
Wales +5 44 £35,000 -27.91% 11
North East -10 41 £31,500 -12.50% 17
Northern Ireland -18 20 £32,000 -39.05% 3
Isle of Man +9 3 £45,000 +91.49% 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
1 514 (28.80%) Microsoft Exchange
2 330 (18.49%) SharePoint
3 24 (1.34%) Exchange Server 2003
4 14 (0.78%) Confluence
5 13 (0.73%) IIS
6 12 (0.67%) Exchange Server 2013
7 10 (0.56%) Exchange Server 2007
7 10 (0.56%) Exchange Server 2010
8 4 (0.22%) CMS
8 4 (0.22%) Skype for Business
9 3 (0.17%) Tomcat
9 3 (0.17%) WebLogic
9 3 (0.17%) WebLogic Portal
10 2 (0.11%) FactoryTalk
10 2 (0.11%) WinCC
10 2 (0.11%) WordPress
11 1 (0.056%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 272 (15.24%) Microsoft Office
2 35 (1.96%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.22%) CATIA
5 3 (0.17%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.056%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.056%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 19 (1.06%) Oracle ERP
2 16 (0.90%) Dynamics CRM
3 6 (0.34%) NetSuite
3 6 (0.34%) Remedy ITSM
4 4 (0.22%) Dynamics NAV
4 4 (0.22%) Markit EDM
5 3 (0.17%) Oracle EBS
5 3 (0.17%) Primavera
6 2 (0.11%) Alphatax
6 2 (0.11%) Dynamics GP
6 2 (0.11%) Shopify
7 1 (0.056%) Cognos Business Intelligence
7 1 (0.056%) Dynamics AX
7 1 (0.056%) Sage 200
Cloud Services
1 1,256 (70.36%) Microsoft 365
2 993 (55.63%) Azure
3 597 (33.45%) Entra ID
4 133 (7.45%) OneDrive
5 127 (7.11%) AWS
6 101 (5.66%) Google Workspace
7 88 (4.93%) SaaS
8 65 (3.64%) Power Platform
9 37 (2.07%) Azure DevOps
10 34 (1.90%) Azure Monitor
10 34 (1.90%) IaaS
11 33 (1.85%) GCP
12 28 (1.57%) GitHub
12 28 (1.57%) PaaS
12 28 (1.57%) PowerApps
13 27 (1.51%) OCI
14 24 (1.34%) Azure Logic Apps
14 24 (1.34%) Nutanix
15 21 (1.18%) Power Automate
16 20 (1.12%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 663 (37.14%) DNS
2 627 (35.13%) DHCP
3 413 (23.14%) Firewall
4 267 (14.96%) VPN
5 244 (13.67%) TCP/IP
6 182 (10.20%) VLAN
7 166 (9.30%) WAN
8 163 (9.13%) LAN
9 128 (7.17%) Wi-Fi
10 83 (4.65%) VoIP
11 77 (4.31%) Wireless
12 53 (2.97%) Remote Desktop
13 52 (2.91%) Network Security
14 46 (2.58%) Broadband
14 46 (2.58%) SAN
15 26 (1.46%) SD-WAN
16 21 (1.18%) Internet
17 17 (0.95%) Unified Communications
18 16 (0.90%) Ethernet
19 15 (0.84%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 130 (7.28%) Amazon RDS
2 58 (3.25%) SQL Server
3 33 (1.85%) Power BI
4 27 (1.51%) Oracle Database
5 24 (1.34%) Oracle Database 10g
6 16 (0.90%) MySQL
7 11 (0.62%) Azure SQL Database
7 11 (0.62%) PostgreSQL
8 9 (0.50%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 7 (0.39%) GIS
10 6 (0.34%) Data Warehouse
10 6 (0.34%) Relational Database
11 4 (0.22%) DTS
12 3 (0.17%) Data Mining
12 3 (0.17%) Oracle Discoverer
12 3 (0.17%) Oracle Reports
13 2 (0.11%) NoSQL
14 1 (0.056%) Cognos Connection
14 1 (0.056%) Cognos Event Studio
14 1 (0.056%) Cognos Framework Manager
Development Applications
1 72 (4.03%) JIRA
2 25 (1.40%) Jenkins
3 22 (1.23%) Git
3 22 (1.23%) Oracle Forms
4 7 (0.39%) GitLab
5 4 (0.22%) LabVIEW
5 4 (0.22%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 3 (0.17%) Oracle APEX
6 3 (0.17%) Subversion
7 2 (0.11%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.056%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.056%) Metasploit
General
1 876 (49.08%) Social Skills
2 228 (12.77%) Analytical Skills
3 148 (8.29%) Organisational Skills
4 147 (8.24%) Finance
5 79 (4.43%) Manufacturing
6 65 (3.64%) Retail
7 62 (3.47%) Documentation Skills
8 59 (3.31%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 59 (3.31%) Law
9 38 (2.13%) Advertising
9 38 (2.13%) Legal
10 36 (2.02%) Public Sector
11 35 (1.96%) Games
12 25 (1.40%) Telecoms
13 22 (1.23%) Marketing
14 15 (0.84%) French Language
14 15 (0.84%) Swedish Language
15 8 (0.45%) Aerospace
15 8 (0.45%) Local Government
16 4 (0.22%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 680 (38.10%) IT Support
2 458 (25.66%) Support Engineer
3 380 (21.29%) IT Engineer
4 325 (18.21%) IT Support Engineer
5 230 (12.89%) Analyst
6 182 (10.20%) 2nd Line Support
7 167 (9.36%) Support Analyst
8 159 (8.91%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 154 (8.63%) Support Technician
10 149 (8.35%) Systems Engineer
11 137 (7.68%) Senior
12 136 (7.62%) IT Analyst
13 119 (6.67%) IT Support Analyst
14 105 (5.88%) IT Technician
15 103 (5.77%) IT Support Technician
16 100 (5.60%) 3rd Line Support
17 95 (5.32%) 2nd Line Engineer
18 89 (4.99%) 1st Line Support
19 85 (4.76%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
20 71 (3.98%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 59 (3.31%) SOAP
2 53 (2.97%) SAML
3 50 (2.80%) OAuth
3 50 (2.80%) OpenID
4 48 (2.69%) LDAP
5 44 (2.46%) REST
6 40 (2.24%) GraphQL
7 27 (1.51%) JSON
7 27 (1.51%) XML
8 24 (1.34%) RESTful
9 19 (1.06%) .NET
10 14 (0.78%) ARM Templates
11 12 (0.67%) CSS
11 12 (0.67%) HTML
11 12 (0.67%) React
12 10 (0.56%) OAuth2
13 9 (0.50%) .NET Framework
14 6 (0.34%) Web Services
15 5 (0.28%) Microsoft Graph
16 4 (0.22%) FreeSWITCH
Miscellaneous
1 270 (15.13%) Driving Licence
2 129 (7.23%) Onboarding
3 118 (6.61%) Legacy Systems
4 82 (4.59%) Self-Motivation
5 65 (3.64%) Enterprise Software
6 43 (2.41%) Cyberattack
7 41 (2.30%) Cyber Threat
8 40 (2.24%) Hybrid Cloud
9 35 (1.96%) Data Centre
10 33 (1.85%) Cloud Native
11 32 (1.79%) Management Information System
12 29 (1.62%) Replication
13 22 (1.23%) Public Cloud
14 18 (1.01%) iPad
14 18 (1.01%) Video Conferencing
15 16 (0.90%) Client/Server
16 15 (0.84%) CMDB
17 14 (0.78%) Clustering
17 14 (0.78%) PKI
18 13 (0.73%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 1,258 (70.48%) Windows
2 787 (44.09%) Windows Server
3 268 (15.01%) Windows 10
4 229 (12.83%) Linux
5 167 (9.36%) Windows Server 2016
6 94 (5.27%) Mac OS
7 72 (4.03%) Apple iOS
8 68 (3.81%) Android
9 64 (3.59%) Windows Server 2019
10 39 (2.18%) Windows 7
11 34 (1.90%) Windows Server 2008
11 34 (1.90%) Windows Server 2012
12 29 (1.62%) Unix
13 24 (1.34%) HPUX
13 24 (1.34%) Solaris
13 24 (1.34%) Windows Server 2003
14 12 (0.67%) VMS
15 10 (0.56%) Windows 8
16 6 (0.34%) CentOS
16 6 (0.34%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 671 (37.59%) Problem-Solving
2 560 (31.37%) Customer Service
3 392 (21.96%) ITIL
4 245 (13.73%) Cybersecurity
5 240 (13.45%) Mentoring
6 206 (11.54%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 201 (11.26%) Continuous Improvement
8 184 (10.31%) Migration
9 180 (10.08%) ITSM
10 150 (8.40%) Service Delivery
11 147 (8.24%) Vulnerability Remediation
12 138 (7.73%) Coaching
13 130 (7.28%) Disaster Recovery
13 130 (7.28%) Kalman Filter
14 128 (7.17%) Web Filtering
15 126 (7.06%) Customer Experience
16 119 (6.67%) Incident Management
17 116 (6.50%) Email Filtering
18 114 (6.39%) Vulnerability Scanning
19 105 (5.88%) Asset Management
Programming Languages
1 304 (17.03%) PowerShell
2 138 (7.73%) SQL
3 78 (4.37%) Bash
4 57 (3.19%) Python
5 50 (2.80%) T-SQL
6 22 (1.23%) Perl
6 22 (1.23%) PL/SQL
7 21 (1.18%) Java
7 21 (1.18%) Shell Script
8 20 (1.12%) JavaScript
9 16 (0.90%) C#
10 10 (0.56%) VB
11 6 (0.34%) Bicep
12 5 (0.28%) R
12 5 (0.28%) VBA
13 2 (0.11%) Groovy
13 2 (0.11%) TypeScript
14 1 (0.056%) PHP
14 1 (0.056%) VB.NET
14 1 (0.056%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 255 (14.29%) Security Cleared
2 209 (11.71%) SC Cleared
3 163 (9.13%) Degree
3 163 (9.13%) Microsoft Certification
4 67 (3.75%) DV Cleared
5 54 (3.03%) DBS Check
6 46 (2.58%) Azure Certification
7 38 (2.13%) A+ Certification
8 36 (2.02%) Cisco Certification
9 33 (1.85%) MCSE
10 32 (1.79%) Microsoft Certified Professional
11 29 (1.62%) CCNA
12 23 (1.29%) Network+ Certification
13 21 (1.18%) ITIL Certification
14 18 (1.01%) HND
15 17 (0.95%) HNC
16 16 (0.90%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
17 13 (0.73%) MCSA
18 11 (0.62%) CCNP
19 10 (0.56%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 170 (9.52%) Cyber Essentials
2 131 (7.34%) SLA
3 120 (6.72%) PCI DSS
4 84 (4.71%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 52 (2.91%) NIST
6 50 (2.80%) GDPR
7 40 (2.24%) NCSC
8 15 (0.84%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 12 (0.67%) QA
10 8 (0.45%) Accessibility
10 8 (0.45%) Data Quality
11 4 (0.22%) 21 CFR Part 11
11 4 (0.22%) GxP
11 4 (0.22%) ISO 22301
11 4 (0.22%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.17%) PMO
13 2 (0.11%) Disclosure Scotland
13 2 (0.11%) ITGC
14 1 (0.056%) GRC
14 1 (0.056%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 383 (21.46%) Hyper-V
2 244 (13.67%) VMware Infrastructure
3 114 (6.39%) Terminal Server
4 46 (2.58%) Virtual Desktop
5 42 (2.35%) vSphere
6 41 (2.30%) VMware ESXi
7 24 (1.34%) Virtual Machines
8 14 (0.78%) Docker
9 13 (0.73%) Firmware
10 11 (0.62%) BitLocker
11 9 (0.50%) VMware NSX
11 9 (0.50%) VMware Workstation
12 7 (0.39%) Virtual Servers
13 6 (0.34%) XenApp
14 4 (0.22%) Terminal Services
15 3 (0.17%) DFS Replication
15 3 (0.17%) Lustre
15 3 (0.17%) Slurm Workload Manager
16 1 (0.056%) Microsoft Virtual Server
16 1 (0.056%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 364 (20.39%) Microsoft Intune
2 130 (7.28%) SCCM
3 52 (2.91%) Terraform
4 46 (2.58%) Single Sign-On
5 43 (2.41%) vCenter Server
6 29 (1.62%) Jamf Pro
7 20 (1.12%) Autotask
8 19 (1.06%) Ansible
9 18 (1.01%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 18 (1.01%) WSUS
10 16 (0.90%) FortiGate
11 15 (0.84%) Kubernetes
12 11 (0.62%) SCOM
13 10 (0.56%) ZABBIX
14 9 (0.50%) Backup Exec
14 9 (0.50%) Failover Clustering
15 8 (0.45%) Nagios
16 7 (0.39%) SCVMM
17 6 (0.34%) Proxmox
17 6 (0.34%) SmoothWall
Vendors
1 1,308 (73.28%) Microsoft
2 491 (27.51%) VMware
3 200 (11.20%) Veeam
4 153 (8.57%) SolarWinds
5 134 (7.51%) Nimble Storage
6 127 (7.11%) Splunk
7 116 (6.50%) Tanium
8 112 (6.27%) Brocade
9 98 (5.49%) Cisco
10 87 (4.87%) Apple
11 77 (4.31%) Google
12 74 (4.15%) Citrix
12 74 (4.15%) ServiceNow
13 61 (3.42%) HP
14 49 (2.75%) Oracle
15 47 (2.63%) Dell
16 35 (1.96%) Meraki
17 23 (1.29%) SonicWALL
18 22 (1.23%) Dell Compellent
19 21 (1.18%) Okta