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

6 months to
23 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 72 56 57
Rank change year-on-year -16 +1 +5
Contract jobs citing Service Management 798 592 637
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.96% 3.98% 3.22%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.62% 4.46% 3.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 522 346 457
10th Percentile £230 £196 £213
25th Percentile £400 £308 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £503 £497 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.36% -5.43% +5.00%
75th Percentile £600 £585 £600
90th Percentile £688 £675 £675
UK median daily rate £520 £497 £525
% change year-on-year +4.63% -5.33% +0.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 67 17
10th Percentile £14.50 - £16.14
25th Percentile £16.17 £12.62 £19.00
Median hourly rate £60.00 £18.73 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year +220.34% -30.63% +26.70%
75th Percentile £85.00 £22.35 £48.75
90th Percentile £99.63 £55.40 £51.50
UK median hourly rate £60.00 £20.57 £27.00
% change year-on-year +191.69% -23.81% -35.52%

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 22,072 13,267 16,397
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 81.86% 89.13% 83.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,076 8,040 9,819
10th Percentile £300 £235 £250
25th Percentile £406 £365 £381
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £590 £575 £600
90th Percentile £675 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £520 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -4.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,281 1,240 1,825
10th Percentile £14.50 £14.00 £12.92
25th Percentile £19.46 £17.00 £16.06
Median hourly rate £45.00 £24.34 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +84.88% -39.15% -1.45%
75th Percentile £68.75 £50.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £83.00 £71.50 £74.00
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £39.50
% change year-on-year +74.79% -36.33% -7.06%

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 July 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 July 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 July 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 +27 271 £538 +17.81% 114
North of England -34 200 £464 +0.98% 97
South West -27 125 £500 -9.09% 38
North West -36 110 £492 - 51
Midlands -42 93 £476 +0.21% 50
Yorkshire -23 84 £443 +18.13% 36
West Midlands -42 83 £486 -1.32% 34
Scotland -15 58 £500 - 13
East of England -26 38 £525 -4.55% 29
Wales -9 13 £800 +188.29% 9
East Midlands -16 10 £350 +16.67% 16
Northern Ireland +12 7 - - 3
North East -38 6 £440 +125.64% 13
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 46 (5.76%) SharePoint
2 28 (3.51%) Microsoft Exchange
3 27 (3.38%) Confluence
4 8 (1.00%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.75%) Mattermost
6 3 (0.38%) CMS
6 3 (0.38%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.25%) IIS
8 1 (0.13%) Apache
8 1 (0.13%) JBoss
8 1 (0.13%) LiveCycle
Applications
1 53 (6.64%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (2.76%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (1.75%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.50%) Chatbot
5 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.25%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.25%) PTC Creo
7 1 (0.13%) Camtasia
7 1 (0.13%) Maple
Business Applications
1 50 (6.27%) Remedy ITSM
2 7 (0.88%) SAP S/4HANA
3 5 (0.63%) ContrOCC
3 5 (0.63%) Teamcenter
4 2 (0.25%) Oracle Applications
4 2 (0.25%) Primavera
5 1 (0.13%) NEC Housing
5 1 (0.13%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.13%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.13%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 118 (14.79%) Azure
2 76 (9.52%) Microsoft 365
3 50 (6.27%) Power Platform
4 46 (5.76%) Entra ID
5 38 (4.76%) AWS
6 23 (2.88%) SaaS
7 22 (2.76%) Azure DevOps
7 22 (2.76%) OneDrive
8 17 (2.13%) GCP
9 10 (1.25%) Azure Monitor
10 9 (1.13%) Microsoft Copilot
10 9 (1.13%) OCI
11 8 (1.00%) GitHub
11 8 (1.00%) PaaS
12 6 (0.75%) Azure AKS
13 5 (0.63%) Azure Machine Learning
13 5 (0.63%) Azure Sentinel
13 5 (0.63%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 5 (0.63%) Google App Engine
13 5 (0.63%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 41 (5.14%) Firewall
2 37 (4.64%) DNS
3 26 (3.26%) LAN
4 24 (3.01%) DHCP
5 22 (2.76%) Network Security
6 21 (2.63%) VPN
7 19 (2.38%) TCP/IP
8 18 (2.26%) BGP
8 18 (2.26%) WAN
9 16 (2.01%) OSPF
10 14 (1.75%) Wireless
11 12 (1.50%) BIG-IP
11 12 (1.50%) Cisco ISE
12 10 (1.25%) Junos
12 10 (1.25%) VXLAN
13 9 (1.13%) Ethernet VPN
13 9 (1.13%) SSH
13 9 (1.13%) VLAN
13 9 (1.13%) Wi-Fi
14 8 (1.00%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 43 (5.39%) Power BI
2 17 (2.13%) SQL Server
3 5 (0.63%) Oracle Reports
3 5 (0.63%) PostgreSQL
3 5 (0.63%) Relational Database
3 5 (0.63%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 4 (0.50%) MySQL
4 4 (0.50%) SQL Server Analysis Services
4 4 (0.50%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 3 (0.38%) Azure SQL Database
5 3 (0.38%) MariaDB
6 2 (0.25%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.25%) Microsoft Analysis Services
6 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database
7 1 (0.13%) Amazon Aurora
7 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.13%) DTS
7 1 (0.13%) InfluxDB
7 1 (0.13%) OpenStack Swift
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database 11g
Development Applications
1 77 (9.65%) JIRA
2 17 (2.13%) Git
3 9 (1.13%) Bitbucket
4 8 (1.00%) Atlassian Bamboo
4 8 (1.00%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.88%) GitLab
6 5 (0.63%) Browser DevTools
7 4 (0.50%) MLflow
7 4 (0.50%) Rational DOORS
8 3 (0.38%) Fiddler
9 2 (0.25%) Firebug
9 2 (0.25%) IntelliJ
9 2 (0.25%) webpack
10 1 (0.13%) Gemini Tracker
10 1 (0.13%) Gradle
10 1 (0.13%) Hudson
10 1 (0.13%) IBM UrbanCode
10 1 (0.13%) MSI
10 1 (0.13%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 283 (35.46%) Social Skills
2 113 (14.16%) Finance
3 111 (13.91%) Analytical Skills
4 76 (9.52%) Public Sector
5 39 (4.89%) Legal
6 34 (4.26%) Influencing Skills
7 29 (3.63%) Documentation Skills
8 24 (3.01%) Military
9 22 (2.76%) Telecoms
10 21 (2.63%) Organisational Skills
11 15 (1.88%) Aerospace
11 15 (1.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 14 (1.75%) Banking
12 14 (1.75%) Presentation Skills
13 11 (1.38%) Local Government
14 5 (0.63%) Financial Institution
15 4 (0.50%) Retail
16 3 (0.38%) Publishing
17 1 (0.13%) Automotive
17 1 (0.13%) Games
Job Titles
1 102 (12.78%) Analyst
2 85 (10.65%) Service Manager
3 83 (10.40%) Lead
4 73 (9.15%) Senior
5 49 (6.14%) Service Analyst
6 48 (6.02%) Architect
7 45 (5.64%) IT Manager
8 30 (3.76%) Project Manager
9 29 (3.63%) Delivery Manager
10 28 (3.51%) Network Engineer
11 26 (3.26%) Support Engineer
12 23 (2.88%) Consultant
12 23 (2.88%) IT Analyst
13 21 (2.63%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 21 (2.63%) Service Architect
13 21 (2.63%) Service Delivery Manager
14 20 (2.51%) Administrator
14 20 (2.51%) Transition Manager
15 18 (2.26%) IT Services Manager
15 18 (2.26%) Service Transition Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (3.51%) REST
2 9 (1.13%) OAuth
2 9 (1.13%) SOAP
3 8 (1.00%) 802.1X
4 7 (0.88%) SAML
5 5 (0.63%) ARM Templates
5 5 (0.63%) OpenID
5 5 (0.63%) Oracle Fusion
5 5 (0.63%) XML
6 4 (0.50%) JSON
6 4 (0.50%) OAuth2
6 4 (0.50%) XMPP
7 3 (0.38%) .NET
7 3 (0.38%) CSS
7 3 (0.38%) Elastic Stack
7 3 (0.38%) Flash
7 3 (0.38%) HTML
7 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Graph
7 3 (0.38%) Software Packaging
7 3 (0.38%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 67 (8.40%) Onboarding
2 40 (5.01%) CMDB
3 39 (4.89%) Product Ownership
4 35 (4.39%) Management Information System
5 30 (3.76%) PKI
6 26 (3.26%) Data Centre
7 25 (3.13%) Clustering
8 17 (2.13%) Enterprise Software
9 16 (2.01%) Virtual Team
10 15 (1.88%) Data Protection Act
11 14 (1.75%) Operational Technology
12 13 (1.63%) Analytical Mindset
12 13 (1.63%) Self-Motivation
13 10 (1.25%) Hybrid Cloud
14 9 (1.13%) Driving Licence
15 8 (1.00%) Cloud Native
15 8 (1.00%) Replication
15 8 (1.00%) Security Posture
16 7 (0.88%) Cyber Threat
16 7 (0.88%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 174 (21.80%) Windows
2 42 (5.26%) Windows Server
3 41 (5.14%) Linux
4 33 (4.14%) Windows 10
5 11 (1.38%) Mac OS
5 11 (1.38%) Unix
5 11 (1.38%) Windows 7
6 5 (0.63%) Android
6 5 (0.63%) Apple iOS
6 5 (0.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.25%) Solaris
7 2 (0.25%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.25%) Windows Server 2012
7 2 (0.25%) Windows XP
8 1 (0.13%) Rocky
8 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
8 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2016
8 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.13%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 463 (58.02%) ITIL
2 356 (44.61%) ITSM
3 212 (26.57%) Continuous Improvement
4 195 (24.44%) Stakeholder Management
5 191 (23.93%) Service Delivery
6 160 (20.05%) Agile
7 155 (19.42%) Problem-Solving
8 125 (15.66%) Change Management
9 115 (14.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 90 (11.28%) Customer Service
11 85 (10.65%) DevOps
12 79 (9.90%) Incident Management
13 68 (8.52%) Project Delivery
14 66 (8.27%) Cybersecurity
15 61 (7.64%) Problem Management
16 60 (7.52%) Roadmaps
17 59 (7.39%) Configuration Management
18 57 (7.14%) Service Design
19 53 (6.64%) Project Management
19 53 (6.64%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 75 (9.40%) PowerShell
2 51 (6.39%) Python
3 42 (5.26%) SQL
4 25 (3.13%) Bash
5 23 (2.88%) JavaScript
6 8 (1.00%) Java
6 8 (1.00%) VB
6 8 (1.00%) VBScript
7 5 (0.63%) Bicep
8 4 (0.50%) C
8 4 (0.50%) C#
8 4 (0.50%) Perl
8 4 (0.50%) PL/SQL
8 4 (0.50%) T-SQL
9 3 (0.38%) Lua
9 3 (0.38%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.25%) Apex Code
10 2 (0.25%) Search Processing Language
10 2 (0.25%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.25%) VBA
Qualifications
1 376 (47.12%) Security Cleared
2 229 (28.70%) SC Cleared
3 135 (16.92%) DV Cleared
4 78 (9.77%) Degree
5 39 (4.89%) ITIL Certification
6 25 (3.13%) Cisco Certification
7 24 (3.01%) BPSS Clearance
7 24 (3.01%) PMP
8 23 (2.88%) PMI Certification
9 14 (1.75%) Computer Science Degree
10 13 (1.63%) CCNA
10 13 (1.63%) Microsoft Certification
11 12 (1.50%) DBS Check
12 11 (1.38%) CCNP
12 11 (1.38%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 10 (1.25%) A+ Certification
14 9 (1.13%) JNCIA
14 9 (1.13%) JNCIP
14 9 (1.13%) JNCIS
15 7 (0.88%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 57 (7.14%) SLA
2 28 (3.51%) Data Quality
3 27 (3.38%) ISO/IEC 20000
4 22 (2.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 22 (2.76%) PMO
5 21 (2.63%) QA
6 17 (2.13%) GRC
7 16 (2.01%) NCSC
8 15 (1.88%) ISO 9001
9 13 (1.63%) GDPR
10 10 (1.25%) COBIT
11 8 (1.00%) Disclosure Scotland
12 7 (0.88%) Government Security Classifications
13 6 (0.75%) ISO 31000
13 6 (0.75%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 5 (0.63%) Accessibility
14 5 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials
15 4 (0.50%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 4 (0.50%) GMP
15 4 (0.50%) NIST
System Software
1 95 (11.90%) Active Directory
2 41 (5.14%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (2.38%) VMware ESXi
4 13 (1.63%) Docker
5 12 (1.50%) VMware NSX
6 9 (1.13%) BitLocker
6 9 (1.13%) vSphere
7 8 (1.00%) vCloud
8 5 (0.63%) Virtual Desktop
8 5 (0.63%) Virtual Machines
9 4 (0.50%) Hyper-V
9 4 (0.50%) NFS
10 3 (0.38%) Firmware
11 2 (0.25%) GPFS
11 2 (0.25%) KVM
12 1 (0.13%) iptables
12 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.13%) Samba
12 1 (0.13%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 45 (5.64%) SCCM
2 40 (5.01%) Microsoft Intune
3 27 (3.38%) Ansible
4 26 (3.26%) Terraform
5 12 (1.50%) Kubernetes
5 12 (1.50%) SCOM
6 11 (1.38%) vCenter Server
7 10 (1.25%) Single Sign-On
8 8 (1.00%) FortiGate
8 8 (1.00%) Jamf Pro
9 5 (0.63%) Progress Chef
10 4 (0.50%) PowerCLI
10 4 (0.50%) Puppet
10 4 (0.50%) vMotion
11 3 (0.38%) Cisco Prime
11 3 (0.38%) Dell DRAC
11 3 (0.38%) Grafana
11 3 (0.38%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 3 (0.38%) vRealize
12 2 (0.25%) Nagios
Vendors
1 198 (24.81%) ServiceNow
2 152 (19.05%) Microsoft
3 56 (7.02%) VMware
4 52 (6.52%) Remedy
5 37 (4.64%) Cisco
6 25 (3.13%) BMC
7 18 (2.26%) Oracle
7 18 (2.26%) Splunk
8 17 (2.13%) SolarWinds
9 14 (1.75%) Atlassian
9 14 (1.75%) Juniper
10 13 (1.63%) F5
10 13 (1.63%) SAP
11 11 (1.38%) IBM
12 10 (1.25%) Dell
12 10 (1.25%) Dynatrace
12 10 (1.25%) Qualys
13 9 (1.13%) Citrix
13 9 (1.13%) HP
13 9 (1.13%) IFS