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

6 months to
19 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 70 54 61
Rank change year-on-year -16 +7 +7
Contract jobs citing Service Management 871 632 569
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.16% 4.13% 3.12%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.89% 4.63% 3.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 589 371 415
10th Percentile £237 £195 £200
25th Percentile £413 £310 £424
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £522 £493 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.78% -6.10% +9.38%
75th Percentile £613 £575 £600
90th Percentile £725 £638 £650
UK median daily rate £525 £492 £525
% change year-on-year +6.71% -6.29% +2.19%
Number of hourly rates quoted 70 74 16
10th Percentile £14.50 - £17.09
25th Percentile £16.17 £12.62 £20.31
Median hourly rate £55.00 £18.37 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +199.48% -33.22% +29.05%
75th Percentile £85.00 £22.14 £48.75
90th Percentile £95.68 £33.75 £51.88
UK median hourly rate £55.00 £18.73 £27.50
% change year-on-year +193.65% -31.89% -34.33%

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 22,381 13,644 15,114
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 81.15% 89.21% 82.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,076 8,203 9,065
10th Percentile £300 £238 £250
25th Percentile £406 £368 £388
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £594 £575 £600
90th Percentile £688 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.58%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,457 1,370 1,495
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.85 £13.69
25th Percentile £17.75 £17.02 £16.50
Median hourly rate £43.96 £23.30 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +88.67% -45.18% +18.88%
75th Percentile £68.00 £46.18 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £70.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £41.56 £25.15 £40.94
% change year-on-year +65.23% -38.57% +0.61%

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 19 August 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 19 August 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 19 August 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 +16 285 £565 +13.00% 200
North of England -23 240 £475 +4.75% 150
North West -23 146 £484 +2.92% 86
South West -32 121 £550 +4.76% 70
Midlands -35 100 £500 -1.96% 89
West Midlands -37 94 £500 -4.76% 49
Yorkshire -20 87 £438 +23.24% 49
Scotland +1 76 £510 +8.51% 50
East of England -25 42 £525 -1.13% 59
Wales -9 13 £800 +247.83% 12
Northern Ireland +12 8 - - 24
North East -37 7 £500 +156.41% 16
East Midlands -27 6 £250 -16.67% 40
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 45 (5.17%) SharePoint
2 33 (3.79%) Microsoft Exchange
3 30 (3.44%) Confluence
4 15 (1.72%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.69%) Mattermost
6 4 (0.46%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.34%) CMS
8 2 (0.23%) IIS
9 1 (0.11%) Apache
9 1 (0.11%) JBoss
Applications
1 63 (7.23%) Microsoft Office
2 20 (2.30%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (1.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.57%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.23%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.23%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.11%) Maple
Business Applications
1 52 (5.97%) Remedy ITSM
2 5 (0.57%) ContrOCC
3 4 (0.46%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.34%) NEC Housing
5 2 (0.23%) Oracle Applications
5 2 (0.23%) Oracle EBS
5 2 (0.23%) Primavera
5 2 (0.23%) Remedy AR System
5 2 (0.23%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.23%) Workday HCM
6 1 (0.11%) Cloudability
6 1 (0.11%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.11%) SAP CX
6 1 (0.11%) SAP HR
6 1 (0.11%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 141 (16.19%) Azure
2 93 (10.68%) Microsoft 365
3 61 (7.00%) Entra ID
4 52 (5.97%) AWS
5 46 (5.28%) Power Platform
6 26 (2.99%) SaaS
7 21 (2.41%) Azure DevOps
7 21 (2.41%) GCP
8 20 (2.30%) OneDrive
9 12 (1.38%) Microsoft Copilot
10 11 (1.26%) Azure Monitor
11 10 (1.15%) OCI
12 9 (1.03%) GitHub
13 6 (0.69%) Azure AKS
13 6 (0.69%) Google App Engine
13 6 (0.69%) IaaS
13 6 (0.69%) PaaS
14 5 (0.57%) Azure Sentinel
14 5 (0.57%) Azure Synapse Analytics
14 5 (0.57%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 46 (5.28%) Firewall
2 40 (4.59%) DNS
3 30 (3.44%) VPN
4 27 (3.10%) DHCP
4 27 (3.10%) Network Security
5 23 (2.64%) LAN
6 22 (2.53%) TCP/IP
7 18 (2.07%) WAN
8 15 (1.72%) Skype
9 14 (1.61%) Wireless
10 12 (1.38%) BGP
10 12 (1.38%) VLAN
11 10 (1.15%) OSPF
11 10 (1.15%) SSH
11 10 (1.15%) Wi-Fi
12 8 (0.92%) Cisco ISE
13 7 (0.80%) Intrusion Detection
14 6 (0.69%) BIG-IP
14 6 (0.69%) VXLAN
15 5 (0.57%) Software-Defined Networking
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (4.36%) Power BI
2 20 (2.30%) SQL Server
3 7 (0.80%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 6 (0.69%) MySQL
5 5 (0.57%) MariaDB
5 5 (0.57%) Oracle Reports
5 5 (0.57%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (0.57%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (0.46%) Amazon RDS
6 4 (0.46%) Relational Database
6 4 (0.46%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 3 (0.34%) Amazon Aurora
7 3 (0.34%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.23%) Looker
8 2 (0.23%) Microsoft Analysis Services
8 2 (0.23%) Oracle Database
9 1 (0.11%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.11%) DTS
9 1 (0.11%) EDRMS
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Database 11g
Development Applications
1 77 (8.84%) JIRA
2 18 (2.07%) Git
3 14 (1.61%) Bitbucket
4 13 (1.49%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 11 (1.26%) Jenkins
6 7 (0.80%) GitLab
7 5 (0.57%) Browser DevTools
8 4 (0.46%) MLflow
8 4 (0.46%) webpack
9 3 (0.34%) Fiddler
9 3 (0.34%) Gradle
9 3 (0.34%) Maven
9 3 (0.34%) Rational DOORS
10 2 (0.23%) Firebug
10 2 (0.23%) IntelliJ
10 2 (0.23%) Sonatype Nexus
11 1 (0.11%) Artifactory
11 1 (0.11%) Hudson
11 1 (0.11%) IBM UrbanCode
11 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 334 (38.35%) Social Skills
2 136 (15.61%) Analytical Skills
3 125 (14.35%) Finance
4 87 (9.99%) Public Sector
5 40 (4.59%) Documentation Skills
6 39 (4.48%) Influencing Skills
7 32 (3.67%) Legal
8 28 (3.21%) Organisational Skills
9 22 (2.53%) Military
10 20 (2.30%) Telecoms
11 18 (2.07%) Banking
12 17 (1.95%) Presentation Skills
13 15 (1.72%) Aerospace
13 15 (1.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 14 (1.61%) Local Government
15 4 (0.46%) Law
16 3 (0.34%) Financial Institution
16 3 (0.34%) Manufacturing
16 3 (0.34%) Publishing
16 3 (0.34%) Retail
Job Titles
1 103 (11.83%) Analyst
2 98 (11.25%) Lead
3 72 (8.27%) Service Manager
4 70 (8.04%) Senior
5 62 (7.12%) Architect
6 50 (5.74%) Service Analyst
7 43 (4.94%) IT Manager
8 34 (3.90%) Support Engineer
9 32 (3.67%) Service Architect
10 31 (3.56%) Consultant
11 29 (3.33%) Delivery Manager
11 29 (3.33%) Project Manager
12 25 (2.87%) Network Engineer
13 23 (2.64%) Developer
13 23 (2.64%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 21 (2.41%) IT Analyst
14 21 (2.41%) Transition Manager
15 20 (2.30%) 2nd Line Support
15 20 (2.30%) Administrator
15 20 (2.30%) IT Services Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (3.90%) REST
2 13 (1.49%) SOAP
3 10 (1.15%) SAML
4 9 (1.03%) OAuth
5 7 (0.80%) Middleware
5 7 (0.80%) XML
6 6 (0.69%) Web Services
7 5 (0.57%) .NET
7 5 (0.57%) ARM Templates
7 5 (0.57%) OpenID
8 4 (0.46%) AngularJS
8 4 (0.46%) JSON
8 4 (0.46%) Node.js
8 4 (0.46%) OAuth2
8 4 (0.46%) Oracle Fusion
8 4 (0.46%) React
8 4 (0.46%) Redux
8 4 (0.46%) RESTful
9 3 (0.34%) Software Packaging
9 3 (0.34%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 79 (9.07%) Onboarding
2 42 (4.82%) Management Information System
3 41 (4.71%) CMDB
4 34 (3.90%) Product Ownership
5 28 (3.21%) PKI
6 24 (2.76%) Data Centre
6 24 (2.76%) Enterprise Software
7 20 (2.30%) Clustering
7 20 (2.30%) Data Protection Act
8 17 (1.95%) Operational Technology
9 16 (1.84%) Hybrid Cloud
10 15 (1.72%) Analytical Mindset
11 12 (1.38%) Self-Motivation
12 11 (1.26%) Security Operations Centre
13 10 (1.15%) Cloud Native
13 10 (1.15%) Cyber Threat
13 10 (1.15%) Virtual Team
14 8 (0.92%) Replication
15 7 (0.80%) NHS
15 7 (0.80%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 196 (22.50%) Windows
2 58 (6.66%) Windows Server
3 48 (5.51%) Linux
4 43 (4.94%) Windows 10
5 17 (1.95%) Windows 7
6 13 (1.49%) Unix
7 9 (1.03%) Android
7 9 (1.03%) Apple iOS
7 9 (1.03%) Mac OS
8 5 (0.57%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 3 (0.34%) Windows Server 2012
10 2 (0.23%) Solaris
10 2 (0.23%) Ubuntu
10 2 (0.23%) Windows XP
11 1 (0.11%) Rocky
11 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2008
11 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.11%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 502 (57.63%) ITIL
2 385 (44.20%) ITSM
3 234 (26.87%) Continuous Improvement
4 231 (26.52%) Stakeholder Management
5 212 (24.34%) Service Delivery
6 175 (20.09%) Agile
7 171 (19.63%) Problem-Solving
8 137 (15.73%) Change Management
9 132 (15.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 101 (11.60%) Customer Service
11 96 (11.02%) Incident Management
12 90 (10.33%) Cybersecurity
13 89 (10.22%) DevOps
14 75 (8.61%) Project Delivery
15 73 (8.38%) Service Design
16 66 (7.58%) Roadmaps
17 63 (7.23%) Risk Management
18 60 (6.89%) Data Protection
19 59 (6.77%) CI/CD
19 59 (6.77%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 90 (10.33%) PowerShell
2 59 (6.77%) Python
3 41 (4.71%) SQL
4 31 (3.56%) Bash
5 24 (2.76%) JavaScript
6 17 (1.95%) VBScript
7 15 (1.72%) VB
8 11 (1.26%) Java
9 6 (0.69%) Bicep
10 5 (0.57%) Shell Script
11 4 (0.46%) C
11 4 (0.46%) C#
11 4 (0.46%) PL/SQL
11 4 (0.46%) T-SQL
11 4 (0.46%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.34%) Groovy
12 3 (0.34%) Lua
12 3 (0.34%) Perl
13 2 (0.23%) Apex Code
13 2 (0.23%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 402 (46.15%) Security Cleared
2 250 (28.70%) SC Cleared
3 134 (15.38%) DV Cleared
4 94 (10.79%) Degree
5 37 (4.25%) ITIL Certification
6 28 (3.21%) BPSS Clearance
7 26 (2.99%) PMP
8 25 (2.87%) PMI Certification
9 23 (2.64%) Cisco Certification
10 18 (2.07%) Computer Science Degree
11 16 (1.84%) Microsoft Certification
12 15 (1.72%) CISSP
12 15 (1.72%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 14 (1.61%) DBS Check
14 13 (1.49%) CISM
15 12 (1.38%) CCNP
16 11 (1.26%) A+ Certification
16 11 (1.26%) CCNA
17 10 (1.15%) Azure Certification
18 8 (0.92%) BC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 63 (7.23%) SLA
2 31 (3.56%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 28 (3.21%) Data Quality
4 25 (2.87%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 22 (2.53%) QA
6 21 (2.41%) NCSC
6 21 (2.41%) PMO
7 20 (2.30%) GRC
8 15 (1.72%) ISO 9001
9 12 (1.38%) GDPR
10 9 (1.03%) COBIT
10 9 (1.03%) Disclosure Scotland
11 8 (0.92%) NIST
12 7 (0.80%) Cyber Essentials
12 7 (0.80%) Government Security Classifications
13 6 (0.69%) ISO 31000
13 6 (0.69%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 5 (0.57%) Accessibility
14 5 (0.57%) ISO 22301
14 5 (0.57%) JSP 440
System Software
1 106 (12.17%) Active Directory
2 55 (6.31%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (2.53%) VMware ESXi
4 17 (1.95%) Docker
5 16 (1.84%) BitLocker
5 16 (1.84%) VMware NSX
6 15 (1.72%) Hyper-V
7 11 (1.26%) vCloud
7 11 (1.26%) Virtual Desktop
8 10 (1.15%) vSphere
9 5 (0.57%) Virtual Machines
10 4 (0.46%) NFS
11 3 (0.34%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 3 (0.34%) Firmware
11 3 (0.34%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 3 (0.34%) Virtual Servers
11 3 (0.34%) XenApp
11 3 (0.34%) XenDesktop
12 2 (0.23%) GPFS
12 2 (0.23%) KVM
Systems Management
1 51 (5.86%) SCCM
2 45 (5.17%) Microsoft Intune
3 34 (3.90%) Terraform
4 31 (3.56%) Ansible
5 17 (1.95%) SCOM
6 15 (1.72%) Kubernetes
7 14 (1.61%) vCenter Server
8 12 (1.38%) Single Sign-On
9 6 (0.69%) Jamf Pro
9 6 (0.69%) Progress Chef
10 4 (0.46%) PowerCLI
10 4 (0.46%) Puppet
10 4 (0.46%) vMotion
11 3 (0.34%) Cisco Prime
11 3 (0.34%) Dell DRAC
11 3 (0.34%) FortiGate
11 3 (0.34%) Grafana
11 3 (0.34%) NetBackup
11 3 (0.34%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 3 (0.34%) vRealize
Vendors
1 223 (25.60%) ServiceNow
2 195 (22.39%) Microsoft
3 77 (8.84%) VMware
4 55 (6.31%) Remedy
5 36 (4.13%) Cisco
6 33 (3.79%) BMC
7 22 (2.53%) Oracle
8 19 (2.18%) Atlassian
9 17 (1.95%) CyberArk
10 14 (1.61%) Dynatrace
10 14 (1.61%) SolarWinds
10 14 (1.61%) Splunk
11 13 (1.49%) SAP
12 12 (1.38%) IBM
12 12 (1.38%) Palo Alto
13 11 (1.26%) Citrix
14 10 (1.15%) Juniper
14 10 (1.15%) Qualys
15 8 (0.92%) Apple
15 8 (0.92%) Red Hat