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

6 months to
19 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 63 40 29
Rank change year-on-year -23 -11 +15
Permanent jobs citing Active Directory 1,759 1,436 4,532
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 2.79% 5.41% 6.75%
As % of the System Software category 57.80% 40.88% 50.84%
Number of salaries quoted 1,335 1,221 3,844
10th Percentile £26,250 £25,500 £23,750
25th Percentile £28,750 £27,750 £26,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £35,000 £35,000 £35,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -2.78%
75th Percentile £47,500 £48,750 £48,406
90th Percentile £62,500 £58,750 £57,500
UK median annual salary £37,500 £40,000 £38,000
% change year-on-year -6.25% +5.26% -5.00%

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 3,043 3,513 8,915
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 4.83% 13.23% 13.28%
Number of salaries quoted 2,229 2,478 7,286
10th Percentile £27,310 £26,750 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,000 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £48,507 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -7.23% +7.79% -5.26%
75th Percentile £63,750 £68,750 £60,000
90th Percentile £77,500 £83,900 £75,000
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 19 April 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 19 April 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 -6 453 £36,500 -8.75% 148
North of England -18 411 £34,000 +3.03% 124
Midlands -44 292 £32,500 -7.14% 79
South West -5 255 £32,500 -6.47% 84
North West 0 200 £36,000 -10.00% 62
Yorkshire -21 181 £32,500 +8.33% 40
East of England -30 177 £40,000 +23.08% 63
East Midlands -31 151 £32,500 +6.56% 47
West Midlands -49 140 £32,500 -13.15% 31
Scotland +31 102 £29,000 -22.67% 32
Wales -1 45 £40,000 +5.00% 13
North East -26 30 £36,000 +8.44% 27
Northern Ireland -31 18 £32,000 -39.05% 4
Isle of Man +2 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
1 464 (26.38%) Microsoft Exchange
2 357 (20.30%) SharePoint
3 18 (1.02%) IIS
4 15 (0.85%) Exchange Server 2003
5 11 (0.63%) Exchange Server 2013
6 10 (0.57%) Confluence
7 9 (0.51%) Exchange Server 2007
7 9 (0.51%) Exchange Server 2010
8 6 (0.34%) CMS
9 5 (0.28%) Skype for Business
10 4 (0.23%) Apache
11 3 (0.17%) WordPress
12 1 (0.057%) Drupal
12 1 (0.057%) nginx
12 1 (0.057%) Oracle Workflow
12 1 (0.057%) Tomcat
12 1 (0.057%) WebLogic
12 1 (0.057%) WebLogic Portal
Applications
1 232 (13.19%) Microsoft Office
2 41 (2.33%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (0.63%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.17%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.11%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.057%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 19 (1.08%) Dynamics CRM
2 8 (0.45%) Dynamics NAV
2 8 (0.45%) Oracle ERP
3 7 (0.40%) NetSuite
4 5 (0.28%) Primavera
4 5 (0.28%) Remedy ITSM
5 4 (0.23%) Dynamics GP
5 4 (0.23%) Exchequer
5 4 (0.23%) Markit EDM
6 2 (0.11%) Alphatax
6 2 (0.11%) Shopify
7 1 (0.057%) Cognos Business Intelligence
7 1 (0.057%) Magento
7 1 (0.057%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.057%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.057%) Sage 200
7 1 (0.057%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 1,234 (70.15%) Microsoft 365
2 929 (52.81%) Azure
3 641 (36.44%) Entra ID
4 139 (7.90%) OneDrive
5 131 (7.45%) AWS
6 98 (5.57%) Google Workspace
7 88 (5.00%) SaaS
8 85 (4.83%) Power Platform
9 42 (2.39%) IaaS
10 38 (2.16%) PaaS
11 37 (2.10%) Nutanix
12 33 (1.88%) Azure Monitor
12 33 (1.88%) Mimecast
13 32 (1.82%) Azure DevOps
14 30 (1.71%) PowerApps
15 24 (1.36%) GCP
16 22 (1.25%) Microsoft Purview
17 19 (1.08%) Dynamics 365
18 17 (0.97%) GitHub
18 17 (0.97%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 603 (34.28%) DNS
2 540 (30.70%) DHCP
3 407 (23.14%) Firewall
4 282 (16.03%) VPN
5 201 (11.43%) WAN
6 195 (11.09%) LAN
7 189 (10.74%) TCP/IP
8 161 (9.15%) VLAN
9 158 (8.98%) Wi-Fi
10 96 (5.46%) VoIP
11 81 (4.60%) Wireless
12 68 (3.87%) Network Security
13 61 (3.47%) Remote Desktop
14 50 (2.84%) SAN
15 46 (2.62%) Broadband
16 28 (1.59%) SD-WAN
17 22 (1.25%) NAS
18 16 (0.91%) Internet
18 16 (0.91%) SMTP
19 14 (0.80%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 84 (4.78%) SQL Server
2 82 (4.66%) Amazon RDS
3 52 (2.96%) Power BI
4 28 (1.59%) PostgreSQL
5 25 (1.42%) MySQL
6 16 (0.91%) Oracle Database
7 15 (0.85%) Oracle Database 10g
8 14 (0.80%) Azure SQL Database
9 8 (0.45%) GIS
9 8 (0.45%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 7 (0.40%) Data Warehouse
11 6 (0.34%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 4 (0.23%) Relational Database
13 3 (0.17%) Neo4j
14 2 (0.11%) Metadata
15 1 (0.057%) Cognos Connection
15 1 (0.057%) Cognos Event Studio
15 1 (0.057%) Cognos Framework Manager
15 1 (0.057%) NoSQL
15 1 (0.057%) Redis
Development Applications
1 70 (3.98%) JIRA
2 11 (0.63%) Git
3 9 (0.51%) Oracle Forms
4 8 (0.45%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.34%) GitLab
6 5 (0.28%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 4 (0.23%) LabVIEW
7 4 (0.23%) Subversion
8 1 (0.057%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.057%) Gatling
8 1 (0.057%) JMeter
8 1 (0.057%) Metasploit
8 1 (0.057%) Oracle APEX
8 1 (0.057%) Vagrant
General
1 781 (44.40%) Social Skills
2 197 (11.20%) Analytical Skills
3 164 (9.32%) Organisational Skills
4 117 (6.65%) Finance
5 72 (4.09%) Manufacturing
6 63 (3.58%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 60 (3.41%) Legal
8 58 (3.30%) Documentation Skills
9 52 (2.96%) Retail
10 50 (2.84%) Law
10 50 (2.84%) Public Sector
11 37 (2.10%) Advertising
11 37 (2.10%) Games
12 29 (1.65%) Telecoms
13 16 (0.91%) Marketing
14 15 (0.85%) Local Government
15 11 (0.63%) Automotive
16 8 (0.45%) Aerospace
17 4 (0.23%) General Ledger
17 4 (0.23%) Military
Job Titles
1 697 (39.62%) IT Support
2 499 (28.37%) Support Engineer
3 428 (24.33%) IT Engineer
4 369 (20.98%) IT Support Engineer
5 243 (13.81%) Analyst
6 178 (10.12%) Support Analyst
7 175 (9.95%) 2nd Line Support
8 170 (9.66%) Support Technician
9 153 (8.70%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 148 (8.41%) Senior
11 142 (8.07%) IT Technician
12 130 (7.39%) IT Support Technician
13 119 (6.77%) IT Analyst
14 114 (6.48%) Systems Engineer
15 108 (6.14%) IT Support Analyst
16 101 (5.74%) 2nd Line Engineer
17 90 (5.12%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
18 82 (4.66%) 3rd Line Support
19 81 (4.60%) 1st Line Support
20 65 (3.70%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (2.84%) LDAP
2 46 (2.62%) SAML
2 46 (2.62%) SOAP
3 43 (2.44%) OAuth
3 43 (2.44%) OpenID
3 43 (2.44%) REST
4 38 (2.16%) GraphQL
5 20 (1.14%) JSON
5 20 (1.14%) XML
6 12 (0.68%) Regular Expression
7 10 (0.57%) RESTful
8 8 (0.45%) XMPP
9 7 (0.40%) .NET
9 7 (0.40%) Web Services
10 6 (0.34%) ARM Templates
11 5 (0.28%) FreeSWITCH
12 4 (0.23%) EDI
12 4 (0.23%) HTML
12 4 (0.23%) JSON Schema
12 4 (0.23%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 260 (14.78%) Driving Licence
2 108 (6.14%) Onboarding
3 78 (4.43%) Self-Motivation
4 69 (3.92%) Legacy Systems
5 54 (3.07%) Hybrid Cloud
6 45 (2.56%) Enterprise Software
7 43 (2.44%) Cyberattack
8 39 (2.22%) Cyber Threat
9 38 (2.16%) Management Information System
10 36 (2.05%) Data Centre
11 35 (1.99%) Public Cloud
12 34 (1.93%) Replication
13 25 (1.42%) Cloud Native
14 22 (1.25%) PKI
15 20 (1.14%) Client/Server
16 17 (0.97%) Clustering
16 17 (0.97%) CMDB
17 14 (0.80%) iPad
18 13 (0.74%) CCTV
19 12 (0.68%) FMCG
Operating Systems
1 1,252 (71.18%) Windows
2 738 (41.96%) Windows Server
3 307 (17.45%) Windows 10
4 210 (11.94%) Linux
5 135 (7.67%) Windows Server 2016
6 90 (5.12%) Mac OS
7 85 (4.83%) Apple iOS
8 75 (4.26%) Android
9 56 (3.18%) Windows Server 2019
10 34 (1.93%) Windows Server 2012
11 30 (1.71%) Windows 7
12 26 (1.48%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 26 (1.48%) Windows Server 2008
13 20 (1.14%) Unix
14 15 (0.85%) HPUX
14 15 (0.85%) Solaris
14 15 (0.85%) Windows Server 2003
15 10 (0.57%) Windows 8
16 7 (0.40%) VMS
17 5 (0.28%) Debian
Processes & Methodologies
1 602 (34.22%) Problem-Solving
2 486 (27.63%) Customer Service
3 434 (24.67%) ITIL
4 261 (14.84%) Cybersecurity
5 206 (11.71%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 193 (10.97%) Continuous Improvement
7 190 (10.80%) Mentoring
8 176 (10.01%) ITSM
9 157 (8.93%) Service Delivery
10 154 (8.75%) Disaster Recovery
11 115 (6.54%) Change Management
11 115 (6.54%) Incident Management
12 114 (6.48%) Migration
12 114 (6.48%) Vulnerability Remediation
13 101 (5.74%) Coaching
14 92 (5.23%) Customer Experience
14 92 (5.23%) Identity Access Management
15 88 (5.00%) Kalman Filter
15 88 (5.00%) Time Management
16 87 (4.95%) Web Filtering
Programming Languages
1 282 (16.03%) PowerShell
2 146 (8.30%) SQL
3 81 (4.60%) Bash
4 58 (3.30%) Python
5 49 (2.79%) T-SQL
6 16 (0.91%) R
7 14 (0.80%) Perl
8 13 (0.74%) Shell Script
9 10 (0.57%) Bicep
9 10 (0.57%) PL/SQL
10 8 (0.45%) Java
10 8 (0.45%) VB
11 7 (0.40%) JavaScript
12 4 (0.23%) C#
12 4 (0.23%) Korn
13 3 (0.17%) PHP
14 2 (0.11%) C
14 2 (0.11%) VBA
15 1 (0.057%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 231 (13.13%) Security Cleared
2 174 (9.89%) Degree
3 166 (9.44%) SC Cleared
4 154 (8.75%) Microsoft Certification
5 82 (4.66%) DV Cleared
6 47 (2.67%) DBS Check
7 42 (2.39%) A+ Certification
8 40 (2.27%) Azure Certification
9 36 (2.05%) Cisco Certification
10 31 (1.76%) Network+ Certification
11 30 (1.71%) CCNA
12 29 (1.65%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 24 (1.36%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 18 (1.02%) Computer Science Degree
14 18 (1.02%) MCSE
15 17 (0.97%) ITIL Certification
16 16 (0.91%) HNC
17 12 (0.68%) CCNP
17 12 (0.68%) MCSA
18 9 (0.51%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 171 (9.72%) SLA
2 140 (7.96%) Cyber Essentials
3 104 (5.91%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 75 (4.26%) PCI DSS
5 51 (2.90%) NIST
6 39 (2.22%) NCSC
7 38 (2.16%) GDPR
8 28 (1.59%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 17 (0.97%) QA
10 15 (0.85%) Data Quality
11 10 (0.57%) Accessibility
12 5 (0.28%) GRC
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
14 3 (0.17%) SOC 2
15 2 (0.11%) ISO 9001
15 2 (0.11%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 339 (19.27%) Hyper-V
2 261 (14.84%) VMware Infrastructure
3 67 (3.81%) Terminal Server
4 51 (2.90%) vSphere
5 43 (2.44%) VMware ESXi
6 38 (2.16%) Virtual Desktop
7 33 (1.88%) Virtual Machines
8 24 (1.36%) Docker
9 17 (0.97%) BitLocker
10 11 (0.63%) VMware NSX
10 11 (0.63%) VMware Workstation
11 8 (0.45%) XenApp
12 6 (0.34%) Citrix Hypervisor
12 6 (0.34%) DFS Replication
13 5 (0.28%) Firmware
13 5 (0.28%) Terminal Services
14 4 (0.23%) Virtual Servers
15 3 (0.17%) Lustre
15 3 (0.17%) Microsoft Virtual Server
15 3 (0.17%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 339 (19.27%) Microsoft Intune
2 122 (6.94%) SCCM
3 41 (2.33%) Single Sign-On
4 38 (2.16%) vCenter Server
5 35 (1.99%) Terraform
6 32 (1.82%) Jamf Pro
7 25 (1.42%) Ansible
8 24 (1.36%) WSUS
9 20 (1.14%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 20 (1.14%) FortiGate
10 15 (0.85%) Kubernetes
10 15 (0.85%) SCOM
11 14 (0.80%) Autotask
12 9 (0.51%) Backup Exec
12 9 (0.51%) Proxmox
13 7 (0.40%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
14 6 (0.34%) VxRail
15 5 (0.28%) SCVMM
15 5 (0.28%) SmoothWall
15 5 (0.28%) Tivoli Identity Manager
Vendors
1 1,262 (71.75%) Microsoft
2 449 (25.53%) VMware
3 139 (7.90%) Veeam
4 100 (5.69%) SolarWinds
5 92 (5.23%) Apple
5 92 (5.23%) Nimble Storage
6 90 (5.12%) Citrix
7 88 (5.00%) Cisco
8 83 (4.72%) Splunk
9 81 (4.60%) ServiceNow
10 74 (4.21%) Google
11 70 (3.98%) HP
12 67 (3.81%) Dell
13 64 (3.64%) Brocade
13 64 (3.64%) Tanium
14 40 (2.27%) Meraki
15 34 (1.93%) McAfee
16 32 (1.82%) Oracle
17 28 (1.59%) CrowdStrike
17 28 (1.59%) Dell Compellent