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

6 months to
15 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 78 57 58
Rank change year-on-year -21 +1 +4
Contract jobs citing Service Management 781 584 662
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.90% 3.96% 3.19%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.54% 4.43% 3.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 513 346 475
10th Percentile £225 £200 £213
25th Percentile £400 £313 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £499 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.31% -5.05% +7.69%
75th Percentile £599 £588 £600
90th Percentile £685 £681 £675
UK median daily rate £521 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +4.15% -4.76% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 73 59 19
10th Percentile £14.60 - £13.81
25th Percentile £16.17 £12.62 £17.26
Median hourly rate £60.00 £20.75 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year +189.16% -20.19% +22.01%
75th Percentile £85.00 £22.14 £48.13
90th Percentile £97.00 £33.75 £50.75
UK median hourly rate £60.00 £20.75 £26.00
% change year-on-year +189.16% -20.19% -37.91%

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 22,062 13,179 17,174
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 82.02% 89.28% 82.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,104 8,023 10,167
10th Percentile £300 £240 £250
25th Percentile £406 £368 £381
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £575 £600
90th Percentile £675 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £520 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,292 1,186 2,077
10th Percentile £14.50 £14.16 £12.53
25th Percentile £19.34 £17.00 £15.62
Median hourly rate £45.25 £24.64 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +83.64% -35.36% -0.99%
75th Percentile £68.75 £51.65 £62.00
90th Percentile £82.25 £72.50 £73.45
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +74.79% -34.02% -4.70%

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 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 15 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 15 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 +33 252 £538 +34.38% 145
North of England -32 203 £474 +4.64% 105
South West -26 124 £500 -9.09% 49
North West -34 111 £506 +8.87% 60
Midlands -40 90 £477 -3.15% 65
Yorkshire -25 86 £448 +19.53% 34
West Midlands -49 79 £498 -3.40% 38
Scotland -20 58 £500 - 26
East of England -21 41 £525 -4.55% 33
Wales -4 13 £800 +188.29% 18
East Midlands -13 11 £250 -42.66% 27
Northern Ireland +8 7 - - 14
North East -39 6 £440 +125.64% 14
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 (5.63%) SharePoint
2 30 (3.84%) Microsoft Exchange
3 25 (3.20%) Confluence
4 9 (1.15%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.77%) Mattermost
6 3 (0.38%) CMS
6 3 (0.38%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.26%) IIS
8 1 (0.13%) Apache
8 1 (0.13%) JBoss
8 1 (0.13%) LiveCycle
Applications
1 54 (6.91%) Microsoft Office
2 21 (2.69%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.51%) Chatbot
5 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.38%) PTC Creo
6 2 (0.26%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.13%) Camtasia
7 1 (0.13%) Maple
Business Applications
1 49 (6.27%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (1.02%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.90%) Teamcenter
4 5 (0.64%) ContrOCC
5 2 (0.26%) Oracle Applications
5 2 (0.26%) Primavera
6 1 (0.13%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.13%) SAP HR
6 1 (0.13%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 112 (14.34%) Azure
2 76 (9.73%) Microsoft 365
3 46 (5.89%) Power Platform
4 41 (5.25%) Entra ID
5 37 (4.74%) AWS
6 22 (2.82%) OneDrive
7 21 (2.69%) SaaS
8 20 (2.56%) Azure DevOps
9 17 (2.18%) GCP
10 8 (1.02%) OCI
10 8 (1.02%) PaaS
11 7 (0.90%) GitHub
11 7 (0.90%) Microsoft Copilot
12 6 (0.77%) Azure AKS
12 6 (0.77%) Azure Monitor
13 5 (0.64%) Azure Machine Learning
13 5 (0.64%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 5 (0.64%) Google App Engine
13 5 (0.64%) IaaS
14 3 (0.38%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 36 (4.61%) Firewall
2 34 (4.35%) DNS
3 27 (3.46%) LAN
4 21 (2.69%) DHCP
5 19 (2.43%) WAN
6 18 (2.30%) Network Security
6 18 (2.30%) VPN
7 17 (2.18%) BGP
8 15 (1.92%) OSPF
9 14 (1.79%) TCP/IP
9 14 (1.79%) Wireless
10 12 (1.54%) BIG-IP
10 12 (1.54%) Cisco ISE
11 11 (1.41%) VLAN
11 11 (1.41%) Wi-Fi
12 10 (1.28%) Junos
13 9 (1.15%) Skype
13 9 (1.15%) VXLAN
14 8 (1.02%) Ethernet VPN
15 5 (0.64%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (5.25%) Power BI
2 16 (2.05%) SQL Server
3 5 (0.64%) Oracle Reports
3 5 (0.64%) PostgreSQL
3 5 (0.64%) Relational Database
4 4 (0.51%) MySQL
4 4 (0.51%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 3 (0.38%) Azure SQL Database
5 3 (0.38%) MariaDB
5 3 (0.38%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 3 (0.38%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 2 (0.26%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Analysis Services
6 2 (0.26%) Oracle Database
7 1 (0.13%) Amazon Aurora
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 74 (9.48%) JIRA
2 16 (2.05%) Git
3 7 (0.90%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.77%) Bitbucket
4 6 (0.77%) GitLab
5 5 (0.64%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 5 (0.64%) Browser DevTools
6 4 (0.51%) MLflow
7 3 (0.38%) Fiddler
7 3 (0.38%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.26%) Firebug
8 2 (0.26%) IntelliJ
8 2 (0.26%) webpack
9 1 (0.13%) Gemini Tracker
9 1 (0.13%) Gradle
9 1 (0.13%) Hudson
9 1 (0.13%) IBM UrbanCode
9 1 (0.13%) Maven
9 1 (0.13%) MSI
9 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 276 (35.34%) Social Skills
2 110 (14.08%) Finance
3 107 (13.70%) Analytical Skills
4 71 (9.09%) Public Sector
5 39 (4.99%) Legal
6 31 (3.97%) Influencing Skills
7 25 (3.20%) Documentation Skills
8 21 (2.69%) Military
8 21 (2.69%) Organisational Skills
9 20 (2.56%) Telecoms
10 15 (1.92%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 14 (1.79%) Aerospace
12 13 (1.66%) Presentation Skills
13 12 (1.54%) Banking
14 11 (1.41%) Local Government
15 6 (0.77%) Retail
16 5 (0.64%) Financial Institution
17 3 (0.38%) Publishing
18 1 (0.13%) Games
18 1 (0.13%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 105 (13.44%) Analyst
2 90 (11.52%) Service Manager
3 80 (10.24%) Lead
4 68 (8.71%) Senior
5 52 (6.66%) Service Analyst
6 48 (6.15%) Architect
7 45 (5.76%) IT Manager
8 29 (3.71%) Delivery Manager
8 29 (3.71%) Project Manager
9 27 (3.46%) Network Engineer
10 25 (3.20%) Consultant
11 24 (3.07%) IT Analyst
12 23 (2.94%) Support Engineer
13 21 (2.69%) Service Delivery Manager
14 20 (2.56%) IT Services Manager
14 20 (2.56%) Transition Manager
15 19 (2.43%) Administrator
15 19 (2.43%) Service Transition Manager
16 18 (2.30%) Service Architect
17 17 (2.18%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (3.20%) REST
2 9 (1.15%) OAuth
2 9 (1.15%) SOAP
3 8 (1.02%) 802.1X
4 5 (0.64%) OpenID
4 5 (0.64%) Oracle Fusion
4 5 (0.64%) SAML
4 5 (0.64%) XML
5 4 (0.51%) OAuth2
5 4 (0.51%) XMPP
6 3 (0.38%) .NET
6 3 (0.38%) CSS
6 3 (0.38%) Elastic Stack
6 3 (0.38%) FIDO
6 3 (0.38%) Flash
6 3 (0.38%) HTML
6 3 (0.38%) JSON
6 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Graph
6 3 (0.38%) Software Packaging
7 2 (0.26%) ADO
Miscellaneous
1 60 (7.68%) Onboarding
2 42 (5.38%) CMDB
3 38 (4.87%) Product Ownership
4 30 (3.84%) Management Information System
5 29 (3.71%) PKI
6 25 (3.20%) Data Centre
7 24 (3.07%) Clustering
8 18 (2.30%) Enterprise Software
9 16 (2.05%) Data Protection Act
9 16 (2.05%) Virtual Team
10 12 (1.54%) Analytical Mindset
10 12 (1.54%) Operational Technology
10 12 (1.54%) Self-Motivation
11 9 (1.15%) Driving Licence
12 8 (1.02%) Cloud Native
12 8 (1.02%) Cyber Threat
12 8 (1.02%) Replication
12 8 (1.02%) Security Posture
13 6 (0.77%) Distributed Systems
13 6 (0.77%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 169 (21.64%) Windows
2 36 (4.61%) Linux
3 34 (4.35%) Windows 10
3 34 (4.35%) Windows Server
4 12 (1.54%) Windows 7
5 11 (1.41%) Mac OS
6 10 (1.28%) Unix
7 5 (0.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (0.51%) Android
8 4 (0.51%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.26%) Solaris
9 2 (0.26%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (0.26%) Windows XP
10 1 (0.13%) Rocky
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.13%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 453 (58.00%) ITIL
2 351 (44.94%) ITSM
3 207 (26.50%) Continuous Improvement
4 189 (24.20%) Stakeholder Management
5 183 (23.43%) Service Delivery
6 151 (19.33%) Agile
7 149 (19.08%) Problem-Solving
8 118 (15.11%) Change Management
9 115 (14.72%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 91 (11.65%) Customer Service
11 77 (9.86%) DevOps
12 76 (9.73%) Incident Management
13 65 (8.32%) Problem Management
14 63 (8.07%) Project Delivery
15 62 (7.94%) Cybersecurity
16 60 (7.68%) Configuration Management
17 59 (7.55%) Roadmaps
18 52 (6.66%) Service Design
19 48 (6.15%) Risk Management
20 47 (6.02%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 69 (8.83%) PowerShell
2 49 (6.27%) Python
3 41 (5.25%) SQL
4 22 (2.82%) JavaScript
5 20 (2.56%) Bash
6 9 (1.15%) VB
6 9 (1.15%) VBScript
7 7 (0.90%) Java
8 4 (0.51%) C#
8 4 (0.51%) Perl
8 4 (0.51%) PL/SQL
8 4 (0.51%) T-SQL
9 3 (0.38%) C
9 3 (0.38%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.26%) Apex Code
10 2 (0.26%) Lua
10 2 (0.26%) Search Processing Language
10 2 (0.26%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.13%) Bicep
11 1 (0.13%) Go
Qualifications
1 360 (46.09%) Security Cleared
2 225 (28.81%) SC Cleared
3 129 (16.52%) DV Cleared
4 71 (9.09%) Degree
5 40 (5.12%) ITIL Certification
6 24 (3.07%) Cisco Certification
7 22 (2.82%) PMP
8 21 (2.69%) BPSS Clearance
8 21 (2.69%) PMI Certification
9 15 (1.92%) Microsoft Certification
10 14 (1.79%) Computer Science Degree
11 13 (1.66%) CCNA
12 12 (1.54%) DBS Check
13 11 (1.41%) A+ Certification
13 11 (1.41%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 10 (1.28%) CCNP
15 9 (1.15%) JNCIA
15 9 (1.15%) JNCIP
15 9 (1.15%) JNCIS
16 7 (0.90%) CISSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (6.91%) SLA
2 27 (3.46%) Data Quality
3 24 (3.07%) ISO/IEC 20000
4 22 (2.82%) PMO
5 21 (2.69%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 20 (2.56%) QA
7 16 (2.05%) NCSC
8 14 (1.79%) ISO 9001
9 13 (1.66%) GDPR
10 12 (1.54%) GRC
11 10 (1.28%) COBIT
12 8 (1.02%) Disclosure Scotland
13 7 (0.90%) Government Security Classifications
14 6 (0.77%) ISO 31000
14 6 (0.77%) ISO/IEC 27005
15 5 (0.64%) Accessibility
15 5 (0.64%) Cyber Essentials
16 4 (0.51%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
16 4 (0.51%) GMP
17 3 (0.38%) JSP 440
System Software
1 90 (11.52%) Active Directory
2 40 (5.12%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (2.18%) VMware ESXi
4 11 (1.41%) Docker
5 10 (1.28%) BitLocker
5 10 (1.28%) VMware NSX
6 9 (1.15%) vSphere
7 7 (0.90%) vCloud
8 5 (0.64%) Virtual Machines
9 4 (0.51%) Hyper-V
9 4 (0.51%) NFS
9 4 (0.51%) Virtual Desktop
10 3 (0.38%) Firmware
11 2 (0.26%) GPFS
11 2 (0.26%) 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 41 (5.25%) SCCM
2 36 (4.61%) Microsoft Intune
3 22 (2.82%) Ansible
4 21 (2.69%) Terraform
5 11 (1.41%) Kubernetes
5 11 (1.41%) SCOM
6 9 (1.15%) vCenter Server
7 8 (1.02%) FortiGate
7 8 (1.02%) Jamf Pro
7 8 (1.02%) Single Sign-On
8 4 (0.51%) PowerCLI
8 4 (0.51%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.51%) vMotion
9 3 (0.38%) Cisco Prime
9 3 (0.38%) Dell DRAC
9 3 (0.38%) Grafana
9 3 (0.38%) Puppet
9 3 (0.38%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 3 (0.38%) vRealize
10 2 (0.26%) Nagios
Vendors
1 195 (24.97%) ServiceNow
2 146 (18.69%) Microsoft
3 54 (6.91%) VMware
4 51 (6.53%) Remedy
5 36 (4.61%) Cisco
6 25 (3.20%) BMC
7 18 (2.30%) Splunk
8 17 (2.18%) Oracle
8 17 (2.18%) SolarWinds
9 14 (1.79%) Juniper
10 13 (1.66%) SAP
11 12 (1.54%) F5
12 10 (1.28%) Atlassian
12 10 (1.28%) Dell
12 10 (1.28%) Dynatrace
12 10 (1.28%) HP
12 10 (1.28%) IBM
12 10 (1.28%) Qualys
13 9 (1.15%) IFS
14 8 (1.02%) Extreme Networks