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

6 months to
15 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 72 55 59
Rank change year-on-year -17 +4 +5
Contract jobs citing Service Management 854 633 566
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.10% 4.13% 3.10%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.81% 4.62% 3.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 564 374 412
10th Percentile £241 £197 £210
25th Percentile £413 £309 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £495 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.16% -5.81% +9.38%
75th Percentile £613 £575 £600
90th Percentile £725 £645 £650
UK median daily rate £525 £490 £525
% change year-on-year +7.20% -6.71% +2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 74 73 16
10th Percentile £14.50 - £17.09
25th Percentile £17.20 £12.62 £20.31
Median hourly rate £55.00 £18.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +205.56% -34.55% +29.05%
75th Percentile £85.00 £22.14 £48.75
90th Percentile £94.26 £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 22,412 13,693 15,186
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 81.41% 89.29% 83.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,104 8,237 9,123
10th Percentile £300 £240 £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 £687 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,457 1,358 1,547
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.85 £13.86
25th Percentile £17.85 £17.00 £16.84
Median hourly rate £43.96 £23.00 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +91.13% -45.88% +13.33%
75th Percentile £68.00 £44.95 £65.00
90th Percentile £81.05 £70.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £42.00 £25.15 £41.50
% change year-on-year +67.00% -39.40% -1.19%

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 15 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 15 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 15 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 +21 290 £565 +13.00% 235
North of England -26 220 £459 +2.06% 185
North West -34 130 £481 +2.29% 107
South West -32 125 £544 +3.57% 75
Midlands -36 100 £500 - 101
West Midlands -29 94 £500 -2.91% 60
Yorkshire -24 85 £440 +24.01% 55
Scotland -8 67 £505 +7.45% 45
East of England -22 40 £525 -4.55% 65
Wales -8 12 £800 +247.83% 14
Northern Ireland +9 8 - - 22
East Midlands -26 6 £250 -16.67% 41
North East -44 5 £440 +125.64% 25
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 44 (5.15%) SharePoint
2 33 (3.86%) Microsoft Exchange
3 29 (3.40%) Confluence
4 15 (1.76%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.70%) Mattermost
6 4 (0.47%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.35%) CMS
8 2 (0.23%) IIS
9 1 (0.12%) Apache
9 1 (0.12%) JBoss
Applications
1 64 (7.49%) Microsoft Office
2 21 (2.46%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.76%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.59%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.23%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.23%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.12%) Camtasia
6 1 (0.12%) Maple
6 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 51 (5.97%) Remedy ITSM
2 5 (0.59%) ContrOCC
2 5 (0.59%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (0.35%) NEC Housing
3 3 (0.35%) Teamcenter
4 2 (0.23%) Oracle Applications
4 2 (0.23%) Oracle EBS
4 2 (0.23%) Primavera
4 2 (0.23%) Remedy AR System
5 1 (0.12%) Cloudability
5 1 (0.12%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.12%) SAP CX
5 1 (0.12%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.12%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 138 (16.16%) Azure
2 90 (10.54%) Microsoft 365
3 57 (6.67%) Entra ID
4 51 (5.97%) AWS
5 46 (5.39%) Power Platform
6 27 (3.16%) SaaS
7 21 (2.46%) GCP
8 20 (2.34%) Azure DevOps
8 20 (2.34%) OneDrive
9 12 (1.41%) Microsoft Copilot
10 11 (1.29%) OCI
11 10 (1.17%) Azure Monitor
12 9 (1.05%) GitHub
13 7 (0.82%) PaaS
14 6 (0.70%) Azure AKS
14 6 (0.70%) Google App Engine
14 6 (0.70%) IaaS
15 5 (0.59%) Azure ExpressRoute
15 5 (0.59%) Azure Sentinel
15 5 (0.59%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 48 (5.62%) Firewall
2 43 (5.04%) DNS
3 30 (3.51%) DHCP
4 29 (3.40%) VPN
5 28 (3.28%) LAN
6 25 (2.93%) Network Security
7 23 (2.69%) WAN
8 20 (2.34%) TCP/IP
9 17 (1.99%) BGP
10 15 (1.76%) OSPF
10 15 (1.76%) Skype
11 14 (1.64%) Wireless
12 12 (1.41%) Cisco ISE
12 12 (1.41%) VLAN
13 11 (1.29%) BIG-IP
13 11 (1.29%) VXLAN
14 10 (1.17%) Junos
14 10 (1.17%) SSH
14 10 (1.17%) Wi-Fi
15 9 (1.05%) Ethernet VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (4.45%) Power BI
2 19 (2.22%) SQL Server
3 7 (0.82%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 6 (0.70%) MySQL
5 5 (0.59%) MariaDB
5 5 (0.59%) Oracle Reports
5 5 (0.59%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (0.59%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (0.47%) Amazon RDS
6 4 (0.47%) Relational Database
6 4 (0.47%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 3 (0.35%) Amazon Aurora
7 3 (0.35%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.23%) Looker
8 2 (0.23%) Microsoft Analysis Services
8 2 (0.23%) Oracle Database
9 1 (0.12%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.12%) DTS
9 1 (0.12%) EDRMS
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle Database 11g
Development Applications
1 77 (9.02%) JIRA
2 17 (1.99%) Git
3 13 (1.52%) Bitbucket
4 12 (1.41%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 10 (1.17%) Jenkins
6 7 (0.82%) GitLab
7 5 (0.59%) Browser DevTools
8 4 (0.47%) MLflow
8 4 (0.47%) Rational DOORS
8 4 (0.47%) webpack
9 3 (0.35%) Fiddler
9 3 (0.35%) Gradle
9 3 (0.35%) Maven
10 2 (0.23%) Firebug
10 2 (0.23%) IntelliJ
10 2 (0.23%) Sonatype Nexus
11 1 (0.12%) Hudson
11 1 (0.12%) IBM UrbanCode
11 1 (0.12%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
11 1 (0.12%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 326 (38.17%) Social Skills
2 126 (14.75%) Analytical Skills
3 121 (14.17%) Finance
4 83 (9.72%) Public Sector
5 39 (4.57%) Influencing Skills
6 38 (4.45%) Documentation Skills
7 30 (3.51%) Legal
8 24 (2.81%) Military
9 22 (2.58%) Organisational Skills
10 20 (2.34%) Telecoms
11 17 (1.99%) Aerospace
11 17 (1.99%) Banking
12 15 (1.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 15 (1.76%) Presentation Skills
13 14 (1.64%) Local Government
14 4 (0.47%) Law
15 3 (0.35%) Financial Institution
15 3 (0.35%) Manufacturing
15 3 (0.35%) Publishing
15 3 (0.35%) Retail
Job Titles
1 97 (11.36%) Lead
2 96 (11.24%) Analyst
3 73 (8.55%) Senior
3 73 (8.55%) Service Manager
4 62 (7.26%) Architect
5 47 (5.50%) Service Analyst
6 45 (5.27%) IT Manager
7 33 (3.86%) Support Engineer
8 30 (3.51%) Delivery Manager
8 30 (3.51%) Service Architect
9 29 (3.40%) Project Manager
10 28 (3.28%) Network Engineer
11 27 (3.16%) Consultant
12 24 (2.81%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 23 (2.69%) Developer
14 21 (2.46%) IT Analyst
14 21 (2.46%) Transition Manager
15 20 (2.34%) Administrator
15 20 (2.34%) IT Services Manager
16 19 (2.22%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (3.63%) REST
2 13 (1.52%) SOAP
3 10 (1.17%) SAML
4 9 (1.05%) OAuth
5 8 (0.94%) 802.1X
6 7 (0.82%) Middleware
7 6 (0.70%) XML
8 5 (0.59%) ARM Templates
8 5 (0.59%) OpenID
8 5 (0.59%) Oracle Fusion
8 5 (0.59%) Web Services
9 4 (0.47%) .NET
9 4 (0.47%) AngularJS
9 4 (0.47%) JSON
9 4 (0.47%) Node.js
9 4 (0.47%) OAuth2
9 4 (0.47%) React
9 4 (0.47%) Redux
9 4 (0.47%) RESTful
10 3 (0.35%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 76 (8.90%) Onboarding
2 41 (4.80%) Management Information System
3 40 (4.68%) CMDB
4 35 (4.10%) Product Ownership
5 32 (3.75%) PKI
6 27 (3.16%) Data Centre
7 25 (2.93%) Clustering
8 22 (2.58%) Enterprise Software
9 18 (2.11%) Data Protection Act
10 17 (1.99%) Operational Technology
11 16 (1.87%) Hybrid Cloud
12 14 (1.64%) Analytical Mindset
13 12 (1.41%) Self-Motivation
13 12 (1.41%) Virtual Team
14 10 (1.17%) Cloud Native
15 9 (1.05%) Cyber Threat
16 8 (0.94%) Replication
16 8 (0.94%) Security Operations Centre
17 7 (0.82%) SCADA
17 7 (0.82%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 193 (22.60%) Windows
2 54 (6.32%) Windows Server
3 48 (5.62%) Linux
4 40 (4.68%) Windows 10
5 17 (1.99%) Windows 7
6 13 (1.52%) Unix
7 9 (1.05%) Mac OS
8 8 (0.94%) Android
8 8 (0.94%) Apple iOS
9 5 (0.59%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.35%) Windows Server 2012
11 2 (0.23%) Solaris
11 2 (0.23%) Ubuntu
11 2 (0.23%) Windows XP
12 1 (0.12%) Rocky
12 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.12%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 491 (57.49%) ITIL
2 387 (45.32%) ITSM
3 232 (27.17%) Continuous Improvement
4 228 (26.70%) Stakeholder Management
5 207 (24.24%) Service Delivery
6 170 (19.91%) Problem-Solving
7 169 (19.79%) Agile
8 134 (15.69%) Change Management
9 129 (15.11%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 96 (11.24%) Customer Service
11 90 (10.54%) Incident Management
12 87 (10.19%) DevOps
13 81 (9.48%) Cybersecurity
14 74 (8.67%) Project Delivery
15 71 (8.31%) Service Design
16 65 (7.61%) Roadmaps
17 60 (7.03%) Risk Management
18 59 (6.91%) Configuration Management
19 58 (6.79%) Computer Science
19 58 (6.79%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 87 (10.19%) PowerShell
2 58 (6.79%) Python
3 41 (4.80%) SQL
4 31 (3.63%) Bash
5 24 (2.81%) JavaScript
6 17 (1.99%) VBScript
7 15 (1.76%) VB
8 10 (1.17%) Java
9 6 (0.70%) Bicep
10 4 (0.47%) C
10 4 (0.47%) PL/SQL
10 4 (0.47%) Shell Script
10 4 (0.47%) T-SQL
10 4 (0.47%) TypeScript
11 3 (0.35%) C#
11 3 (0.35%) Groovy
11 3 (0.35%) Lua
11 3 (0.35%) Perl
12 2 (0.23%) Apex Code
12 2 (0.23%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 400 (46.84%) Security Cleared
2 243 (28.45%) SC Cleared
3 137 (16.04%) DV Cleared
4 92 (10.77%) Degree
5 36 (4.22%) ITIL Certification
6 28 (3.28%) BPSS Clearance
7 27 (3.16%) PMP
8 26 (3.04%) PMI Certification
9 25 (2.93%) Cisco Certification
10 18 (2.11%) Computer Science Degree
11 16 (1.87%) Microsoft Certification
12 15 (1.76%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 13 (1.52%) CISSP
13 13 (1.52%) DBS Check
14 12 (1.41%) CISM
15 11 (1.29%) A+ Certification
15 11 (1.29%) CCNA
16 10 (1.17%) Azure Certification
16 10 (1.17%) CCNP
17 9 (1.05%) JNCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 56 (6.56%) SLA
2 30 (3.51%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 28 (3.28%) Data Quality
4 23 (2.69%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 21 (2.46%) PMO
5 21 (2.46%) QA
6 19 (2.22%) GRC
6 19 (2.22%) NCSC
7 15 (1.76%) ISO 9001
8 12 (1.41%) GDPR
9 9 (1.05%) COBIT
9 9 (1.05%) Disclosure Scotland
10 7 (0.82%) Cyber Essentials
10 7 (0.82%) Government Security Classifications
11 6 (0.70%) ISO 31000
11 6 (0.70%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 6 (0.70%) NIST
12 5 (0.59%) Accessibility
12 5 (0.59%) JSP 440
13 4 (0.47%) GMP
System Software
1 100 (11.71%) Active Directory
2 50 (5.85%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (2.58%) VMware ESXi
4 16 (1.87%) BitLocker
4 16 (1.87%) Docker
4 16 (1.87%) VMware NSX
5 12 (1.41%) Hyper-V
6 11 (1.29%) vCloud
7 10 (1.17%) vSphere
8 9 (1.05%) Virtual Desktop
9 5 (0.59%) Virtual Machines
10 4 (0.47%) NFS
11 3 (0.35%) Firmware
11 3 (0.35%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 3 (0.35%) Virtual Servers
12 2 (0.23%) GPFS
12 2 (0.23%) KVM
13 1 (0.12%) iptables
13 1 (0.12%) Oracle RAC
13 1 (0.12%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 49 (5.74%) SCCM
2 44 (5.15%) Microsoft Intune
3 34 (3.98%) Terraform
4 31 (3.63%) Ansible
5 16 (1.87%) SCOM
6 14 (1.64%) Kubernetes
6 14 (1.64%) vCenter Server
7 11 (1.29%) Single Sign-On
8 8 (0.94%) FortiGate
9 6 (0.70%) Jamf Pro
9 6 (0.70%) Progress Chef
10 4 (0.47%) PowerCLI
10 4 (0.47%) Puppet
10 4 (0.47%) vMotion
11 3 (0.35%) Cisco Prime
11 3 (0.35%) Dell DRAC
11 3 (0.35%) Grafana
11 3 (0.35%) NetBackup
11 3 (0.35%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 3 (0.35%) vRealize
Vendors
1 223 (26.11%) ServiceNow
2 188 (22.01%) Microsoft
3 72 (8.43%) VMware
4 53 (6.21%) Remedy
5 41 (4.80%) Cisco
6 32 (3.75%) BMC
7 23 (2.69%) Oracle
8 19 (2.22%) SolarWinds
8 19 (2.22%) Splunk
9 18 (2.11%) Atlassian
10 16 (1.87%) CyberArk
11 15 (1.76%) Juniper
12 14 (1.64%) Dynatrace
12 14 (1.64%) SAP
13 13 (1.52%) IBM
14 12 (1.41%) F5
14 12 (1.41%) Palo Alto
15 10 (1.17%) Qualys
16 8 (0.94%) Citrix
16 8 (0.94%) Dell