Service Management Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Service Management
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Service Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 23 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 65 54 69
Rank change year-on-year -11 +15 -3
Contract jobs citing Service Management 956 622 492
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.38% 4.05% 2.82%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.18% 4.54% 3.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 654 360 340
10th Percentile £262 £185 £188
25th Percentile £424 £288 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £490 £500
Median % change year-on-year +7.20% -2.05% -
75th Percentile £625 £566 £600
90th Percentile £725 £638 £664
UK median daily rate £525 £488 £501
% change year-on-year +7.69% -2.60% -4.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 73 79 11
10th Percentile £14.50 £12.62 £15.17
25th Percentile £17.21 £12.82 £26.25
Median hourly rate £55.00 £18.73 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +193.65% -60.57% +116.85%
75th Percentile £85.00 £33.00 £49.38
90th Percentile £94.51 £60.00 £53.75
UK median hourly rate £55.00 £20.66 £47.50
% change year-on-year +166.21% -56.51% -13.64%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

Service Management falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 22,875 13,692 14,530
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 80.83% 89.15% 83.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 12,942 8,235 8,314
10th Percentile £300 £233 £243
25th Percentile £409 £369 £386
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £600 £575 £600
90th Percentile £688 £669 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,755 1,455 1,161
10th Percentile £13.50 £14.03 £14.84
25th Percentile £17.00 £17.21 £18.14
Median hourly rate £40.00 £22.32 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +79.25% -48.10% +1.18%
75th Percentile £67.50 £41.00 £66.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £67.00 £74.75
UK median hourly rate £40.00 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +59.05% -41.51% -

Service Management
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Service Management relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Service Management job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management

Service Management
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 23 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Service Management in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management

Service Management
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 23 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Management in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Service Management within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 23 September 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
South East +11 307 £575 +27.78% 270
North of England -24 267 £475 +5.56% 230
North West -10 157 £480 +3.45% 130
Midlands -36 123 £525 +5.00% 125
West Midlands -10 117 £525 +1.94% 76
South West -31 106 £600 +10.09% 109
Yorkshire -17 102 £450 +26.76% 81
Scotland +20 96 £535 +15.68% 76
East of England -7 57 £525 -4.55% 102
Wales -7 13 £800 +247.83% 22
Northern Ireland +8 8 - - 30
North East -40 8 £535 +174.36% 21
East Midlands -36 6 £163 -45.83% 48
Service Management
UK

Service Management
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 58 (6.07%) SharePoint
2 38 (3.97%) Microsoft Exchange
3 32 (3.35%) Confluence
4 15 (1.57%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.42%) IBM Transformation Extender
6 3 (0.31%) CMS
6 3 (0.31%) OpenStack
7 1 (0.10%) CICS
7 1 (0.10%) IIS
7 1 (0.10%) Mattermost
Applications
1 68 (7.11%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (2.30%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (1.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.52%) Chatbot
4 5 (0.52%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.21%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.10%) Maple
Business Applications
1 45 (4.71%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (0.84%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.52%) ContrOCC
4 4 (0.42%) SAP S/4HANA
4 4 (0.42%) Workday HCM
5 3 (0.31%) NEC Housing
6 2 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.21%) Primavera
6 2 (0.21%) Remedy AR System
6 2 (0.21%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.21%) SAP CX
6 2 (0.21%) Teamcenter
7 1 (0.10%) Cloudability
7 1 (0.10%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 160 (16.74%) Azure
2 110 (11.51%) Microsoft 365
3 78 (8.16%) Entra ID
4 63 (6.59%) AWS
5 47 (4.92%) Power Platform
6 36 (3.77%) SaaS
7 27 (2.82%) Azure DevOps
8 25 (2.62%) GCP
9 23 (2.41%) OneDrive
10 14 (1.46%) Azure Monitor
11 13 (1.36%) Dynamics 365
12 10 (1.05%) Microsoft Copilot
13 9 (0.94%) GitHub
13 9 (0.94%) Power Automate
13 9 (0.94%) Serverless
14 8 (0.84%) Azure Functions
14 8 (0.84%) IaaS
15 6 (0.63%) Azure Sentinel
15 6 (0.63%) OCI
16 5 (0.52%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 45 (4.71%) DNS
2 44 (4.60%) Firewall
3 38 (3.97%) VPN
4 33 (3.45%) DHCP
5 31 (3.24%) Network Security
6 23 (2.41%) TCP/IP
7 22 (2.30%) LAN
8 17 (1.78%) WAN
9 16 (1.67%) Skype
10 13 (1.36%) Wireless
11 12 (1.26%) VLAN
11 12 (1.26%) Wi-Fi
12 10 (1.05%) SSH
13 8 (0.84%) BGP
14 7 (0.73%) Intrusion Detection
15 6 (0.63%) Internet
15 6 (0.63%) NetScaler
15 6 (0.63%) OSPF
15 6 (0.63%) SAN
15 6 (0.63%) Software-Defined Networking
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (3.03%) Power BI
2 28 (2.93%) SQL Server
3 20 (2.09%) Metadata
4 8 (0.84%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 6 (0.63%) MySQL
6 5 (0.52%) MariaDB
6 5 (0.52%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 4 (0.42%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (0.42%) Oracle Reports
7 4 (0.42%) Relational Database
7 4 (0.42%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 3 (0.31%) Amazon Aurora
8 3 (0.31%) Looker
8 3 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
9 2 (0.21%) EDRMS
9 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Analysis Services
9 2 (0.21%) Oracle Database
10 1 (0.10%) Azure SQL Database
10 1 (0.10%) Data Warehouse
10 1 (0.10%) Oracle Database 11g
Development Applications
1 74 (7.74%) JIRA
2 22 (2.30%) Git
3 9 (0.94%) Jenkins
4 8 (0.84%) Atlassian Bamboo
4 8 (0.84%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.52%) Browser DevTools
6 4 (0.42%) webpack
7 3 (0.31%) Fiddler
7 3 (0.31%) GitLab
7 3 (0.31%) Gradle
7 3 (0.31%) Maven
7 3 (0.31%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.21%) Firebug
8 2 (0.21%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.10%) Artifactory
9 1 (0.10%) eggPlant
9 1 (0.10%) Gemini Tracker
9 1 (0.10%) IBM UrbanCode
9 1 (0.10%) MLflow
9 1 (0.10%) Snyk
General
1 388 (40.59%) Social Skills
2 153 (16.00%) Analytical Skills
3 142 (14.85%) Finance
4 107 (11.19%) Public Sector
5 46 (4.81%) Documentation Skills
6 40 (4.18%) Influencing Skills
7 38 (3.97%) Organisational Skills
8 31 (3.24%) Legal
9 30 (3.14%) Aerospace
10 24 (2.51%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 23 (2.41%) Banking
11 23 (2.41%) Telecoms
12 21 (2.20%) Military
13 18 (1.88%) Presentation Skills
14 15 (1.57%) Local Government
15 14 (1.46%) Manufacturing
16 5 (0.52%) Retail
17 4 (0.42%) Law
18 3 (0.31%) Police
19 2 (0.21%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 109 (11.40%) Lead
2 96 (10.04%) Analyst
3 86 (9.00%) Architect
4 69 (7.22%) Senior
5 63 (6.59%) Service Manager
6 47 (4.92%) Delivery Manager
7 44 (4.60%) IT Manager
8 43 (4.50%) Support Engineer
9 41 (4.29%) Service Analyst
10 35 (3.66%) Consultant
11 33 (3.45%) Service Architect
12 32 (3.35%) Developer
13 31 (3.24%) Project Manager
14 26 (2.72%) Desktop Engineer
15 25 (2.62%) Administrator
15 25 (2.62%) Technical Leader
16 24 (2.51%) Change Manager
17 22 (2.30%) 2nd Line Support
17 22 (2.30%) Desktop Support
18 21 (2.20%) Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (4.08%) Terraform
2 32 (3.35%) REST
3 17 (1.78%) XML
4 15 (1.57%) Middleware
5 12 (1.26%) JSON
6 10 (1.05%) SAML
7 9 (0.94%) SOAP
8 8 (0.84%) Web Services
8 8 (0.84%) XSLT
9 7 (0.73%) OAuth
10 6 (0.63%) .NET
10 6 (0.63%) ARM Templates
11 5 (0.52%) OpenID
11 5 (0.52%) SailPoint
12 4 (0.42%) AngularJS
12 4 (0.42%) CSS
12 4 (0.42%) LDAP
12 4 (0.42%) Node.js
12 4 (0.42%) OAuth2
12 4 (0.42%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 91 (9.52%) Onboarding
2 62 (6.49%) Management Information System
3 52 (5.44%) CMDB
4 38 (3.97%) Data Centre
5 34 (3.56%) Enterprise Software
6 30 (3.14%) PKI
7 24 (2.51%) Product Ownership
8 23 (2.41%) Data Protection Act
9 21 (2.20%) Hybrid Cloud
10 16 (1.67%) Operational Technology
11 15 (1.57%) Analytical Mindset
11 15 (1.57%) Clustering
11 15 (1.57%) Virtual Team
12 13 (1.36%) Cyber Threat
12 13 (1.36%) Self-Motivation
13 12 (1.26%) Security Operations Centre
14 11 (1.15%) Security Posture
15 9 (0.94%) Cloud Native
15 9 (0.94%) NHS
15 9 (0.94%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 220 (23.01%) Windows
2 65 (6.80%) Windows Server
3 59 (6.17%) Linux
4 49 (5.13%) Windows 10
5 17 (1.78%) Windows 7
6 16 (1.67%) Unix
7 13 (1.36%) Mac OS
8 12 (1.26%) Android
8 12 (1.26%) Apple iOS
9 7 (0.73%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 4 (0.42%) Solaris
11 3 (0.31%) AIX
11 3 (0.31%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
11 3 (0.31%) Windows Server 2012
12 2 (0.21%) Windows XP
12 2 (0.21%) zOS
13 1 (0.10%) SUSE
13 1 (0.10%) Windows Server 2008
13 1 (0.10%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.10%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 543 (56.80%) ITIL
2 404 (42.26%) ITSM
3 294 (30.75%) Stakeholder Management
4 280 (29.29%) Continuous Improvement
5 213 (22.28%) Service Delivery
6 185 (19.35%) Agile
7 181 (18.93%) Problem-Solving
8 154 (16.11%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 151 (15.79%) Change Management
10 125 (13.08%) Roadmaps
11 115 (12.03%) Cybersecurity
12 111 (11.61%) Customer Service
12 111 (11.61%) Incident Management
13 89 (9.31%) Project Delivery
14 88 (9.21%) DevOps
15 80 (8.37%) Risk Management
16 76 (7.95%) Data Protection
17 74 (7.74%) Decision-Making
18 70 (7.32%) Service Design
18 70 (7.32%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 103 (10.77%) PowerShell
2 59 (6.17%) Python
3 37 (3.87%) SQL
4 32 (3.35%) Bash
5 28 (2.93%) JavaScript
6 19 (1.99%) VBScript
7 15 (1.57%) VB
8 12 (1.26%) Java
9 11 (1.15%) C#
10 7 (0.73%) Bicep
10 7 (0.73%) Shell Script
11 4 (0.42%) C
11 4 (0.42%) T-SQL
11 4 (0.42%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.31%) Groovy
12 3 (0.31%) Lua
12 3 (0.31%) Perl
13 2 (0.21%) Apex Code
13 2 (0.21%) PL/SQL
13 2 (0.21%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 441 (46.13%) Security Cleared
2 280 (29.29%) SC Cleared
3 135 (14.12%) DV Cleared
4 106 (11.09%) Degree
5 36 (3.77%) BPSS Clearance
6 34 (3.56%) ITIL Certification
7 31 (3.24%) PMP
8 30 (3.14%) PMI Certification
9 28 (2.93%) Microsoft Certification
10 18 (1.88%) Cisco Certification
11 17 (1.78%) Computer Science Degree
12 16 (1.67%) Azure Certification
13 15 (1.57%) CISSP
13 15 (1.57%) DBS Check
13 15 (1.57%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 12 (1.26%) A+ Certification
14 12 (1.26%) CISM
15 10 (1.05%) CCNP
16 9 (0.94%) CCNA
17 8 (0.84%) AWS Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 70 (7.32%) SLA
2 38 (3.97%) Data Quality
3 30 (3.14%) GRC
4 29 (3.03%) QA
5 28 (2.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 26 (2.72%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 20 (2.09%) GDPR
7 20 (2.09%) NCSC
8 19 (1.99%) PMO
9 17 (1.78%) NIST
10 16 (1.67%) ISO 9001
11 10 (1.05%) Accessibility
12 9 (0.94%) COBIT
12 9 (0.94%) Disclosure Scotland
13 8 (0.84%) WCAG
14 7 (0.73%) ISO 31000
14 7 (0.73%) ISO/IEC 27005
15 6 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials
15 6 (0.63%) ISO 22301
16 5 (0.52%) JSP 440
System Software
1 111 (11.61%) Active Directory
2 64 (6.69%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (2.41%) Hyper-V
3 23 (2.41%) VMware ESXi
4 17 (1.78%) VMware NSX
5 16 (1.67%) BitLocker
6 15 (1.57%) Docker
6 15 (1.57%) Virtual Desktop
7 14 (1.46%) vSphere
8 13 (1.36%) vCloud
9 7 (0.73%) Firmware
10 6 (0.63%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 6 (0.63%) XenApp
10 6 (0.63%) XenDesktop
11 3 (0.31%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 3 (0.31%) NFS
11 3 (0.31%) Virtual Machines
11 3 (0.31%) Virtual Servers
12 2 (0.21%) GPFS
12 2 (0.21%) KVM
Systems Management
1 60 (6.28%) SCCM
2 55 (5.75%) Microsoft Intune
3 36 (3.77%) Ansible
4 20 (2.09%) SCOM
5 17 (1.78%) vCenter Server
6 14 (1.46%) Kubernetes
6 14 (1.46%) Single Sign-On
7 7 (0.73%) Jamf Pro
8 6 (0.63%) Progress Chef
9 5 (0.52%) NetBackup
10 4 (0.42%) PowerCLI
10 4 (0.42%) Tivoli
10 4 (0.42%) Tivoli Monitoring
10 4 (0.42%) vMotion
10 4 (0.42%) WSUS
11 3 (0.31%) Cisco Prime
11 3 (0.31%) Dell DRAC
11 3 (0.31%) OPNET
11 3 (0.31%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 3 (0.31%) vRealize
Vendors
1 239 (25.00%) Microsoft
2 235 (24.58%) ServiceNow
3 85 (8.89%) VMware
4 48 (5.02%) Remedy
5 33 (3.45%) BMC
6 30 (3.14%) Cisco
7 21 (2.20%) Oracle
8 20 (2.09%) CyberArk
9 18 (1.88%) IBM
10 17 (1.78%) Atlassian
11 15 (1.57%) Dynatrace
12 13 (1.36%) Apple
12 13 (1.36%) Citrix
12 13 (1.36%) SAP
12 13 (1.36%) SolarWinds
13 11 (1.15%) Splunk
14 10 (1.05%) Google
14 10 (1.05%) Palo Alto
14 10 (1.05%) Qualys
15 9 (0.94%) Red Hat