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

6 months to
10 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 56 45 30
Rank change year-on-year -11 -15 +10
Permanent jobs citing Active Directory 1,823 1,578 4,475
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 2.77% 5.36% 5.79%
As % of the System Software category 54.14% 39.29% 50.89%
Number of salaries quoted 1,413 1,221 3,631
10th Percentile £26,375 £25,750 £23,500
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 £48,500
90th Percentile £64,750 £58,750 £58,025
UK median annual salary £40,000 £38,500 £37,500
% change year-on-year +3.90% +2.67% -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 3,367 4,016 8,794
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 5.11% 13.64% 11.39%
Number of salaries quoted 2,555 2,309 6,947
10th Percentile £27,750 £26,500 £25,625
25th Percentile £32,000 £31,250 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £46,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -2.17% +2.22% -5.26%
75th Percentile £65,000 £67,500 £60,000
90th Percentile £77,500 £82,751 £72,500
UK median annual salary £52,500 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year - +5.00% -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 June 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 June 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 -2 445 £35,000 +14.75% 109
South East -2 427 £40,000 - 184
Midlands -32 309 £33,500 +0.75% 70
South West -5 258 £35,000 +7.69% 65
North West +58 218 £37,500 - 64
East of England +2 204 £35,000 +7.69% 62
Yorkshire -32 182 £32,500 +8.33% 35
East Midlands 0 162 £32,500 +3.17% 30
West Midlands -47 146 £35,000 - 40
Scotland +80 103 £29,000 -42.00% 9
Wales -3 56 £45,000 +18.13% 7
North East -43 45 £42,500 +32.81% 11
Northern Ireland -21 15 £32,000 -37.56% 7
Isle of Man +4 6 £45,000 +30.43%
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
1 482 (26.44%) Microsoft Exchange
2 376 (20.63%) SharePoint
3 32 (1.76%) IIS
4 17 (0.93%) Confluence
5 11 (0.60%) Exchange Server 2013
6 9 (0.49%) Exchange Server 2007
6 9 (0.49%) Exchange Server 2010
7 5 (0.27%) Skype for Business
8 4 (0.22%) Apache
8 4 (0.22%) CMS
9 3 (0.16%) SAS
10 1 (0.055%) Drupal
10 1 (0.055%) nginx
10 1 (0.055%) Site Server
10 1 (0.055%) WordPress
Applications
1 208 (11.41%) Microsoft Office
2 41 (2.25%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (0.55%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.16%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 3 (0.16%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.055%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.055%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 17 (0.93%) Dynamics CRM
2 13 (0.71%) Dynamics NAV
3 7 (0.38%) Remedy ITSM
4 6 (0.33%) NetSuite
5 4 (0.22%) Dynamics GP
5 4 (0.22%) Exchequer
5 4 (0.22%) Primavera
6 3 (0.16%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.11%) Alphatax
7 2 (0.11%) Markit EDM
7 2 (0.11%) Oracle ERP
7 2 (0.11%) SAP S/4HANA
8 1 (0.055%) Dynamics AX
8 1 (0.055%) Magento
8 1 (0.055%) Oracle Payables
8 1 (0.055%) SAP EHS
8 1 (0.055%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 1,280 (70.21%) Microsoft 365
2 997 (54.69%) Azure
3 683 (37.47%) Entra ID
4 139 (7.62%) OneDrive
5 136 (7.46%) AWS
6 88 (4.83%) SaaS
7 85 (4.66%) Power Platform
8 84 (4.61%) Google Workspace
9 52 (2.85%) IaaS
10 44 (2.41%) PaaS
11 39 (2.14%) Mimecast
12 32 (1.76%) Azure DevOps
12 32 (1.76%) Nutanix
13 25 (1.37%) Azure Monitor
13 25 (1.37%) Azure Sentinel
13 25 (1.37%) Microsoft Purview
13 25 (1.37%) PowerApps
14 21 (1.15%) Dynamics 365
15 18 (0.99%) Serverless
16 16 (0.88%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 608 (33.35%) DNS
2 512 (28.09%) DHCP
3 469 (25.73%) Firewall
4 286 (15.69%) VPN
5 186 (10.20%) WAN
6 183 (10.04%) LAN
7 182 (9.98%) TCP/IP
8 169 (9.27%) Wi-Fi
9 155 (8.50%) VLAN
10 104 (5.70%) VoIP
11 86 (4.72%) Wireless
12 72 (3.95%) SAN
13 70 (3.84%) Network Security
14 54 (2.96%) Remote Desktop
15 41 (2.25%) Broadband
16 29 (1.59%) NAS
17 20 (1.10%) Internet
17 20 (1.10%) SD-WAN
18 15 (0.82%) SSL
19 13 (0.71%) NetScaler
Database & Business Intelligence
1 104 (5.70%) SQL Server
2 94 (5.16%) Amazon RDS
3 44 (2.41%) Power BI
4 30 (1.65%) PostgreSQL
5 26 (1.43%) MySQL
6 17 (0.93%) Azure SQL Database
7 9 (0.49%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 8 (0.44%) GIS
9 5 (0.27%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (0.22%) Crystal Reports
10 4 (0.22%) Neo4j
11 3 (0.16%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.11%) Oracle Database
12 2 (0.11%) Relational Database
13 1 (0.055%) Data Lake
13 1 (0.055%) InterSystems Cache
13 1 (0.055%) KNIME
13 1 (0.055%) NoSQL
13 1 (0.055%) RDBMS
13 1 (0.055%) Redis
Development Applications
1 72 (3.95%) JIRA
2 14 (0.77%) Git
3 11 (0.60%) GitLab
4 6 (0.33%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.27%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 4 (0.22%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.16%) Burp Suite
7 3 (0.16%) LabVIEW
7 3 (0.16%) Metasploit
8 2 (0.11%) Oracle Forms
8 2 (0.11%) Subversion
8 2 (0.11%) Terragrunt
9 1 (0.055%) Carbide.c++
9 1 (0.055%) Gatling
9 1 (0.055%) JMeter
9 1 (0.055%) Ranorex
9 1 (0.055%) Selenium
9 1 (0.055%) Team Foundation Server
9 1 (0.055%) Vagrant
General
1 779 (42.73%) Social Skills
2 201 (11.03%) Analytical Skills
3 139 (7.62%) Organisational Skills
4 114 (6.25%) Finance
5 68 (3.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 62 (3.40%) Manufacturing
7 59 (3.24%) Legal
8 55 (3.02%) Law
9 54 (2.96%) Public Sector
10 53 (2.91%) Documentation Skills
11 43 (2.36%) Retail
12 35 (1.92%) Games
13 31 (1.70%) Telecoms
14 27 (1.48%) Advertising
15 19 (1.04%) Local Government
16 12 (0.66%) Aerospace
17 9 (0.49%) Automotive
17 9 (0.49%) Influencing Skills
17 9 (0.49%) Marketing
18 4 (0.22%) Portuguese Language
Job Titles
1 694 (38.07%) IT Support
2 481 (26.39%) Support Engineer
3 434 (23.81%) IT Engineer
4 360 (19.75%) IT Support Engineer
5 295 (16.18%) Analyst
6 201 (11.03%) Support Analyst
7 178 (9.76%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 177 (9.71%) Support Technician
9 176 (9.65%) Senior
10 162 (8.89%) IT Technician
11 151 (8.28%) 2nd Line Support
12 147 (8.06%) IT Support Technician
13 135 (7.41%) Systems Engineer
14 133 (7.30%) IT Analyst
15 118 (6.47%) IT Support Analyst
16 90 (4.94%) 2nd Line Engineer
17 76 (4.17%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
18 74 (4.06%) Architect
19 69 (3.78%) 1st Line Support
20 68 (3.73%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (3.07%) LDAP
2 46 (2.52%) SAML
3 41 (2.25%) OpenID
4 40 (2.19%) OAuth
5 39 (2.14%) REST
6 36 (1.97%) SOAP
7 34 (1.87%) GraphQL
8 21 (1.15%) Regular Expression
9 17 (0.93%) XMPP
10 15 (0.82%) JSON
10 15 (0.82%) XML
11 10 (0.55%) .NET
12 9 (0.49%) ARM Templates
13 7 (0.38%) Microsoft Graph
13 7 (0.38%) Web Services
14 6 (0.33%) Middleware
15 5 (0.27%) FreeSWITCH
15 5 (0.27%) JSON Schema
16 4 (0.22%) boto
16 4 (0.22%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 249 (13.66%) Driving Licence
2 121 (6.64%) Onboarding
3 87 (4.77%) Self-Motivation
4 82 (4.50%) Legacy Systems
5 74 (4.06%) Hybrid Cloud
6 57 (3.13%) Data Centre
6 57 (3.13%) Management Information System
7 37 (2.03%) Public Cloud
8 36 (1.97%) Cyberattack
8 36 (1.97%) Replication
9 35 (1.92%) Cyber Threat
10 33 (1.81%) Clustering
11 31 (1.70%) PKI
12 28 (1.54%) Enterprise Software
13 27 (1.48%) Cloud Native
14 20 (1.10%) CCTV
15 18 (0.99%) Security Posture
16 16 (0.88%) Client/Server
17 15 (0.82%) Data Structures
18 13 (0.71%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 1,313 (72.02%) Windows
2 783 (42.95%) Windows Server
3 285 (15.63%) Windows 10
4 251 (13.77%) Linux
5 151 (8.28%) Windows Server 2016
6 113 (6.20%) Mac OS
7 85 (4.66%) Windows Server 2019
8 75 (4.11%) Apple iOS
9 65 (3.57%) Android
10 37 (2.03%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 33 (1.81%) Windows Server 2012
12 17 (0.93%) VMS
13 12 (0.66%) Windows 7
13 12 (0.66%) Windows Server 2008
14 8 (0.44%) Ubuntu
15 7 (0.38%) Windows 8
16 5 (0.27%) CentOS
16 5 (0.27%) Debian
17 4 (0.22%) Mac OS X
17 4 (0.22%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 614 (33.68%) Problem-Solving
2 451 (24.74%) Customer Service
3 406 (22.27%) ITIL
4 296 (16.24%) Cybersecurity
5 267 (14.65%) Continuous Improvement
6 239 (13.11%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 192 (10.53%) Mentoring
8 181 (9.93%) Disaster Recovery
9 163 (8.94%) ITSM
10 162 (8.89%) Service Delivery
11 135 (7.41%) Migration
12 121 (6.64%) Vulnerability Remediation
13 109 (5.98%) Kalman Filter
14 107 (5.87%) Change Management
14 107 (5.87%) Customer Experience
15 102 (5.60%) Web Filtering
16 101 (5.54%) Project Delivery
17 97 (5.32%) Service Management
18 94 (5.16%) Root Cause Analysis
19 93 (5.10%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 308 (16.90%) PowerShell
2 175 (9.60%) SQL
3 87 (4.77%) Bash
4 58 (3.18%) Python
5 45 (2.47%) T-SQL
6 19 (1.04%) Bicep
7 16 (0.88%) R
8 9 (0.49%) C#
9 8 (0.44%) VBA
10 7 (0.38%) Java
10 7 (0.38%) Shell Script
10 7 (0.38%) VB
11 6 (0.33%) Korn
12 5 (0.27%) JavaScript
13 4 (0.22%) Kusto Query Language
13 4 (0.22%) PHP
14 3 (0.16%) PL/SQL
15 2 (0.11%) C
15 2 (0.11%) VB.NET
16 1 (0.055%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 261 (14.32%) Security Cleared
2 181 (9.93%) Degree
3 171 (9.38%) SC Cleared
4 160 (8.78%) Microsoft Certification
5 81 (4.44%) DV Cleared
6 66 (3.62%) Azure Certification
7 55 (3.02%) DBS Check
8 44 (2.41%) A+ Certification
9 37 (2.03%) Cisco Certification
10 36 (1.97%) CCNA
11 35 (1.92%) Network+ Certification
12 32 (1.76%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 20 (1.10%) Computer Science Degree
14 19 (1.04%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 16 (0.88%) CompTIA Security+
15 16 (0.88%) HNC
16 15 (0.82%) ITIL Certification
16 15 (0.82%) MCSA
17 14 (0.77%) MCSE
18 9 (0.49%) CREST Certified
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 172 (9.43%) Cyber Essentials
2 167 (9.16%) SLA
3 116 (6.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 88 (4.83%) PCI DSS
5 62 (3.40%) NIST
6 38 (2.08%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 37 (2.03%) NCSC
8 35 (1.92%) GDPR
9 21 (1.15%) Data Quality
10 20 (1.10%) QA
11 10 (0.55%) Accessibility
12 6 (0.33%) SOC 2
13 5 (0.27%) GRC
13 5 (0.27%) PMO
14 4 (0.22%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 4 (0.22%) GxP
14 4 (0.22%) ITGC
15 3 (0.16%) ISO 22301
15 3 (0.16%) Sarbanes-Oxley
16 1 (0.055%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 397 (21.78%) Hyper-V
2 302 (16.57%) VMware Infrastructure
3 80 (4.39%) vSphere
4 74 (4.06%) Terminal Server
5 52 (2.85%) Virtual Desktop
6 48 (2.63%) VMware ESXi
7 35 (1.92%) Virtual Machines
8 32 (1.76%) Docker
9 17 (0.93%) BitLocker
9 17 (0.93%) VMware NSX
10 11 (0.60%) Virtual Servers
11 9 (0.49%) DFS Replication
12 8 (0.44%) Citrix Hypervisor
12 8 (0.44%) VMware Workstation
13 7 (0.38%) Microsoft Virtual Server
14 6 (0.33%) Firmware
14 6 (0.33%) XenApp
15 4 (0.22%) Squid
16 2 (0.11%) Samba
16 2 (0.11%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 380 (20.84%) Microsoft Intune
2 107 (5.87%) SCCM
3 39 (2.14%) Terraform
4 37 (2.03%) Single Sign-On
4 37 (2.03%) vCenter Server
5 31 (1.70%) Jamf Pro
6 28 (1.54%) WSUS
7 26 (1.43%) Ansible
8 25 (1.37%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 24 (1.32%) FortiGate
10 21 (1.15%) Proxmox
11 20 (1.10%) Kubernetes
12 13 (0.71%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
13 11 (0.60%) Autotask
14 9 (0.49%) Backup Exec
14 9 (0.49%) ZABBIX
15 8 (0.44%) SCOM
16 7 (0.38%) VxRail
17 5 (0.27%) Failover Clustering
17 5 (0.27%) Tivoli Identity Manager
Vendors
1 1,365 (74.88%) Microsoft
2 494 (27.10%) VMware
3 175 (9.60%) Veeam
4 106 (5.81%) Cisco
5 101 (5.54%) SolarWinds
6 93 (5.10%) Nimble Storage
6 93 (5.10%) Splunk
7 86 (4.72%) Apple
8 85 (4.66%) Citrix
9 72 (3.95%) Brocade
9 72 (3.95%) ServiceNow
9 72 (3.95%) Tanium
10 62 (3.40%) Google
11 61 (3.35%) Dell
11 61 (3.35%) HP
12 60 (3.29%) Meraki
13 36 (1.97%) Red Hat
14 35 (1.92%) McAfee
15 31 (1.70%) CrowdStrike
16 28 (1.54%) Ubiquiti