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 24 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 56 73 60
Rank change year-on-year +17 -13 +4
Contract jobs citing Service Management 711 452 654
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.89% 3.04% 3.37%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.53% 3.49% 3.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 481 281 487
10th Percentile £185 £200 £233
25th Percentile £313 £350 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% +10.53%
75th Percentile £576 £600 £600
90th Percentile £706 £675 £675
UK median daily rate £500 £513 £528
% change year-on-year -2.44% -2.94% +5.60%
Number of hourly rates quoted 77 24 11
10th Percentile £12.62 £21.05 £15.46
25th Percentile £16.40 £27.80 £17.13
Median hourly rate £20.79 £31.48 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year -33.95% +49.88% -19.71%
75th Percentile £60.00 £48.75 £21.50
90th Percentile £76.56 £63.75 £48.75
UK median hourly rate £20.83 £30.45 £21.16
% change year-on-year -31.59% +43.94% -15.38%

All Process and 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 15,689 12,960 17,106
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 85.83% 87.26% 88.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,582 7,621 11,014
10th Percentile £220 £239 £250
25th Percentile £375 £381 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £476 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.80% - -
75th Percentile £575 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £688 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,758 745 1,210
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.50 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.30 £20.00 £17.72
Median hourly rate £23.54 £31.50 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -25.28% -30.00% +42.45%
75th Percentile £50.00 £64.10 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.03 £73.14 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £43.90
% change year-on-year -22.62% -25.97% +25.43%

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 24 December 2025.

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 24 December 2025.

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 24 December 2025. 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 +32 196 £500 - 121
North of England 0 169 £470 +17.56% 89
South West +8 145 £575 +4.55% 54
Midlands +15 127 £500 - 79
West Midlands +13 99 £510 +2.00% 44
North West -1 95 £500 +25.00% 48
Yorkshire -3 59 £409 +76.57% 32
East of England -8 38 £454 -14.42% 54
Scotland -5 35 £463 +0.27% 21
East Midlands +7 28 £425 -15.00% 32
North East 0 18 £270 -54.72% 10
Northern Ireland - 4 £325 - 8
Wales -8 3 £170 -46.44% 19
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 61 (8.58%) Confluence
2 52 (7.31%) Microsoft Exchange
3 44 (6.19%) SharePoint
4 16 (2.25%) Apache
5 14 (1.97%) WebLogic
6 10 (1.41%) Skype for Business
7 5 (0.70%) SharePoint Server
8 2 (0.28%) IIS
8 2 (0.28%) JBoss
8 2 (0.28%) WebSphere
9 1 (0.14%) CMS
9 1 (0.14%) HCL Notes
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle Self-Service HR
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 84 (11.81%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (5.06%) Microsoft Project
3 21 (2.95%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (1.41%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (1.13%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 15 (2.11%) Remedy ITSM
2 13 (1.83%) Oracle EBS
3 3 (0.42%) assyst
3 3 (0.42%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.28%) Maximo
4 2 (0.28%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle ERP
5 1 (0.14%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.14%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.14%) SAP PM
5 1 (0.14%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.14%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 107 (15.05%) Azure
2 79 (11.11%) AWS
3 63 (8.86%) Microsoft 365
4 35 (4.92%) GCP
5 23 (3.23%) Power Platform
6 22 (3.09%) Entra ID
7 16 (2.25%) OneDrive
8 14 (1.97%) Azure Monitor
9 12 (1.69%) SaaS
10 10 (1.41%) Azure DevOps
10 10 (1.41%) PowerApps
11 7 (0.98%) Salesforce Service Cloud
12 6 (0.84%) Power Automate
13 5 (0.70%) IaaS
13 5 (0.70%) OpenShift
14 4 (0.56%) Amazon EC2
14 4 (0.56%) Amazon S3
14 4 (0.56%) AWS Lambda
14 4 (0.56%) Dynamics 365
14 4 (0.56%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 44 (6.19%) DNS
2 32 (4.50%) Firewall
3 29 (4.08%) DHCP
4 22 (3.09%) VLAN
5 21 (2.95%) TCP/IP
6 20 (2.81%) LAN
6 20 (2.81%) Skype
6 20 (2.81%) VPN
7 19 (2.67%) WAN
8 17 (2.39%) Cisco Firepower
8 17 (2.39%) Cisco IOS
8 17 (2.39%) Cisco ISE
8 17 (2.39%) Junos
9 14 (1.97%) Network Security
10 9 (1.27%) Wi-Fi
11 8 (1.13%) WebEx
12 6 (0.84%) SSH
12 6 (0.84%) Wireless
13 5 (0.70%) SAN
13 5 (0.70%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.25%) Relational Database
2 15 (2.11%) Power BI
3 10 (1.41%) SQL Server
4 7 (0.98%) Amazon RDS
5 4 (0.56%) Data Mining
5 4 (0.56%) InfluxDB
5 4 (0.56%) Metadata
6 3 (0.42%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.28%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.28%) Big Data
7 2 (0.28%) DB2
7 2 (0.28%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.28%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.14%) Amazon Aurora
8 1 (0.14%) Electronic Patient Records
8 1 (0.14%) MariaDB
8 1 (0.14%) MySQL
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.14%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 97 (13.64%) JIRA
2 17 (2.39%) Jenkins
3 6 (0.84%) Bitbucket
3 6 (0.84%) Git
4 5 (0.70%) webpack
5 4 (0.56%) GitLab
6 1 (0.14%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.14%) MLflow
6 1 (0.14%) ScriptRunner
6 1 (0.14%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 290 (40.79%) Social Skills
2 143 (20.11%) Analytical Skills
3 92 (12.94%) Public Sector
4 81 (11.39%) Finance
5 47 (6.61%) Military
6 35 (4.92%) Legal
7 28 (3.94%) Manufacturing
7 28 (3.94%) Organisational Skills
8 24 (3.38%) Telecoms
9 17 (2.39%) Banking
9 17 (2.39%) Documentation Skills
10 14 (1.97%) Influencing Skills
11 13 (1.83%) Marketing
11 13 (1.83%) Retail
12 12 (1.69%) Electronics
13 11 (1.55%) Presentation Skills
14 9 (1.27%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 6 (0.84%) Investment Banking
16 5 (0.70%) Billing
16 5 (0.70%) Police
Job Titles
1 94 (13.22%) Architect
2 93 (13.08%) Analyst
3 68 (9.56%) Lead
4 67 (9.42%) Service Architect
5 57 (8.02%) Support Engineer
6 49 (6.89%) Service Manager
7 38 (5.34%) IT Support
8 33 (4.64%) 2nd Line Support
9 31 (4.36%) Support Analyst
10 25 (3.52%) Network Engineer
11 24 (3.38%) Desktop Support
12 23 (3.23%) Platform Engineer
13 22 (3.09%) Consultant
13 22 (3.09%) IT Analyst
14 21 (2.95%) Senior
15 20 (2.81%) 3rd Line Engineer
15 20 (2.81%) Delivery Manager
15 20 (2.81%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 20 (2.81%) Project Manager
15 20 (2.81%) Service Delivery Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (2.95%) REST
2 9 (1.27%) RFC 2544
2 9 (1.27%) SOAP
3 8 (1.13%) CSS
3 8 (1.13%) HTML
3 8 (1.13%) XMPP
4 6 (0.84%) .NET
5 5 (0.70%) CSS3
5 5 (0.70%) HTML5
5 5 (0.70%) Node.js
5 5 (0.70%) React
5 5 (0.70%) Redux
5 5 (0.70%) RESTful
5 5 (0.70%) Web Services
6 4 (0.56%) Elastic Stack
6 4 (0.56%) RabbitMQ
7 3 (0.42%) Lightning Web Components
7 3 (0.42%) XML
8 2 (0.28%) GraphQL
8 2 (0.28%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 54 (7.59%) Product Ownership
2 35 (4.92%) Data Centre
3 27 (3.80%) Management Information System
4 22 (3.09%) CMDB
5 21 (2.95%) PKI
6 20 (2.81%) Onboarding
7 18 (2.53%) Driving Licence
8 17 (2.39%) Self-Motivation
9 15 (2.11%) Analytical Mindset
9 15 (2.11%) Virtual Team
10 13 (1.83%) Mainframe
11 12 (1.69%) NHS
12 7 (0.98%) PMI
13 6 (0.84%) Fibre Optics
13 6 (0.84%) Public Cloud
13 6 (0.84%) Tandem
13 6 (0.84%) Video Conferencing
14 5 (0.70%) Distributed Systems
15 4 (0.56%) Enterprise Software
15 4 (0.56%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 171 (24.05%) Windows
2 66 (9.28%) Linux
3 55 (7.74%) Windows Server
4 37 (5.20%) Windows 10
5 25 (3.52%) Unix
6 12 (1.69%) Mac OS
6 12 (1.69%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 7 (0.98%) Apple iOS
7 7 (0.98%) Windows Server 2012
8 6 (0.84%) Android
9 5 (0.70%) Windows 7
10 4 (0.56%) Ubuntu
10 4 (0.56%) Windows Server 2003
10 4 (0.56%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.56%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.42%) CentOS
11 3 (0.42%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.14%) AIX
12 1 (0.14%) Data ONTAP
12 1 (0.14%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 432 (60.76%) ITIL
2 307 (43.18%) ITSM
3 144 (20.25%) Problem-Solving
4 122 (17.16%) Change Management
5 110 (15.47%) Agile
5 110 (15.47%) Continuous Improvement
6 101 (14.21%) Service Design
7 93 (13.08%) Stakeholder Management
8 92 (12.94%) Customer Service
9 89 (12.52%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 86 (12.10%) Service Delivery
11 70 (9.85%) Incident Management
12 65 (9.14%) Project Delivery
13 63 (8.86%) Project Management
14 55 (7.74%) Knowledge Transfer
15 53 (7.45%) Acceptance Criteria
16 52 (7.31%) DevOps
17 50 (7.03%) Problem Management
18 45 (6.33%) Business Continuity
18 45 (6.33%) Critical Thinking
Programming Languages
1 61 (8.58%) SQL
2 59 (8.30%) PowerShell
3 50 (7.03%) Python
4 15 (2.11%) Perl
4 15 (2.11%) Shell Script
5 14 (1.97%) JavaScript
6 12 (1.69%) Bash
7 9 (1.27%) Java
8 5 (0.70%) TypeScript
8 5 (0.70%) VB
8 5 (0.70%) VBScript
9 4 (0.56%) Go
10 3 (0.42%) Apex Code
11 2 (0.28%) C#
11 2 (0.28%) PHP
12 1 (0.14%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.14%) T-SQL
12 1 (0.14%) VBA
Qualifications
1 343 (48.24%) Security Cleared
2 276 (38.82%) SC Cleared
3 103 (14.49%) Degree
4 68 (9.56%) DV Cleared
5 44 (6.19%) ITIL Certification
6 35 (4.92%) Microsoft Certification
7 30 (4.22%) TOGAF Certification
8 17 (2.39%) A+ Certification
9 16 (2.25%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (2.25%) MCSE
10 15 (2.11%) Computer Science Degree
11 14 (1.97%) PMP
11 14 (1.97%) Server+ Certification
12 13 (1.83%) Azure Certification
12 13 (1.83%) BPSS Clearance
12 13 (1.83%) PMI Certification
13 12 (1.69%) CCNA
13 12 (1.69%) CCNP
14 11 (1.55%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 11 (1.55%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (5.34%) SLA
2 32 (4.50%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 12 (1.69%) GDPR
4 10 (1.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 9 (1.27%) Data Quality
5 9 (1.27%) PMO
6 5 (0.70%) Disclosure Scotland
6 5 (0.70%) ISO 9001
6 5 (0.70%) NCSC
6 5 (0.70%) QA
7 3 (0.42%) Accessibility
7 3 (0.42%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.14%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.14%) COBIT
8 1 (0.14%) GRC
8 1 (0.14%) NIST
8 1 (0.14%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.14%) WCAG
System Software
1 84 (11.81%) Active Directory
2 31 (4.36%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.95%) VMware NSX
4 14 (1.97%) Hyper-V
5 8 (1.13%) Docker
6 6 (0.84%) Virtual Desktop
6 6 (0.84%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (0.70%) BitLocker
7 5 (0.70%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 4 (0.56%) VMware ESXi
9 3 (0.42%) Virtual Machines
10 1 (0.14%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 32 (4.50%) OPNET
2 26 (3.66%) vCenter Server
3 19 (2.67%) Ansible
3 19 (2.67%) SCCM
4 17 (2.39%) Terraform
5 15 (2.11%) Kubernetes
6 14 (1.97%) Microsoft Intune
7 11 (1.55%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 11 (1.55%) WSUS
8 5 (0.70%) Grafana
9 4 (0.56%) Nessus
9 4 (0.56%) Packer
9 4 (0.56%) Progress Chef
9 4 (0.56%) Prometheus
10 3 (0.42%) Check_MK
11 2 (0.28%) Docker Swarm
11 2 (0.28%) FortiGate
11 2 (0.28%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.28%) PowerCLI
11 2 (0.28%) SCOM
Vendors
1 158 (22.22%) ServiceNow
2 136 (19.13%) Microsoft
3 81 (11.39%) Cisco
4 55 (7.74%) Atlassian
5 51 (7.17%) Remedy
6 45 (6.33%) Oracle
7 43 (6.05%) VMware
8 35 (4.92%) Splunk
9 31 (4.36%) SolarWinds
10 30 (4.22%) Google
11 23 (3.23%) SAP
12 22 (3.09%) Juniper
13 20 (2.81%) AppDynamics
14 19 (2.67%) Dynatrace
14 19 (2.67%) HP
15 13 (1.83%) Red Hat
15 13 (1.83%) Salesforce
15 13 (1.83%) Veeam
16 12 (1.69%) Palo Alto
17 10 (1.41%) Citrix