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

6 months to
10 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 65 46 32
Rank change year-on-year -19 -14 +12
Permanent jobs citing Active Directory 1,714 1,526 4,382
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 2.61% 5.32% 6.38%
As % of the System Software category 55.96% 40.60% 50.51%
Number of salaries quoted 1,300 1,250 3,705
10th Percentile £26,250 £25,625 £23,750
25th Percentile £29,000 £27,750 £26,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £35,000 £35,000 £35,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -4.11%
75th Percentile £47,500 £47,500 £47,500
90th Percentile £62,514 £58,750 £57,500
UK median annual salary £38,500 £40,000 £37,500
% change year-on-year -3.75% +6.67% -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 3,063 3,759 8,676
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 4.66% 13.10% 12.64%
Number of salaries quoted 2,253 2,486 7,078
10th Percentile £27,500 £26,500 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £31,250 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £47,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% +5.56% -5.26%
75th Percentile £63,750 £67,500 £60,000
90th Percentile £77,500 £83,750 £73,750
UK median annual salary £52,500 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.55% +10.00% -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 May 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 May 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
North of England -8 416 £34,000 +4.62% 113
South East -6 413 £38,500 -3.75% 151
Midlands -38 301 £32,500 -4.41% 68
South West -9 239 £32,500 -2.99% 68
North West +27 206 £37,500 - 59
Yorkshire -29 178 £32,500 +8.33% 41
East of England -18 176 £39,576 +21.77% 53
East Midlands -8 157 £32,500 +3.17% 28
West Midlands -53 143 £33,500 -4.29% 40
Scotland +54 101 £30,000 -33.33% 14
Wales -4 45 £45,000 +18.13% 12
North East -43 32 £37,500 +15.04% 16
Northern Ireland -26 17 £32,000 -39.05% 2
Isle of Man +4 6 £45,000 +55.17%
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
1 439 (25.61%) Microsoft Exchange
2 351 (20.48%) SharePoint
3 22 (1.28%) IIS
4 14 (0.82%) Confluence
5 11 (0.64%) Exchange Server 2013
6 9 (0.53%) Exchange Server 2007
6 9 (0.53%) Exchange Server 2010
7 5 (0.29%) CMS
7 5 (0.29%) Skype for Business
8 4 (0.23%) Apache
9 2 (0.12%) WordPress
10 1 (0.058%) Drupal
10 1 (0.058%) nginx
Applications
1 215 (12.54%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (2.10%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (0.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.18%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.12%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.058%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 1 (0.058%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 17 (0.99%) Dynamics CRM
2 11 (0.64%) Dynamics NAV
3 7 (0.41%) Oracle ERP
4 5 (0.29%) NetSuite
4 5 (0.29%) Remedy ITSM
5 4 (0.23%) Dynamics GP
5 4 (0.23%) Exchequer
5 4 (0.23%) Markit EDM
5 4 (0.23%) Primavera
6 2 (0.12%) Alphatax
6 2 (0.12%) SAP S/4HANA
6 2 (0.12%) Shopify
7 1 (0.058%) Magento
7 1 (0.058%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.058%) Sage 200
7 1 (0.058%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.058%) SAP EHS
Cloud Services
1 1,216 (70.95%) Microsoft 365
2 899 (52.45%) Azure
3 644 (37.57%) Entra ID
4 137 (7.99%) OneDrive
5 133 (7.76%) AWS
6 91 (5.31%) Power Platform
7 88 (5.13%) Google Workspace
8 86 (5.02%) SaaS
9 38 (2.22%) IaaS
9 38 (2.22%) Nutanix
10 34 (1.98%) Mimecast
10 34 (1.98%) PaaS
11 31 (1.81%) Azure DevOps
11 31 (1.81%) PowerApps
12 24 (1.40%) Azure Monitor
13 22 (1.28%) Microsoft Purview
14 19 (1.11%) Azure Sentinel
14 19 (1.11%) Dynamics 365
14 19 (1.11%) Power Automate
15 17 (0.99%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 556 (32.44%) DNS
2 479 (27.95%) DHCP
3 415 (24.21%) Firewall
4 275 (16.04%) VPN
5 192 (11.20%) WAN
6 190 (11.09%) LAN
7 169 (9.86%) TCP/IP
8 155 (9.04%) Wi-Fi
9 153 (8.93%) VLAN
10 99 (5.78%) VoIP
11 83 (4.84%) Wireless
12 65 (3.79%) Network Security
13 57 (3.33%) Remote Desktop
13 57 (3.33%) SAN
14 44 (2.57%) Broadband
15 27 (1.58%) NAS
16 21 (1.23%) Internet
16 21 (1.23%) SD-WAN
17 16 (0.93%) Wireshark
18 14 (0.82%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 95 (5.54%) SQL Server
2 63 (3.68%) Amazon RDS
3 50 (2.92%) Power BI
4 30 (1.75%) PostgreSQL
5 26 (1.52%) MySQL
6 12 (0.70%) Azure SQL Database
7 8 (0.47%) GIS
7 8 (0.47%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 6 (0.35%) Data Warehouse
9 5 (0.29%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 3 (0.18%) Neo4j
11 2 (0.12%) Crystal Reports
11 2 (0.12%) Relational Database
12 1 (0.058%) Data Lake
12 1 (0.058%) InterSystems Cache
12 1 (0.058%) Metadata
12 1 (0.058%) NoSQL
12 1 (0.058%) RDBMS
12 1 (0.058%) Redis
Development Applications
1 69 (4.03%) JIRA
2 8 (0.47%) GitLab
2 8 (0.47%) Jenkins
3 7 (0.41%) Oracle Forms
4 6 (0.35%) Git
5 5 (0.29%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 4 (0.23%) LabVIEW
6 4 (0.23%) Subversion
7 1 (0.058%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.058%) Burp Suite
7 1 (0.058%) Gatling
7 1 (0.058%) JMeter
7 1 (0.058%) Metasploit
7 1 (0.058%) Vagrant
General
1 739 (43.12%) Social Skills
2 178 (10.39%) Analytical Skills
3 140 (8.17%) Organisational Skills
4 121 (7.06%) Finance
5 70 (4.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 66 (3.85%) Manufacturing
7 59 (3.44%) Legal
8 52 (3.03%) Documentation Skills
9 49 (2.86%) Retail
10 48 (2.80%) Law
10 48 (2.80%) Public Sector
11 34 (1.98%) Games
12 33 (1.93%) Advertising
13 29 (1.69%) Telecoms
14 18 (1.05%) Local Government
15 12 (0.70%) Marketing
16 9 (0.53%) Automotive
17 6 (0.35%) Aerospace
17 6 (0.35%) Influencing Skills
18 4 (0.23%) Police
Job Titles
1 653 (38.10%) IT Support
2 462 (26.95%) Support Engineer
3 408 (23.80%) IT Engineer
4 342 (19.95%) IT Support Engineer
5 254 (14.82%) Analyst
6 174 (10.15%) Support Analyst
7 162 (9.45%) Senior
7 162 (9.45%) Support Technician
8 156 (9.10%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 155 (9.04%) 2nd Line Support
10 140 (8.17%) IT Technician
11 127 (7.41%) IT Support Technician
12 117 (6.83%) IT Analyst
13 105 (6.13%) Systems Engineer
14 100 (5.83%) IT Support Analyst
15 90 (5.25%) 2nd Line Engineer
16 77 (4.49%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
17 71 (4.14%) Lead
18 70 (4.08%) 1st Line Support
19 69 (4.03%) 3rd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 48 (2.80%) LDAP
2 45 (2.63%) SAML
3 42 (2.45%) OpenID
3 42 (2.45%) SOAP
4 41 (2.39%) OAuth
5 40 (2.33%) REST
6 35 (2.04%) GraphQL
7 19 (1.11%) JSON
7 19 (1.11%) XML
8 16 (0.93%) Regular Expression
9 12 (0.70%) XMPP
10 9 (0.53%) RESTful
11 6 (0.35%) Web Services
12 5 (0.29%) FreeSWITCH
12 5 (0.29%) Microsoft Graph
12 5 (0.29%) OAuth2
13 4 (0.23%) .NET
13 4 (0.23%) JSON Schema
13 4 (0.23%) Middleware
13 4 (0.23%) OpenTelemetry
Miscellaneous
1 241 (14.06%) Driving Licence
2 106 (6.18%) Onboarding
3 76 (4.43%) Self-Motivation
4 55 (3.21%) Legacy Systems
5 54 (3.15%) Hybrid Cloud
6 46 (2.68%) Management Information System
7 42 (2.45%) Data Centre
7 42 (2.45%) Enterprise Software
8 39 (2.28%) Cyberattack
9 36 (2.10%) Cyber Threat
9 36 (2.10%) Public Cloud
9 36 (2.10%) Replication
10 28 (1.63%) Cloud Native
11 25 (1.46%) Clustering
12 24 (1.40%) PKI
13 19 (1.11%) CCTV
14 16 (0.93%) Client/Server
14 16 (0.93%) CMDB
15 15 (0.88%) Data Structures
16 14 (0.82%) FMCG
Operating Systems
1 1,213 (70.77%) Windows
2 698 (40.72%) Windows Server
3 291 (16.98%) Windows 10
4 205 (11.96%) Linux
5 113 (6.59%) Windows Server 2016
6 94 (5.48%) Mac OS
7 80 (4.67%) Apple iOS
8 68 (3.97%) Android
9 55 (3.21%) Windows Server 2019
10 34 (1.98%) Windows Server 2012
11 31 (1.81%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 13 (0.76%) Windows 7
13 12 (0.70%) Windows Server 2008
14 11 (0.64%) VMS
15 7 (0.41%) Windows 8
16 6 (0.35%) Ubuntu
17 5 (0.29%) Debian
18 4 (0.23%) CentOS
18 4 (0.23%) Mac OS X
18 4 (0.23%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 566 (33.02%) Problem-Solving
2 438 (25.55%) Customer Service
3 405 (23.63%) ITIL
4 265 (15.46%) Cybersecurity
5 220 (12.84%) Continuous Improvement
6 203 (11.84%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 176 (10.27%) Mentoring
8 164 (9.57%) ITSM
9 156 (9.10%) Disaster Recovery
10 143 (8.34%) Service Delivery
11 111 (6.48%) Change Management
12 99 (5.78%) Coaching
12 99 (5.78%) Vulnerability Remediation
13 98 (5.72%) Incident Management
13 98 (5.72%) Migration
14 91 (5.31%) Time Management
15 88 (5.13%) Root Cause Analysis
16 87 (5.08%) Identity Access Management
17 86 (5.02%) ERP
17 86 (5.02%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 268 (15.64%) PowerShell
2 160 (9.33%) SQL
3 83 (4.84%) Bash
4 62 (3.62%) Python
5 47 (2.74%) T-SQL
6 16 (0.93%) R
7 11 (0.64%) Shell Script
8 9 (0.53%) Bicep
9 8 (0.47%) Java
9 8 (0.47%) PL/SQL
10 7 (0.41%) VB
11 6 (0.35%) Korn
12 5 (0.29%) JavaScript
13 3 (0.18%) C#
13 3 (0.18%) PHP
14 2 (0.12%) C
15 1 (0.058%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 214 (12.49%) Security Cleared
2 174 (10.15%) Degree
3 150 (8.75%) Microsoft Certification
4 140 (8.17%) SC Cleared
5 72 (4.20%) DV Cleared
6 49 (2.86%) DBS Check
7 42 (2.45%) Azure Certification
8 41 (2.39%) A+ Certification
9 34 (1.98%) Cisco Certification
10 31 (1.81%) CCNA
10 31 (1.81%) Microsoft Certified Professional
11 30 (1.75%) Network+ Certification
12 23 (1.34%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 21 (1.23%) Computer Science Degree
14 19 (1.11%) MCSE
15 17 (0.99%) HNC
16 16 (0.93%) ITIL Certification
17 12 (0.70%) CompTIA Security+
17 12 (0.70%) MCSA
18 10 (0.58%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 159 (9.28%) SLA
2 130 (7.58%) Cyber Essentials
3 106 (6.18%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 62 (3.62%) PCI DSS
5 54 (3.15%) NIST
6 38 (2.22%) NCSC
7 33 (1.93%) GDPR
8 32 (1.87%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 24 (1.40%) QA
10 21 (1.23%) Data Quality
11 12 (0.70%) Accessibility
12 6 (0.35%) SOC 2
13 5 (0.29%) GRC
13 5 (0.29%) PMO
14 4 (0.23%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 4 (0.23%) GxP
14 4 (0.23%) ISO 22301
14 4 (0.23%) ITGC
15 2 (0.12%) ISO 9001
15 2 (0.12%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 322 (18.79%) Hyper-V
2 256 (14.94%) VMware Infrastructure
3 60 (3.50%) vSphere
4 51 (2.98%) Terminal Server
5 48 (2.80%) VMware ESXi
6 45 (2.63%) Virtual Desktop
7 29 (1.69%) Docker
7 29 (1.69%) Virtual Machines
8 17 (0.99%) BitLocker
9 12 (0.70%) VMware NSX
10 8 (0.47%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 8 (0.47%) VMware Workstation
11 6 (0.35%) DFS Replication
11 6 (0.35%) Terminal Services
11 6 (0.35%) Virtual Servers
11 6 (0.35%) XenApp
12 3 (0.18%) Lustre
12 3 (0.18%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 3 (0.18%) Slurm Workload Manager
13 2 (0.12%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 336 (19.60%) Microsoft Intune
2 119 (6.94%) SCCM
3 41 (2.39%) Single Sign-On
4 40 (2.33%) vCenter Server
5 34 (1.98%) Terraform
6 30 (1.75%) Jamf Pro
7 27 (1.58%) Ansible
8 25 (1.46%) WSUS
9 24 (1.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 19 (1.11%) FortiGate
11 18 (1.05%) Kubernetes
12 14 (0.82%) SCOM
13 11 (0.64%) Proxmox
14 10 (0.58%) Autotask
15 9 (0.53%) Backup Exec
15 9 (0.53%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
16 7 (0.41%) VxRail
17 5 (0.29%) SmoothWall
17 5 (0.29%) Tivoli Identity Manager
17 5 (0.29%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 1,234 (72.00%) Microsoft
2 412 (24.04%) VMware
3 130 (7.58%) Veeam
4 90 (5.25%) Apple
5 87 (5.08%) Cisco
5 87 (5.08%) Citrix
6 83 (4.84%) SolarWinds
7 74 (4.32%) Nimble Storage
8 73 (4.26%) ServiceNow
9 69 (4.03%) Splunk
10 68 (3.97%) Dell
11 67 (3.91%) HP
12 63 (3.68%) Google
13 48 (2.80%) Brocade
13 48 (2.80%) Tanium
14 45 (2.63%) Meraki
15 35 (2.04%) McAfee
16 31 (1.81%) Red Hat
17 30 (1.75%) CrowdStrike
18 26 (1.52%) Dell Compellent