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

6 months to
22 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 65 53 71
Rank change year-on-year -12 +18 -5
Contract jobs citing Service Management 945 621 503
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.35% 4.07% 2.85%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.15% 4.56% 3.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 647 359 350
10th Percentile £257 £185 £188
25th Percentile £420 £285 £353
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £492 £500
Median % change year-on-year +6.71% -1.60% -
75th Percentile £625 £567 £600
90th Percentile £725 £638 £651
UK median daily rate £525 £492 £500
% change year-on-year +6.71% -1.60% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 73 79 11
10th Percentile £14.50 £12.62 £15.17
25th Percentile £17.21 £12.82 £26.25
Median hourly rate £55.00 £18.73 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +193.65% -60.57% +116.85%
75th Percentile £85.00 £33.00 £49.38
90th Percentile £94.51 £60.00 £53.75
UK median hourly rate £55.00 £20.66 £47.50
% change year-on-year +166.21% -56.51% -13.64%

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 22,760 13,612 14,679
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 80.76% 89.17% 83.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 12,900 8,181 8,414
10th Percentile £300 £235 £243
25th Percentile £410 £369 £387
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £600 £575 £600
90th Percentile £688 £663 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,726 1,446 1,177
10th Percentile £13.50 £14.00 £14.70
25th Percentile £17.00 £17.00 £18.00
Median hourly rate £40.08 £22.32 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +79.61% -48.10% +1.18%
75th Percentile £67.50 £41.82 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.13 £67.00 £74.60
UK median hourly rate £40.00 £25.15 £42.69
% change year-on-year +59.05% -41.09% -1.10%

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 22 September 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 22 September 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 22 September 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 +13 306 £575 +27.78% 272
North of England -18 265 £475 +5.56% 220
North West -10 156 £480 +3.45% 121
Midlands -36 118 £500 -0.50% 121
West Midlands -23 112 £525 +1.94% 79
South West -30 106 £600 +10.09% 100
Yorkshire -14 101 £450 +26.76% 81
Scotland +16 95 £535 +15.68% 72
East of England -11 55 £525 -4.55% 100
Wales -4 13 £800 +247.83% 20
Northern Ireland +9 8 - - 29
North East -37 8 £535 +174.36% 20
East Midlands -31 6 £163 -45.83% 42
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 58 (6.14%) SharePoint
2 38 (4.02%) Microsoft Exchange
3 32 (3.39%) Confluence
4 15 (1.59%) Skype for Business
5 3 (0.32%) CMS
5 3 (0.32%) IBM Transformation Extender
5 3 (0.32%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.11%) CICS
6 1 (0.11%) Mattermost
Applications
1 68 (7.20%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (2.33%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (1.27%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.53%) Chatbot
4 5 (0.53%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.21%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.11%) Maple
Business Applications
1 44 (4.66%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (0.85%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.53%) ContrOCC
4 4 (0.42%) SAP S/4HANA
4 4 (0.42%) Workday HCM
5 3 (0.32%) NEC Housing
6 2 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.21%) Primavera
6 2 (0.21%) Remedy AR System
6 2 (0.21%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.21%) SAP CX
6 2 (0.21%) Teamcenter
7 1 (0.11%) Cloudability
7 1 (0.11%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 160 (16.93%) Azure
2 107 (11.32%) Microsoft 365
3 77 (8.15%) Entra ID
4 63 (6.67%) AWS
5 47 (4.97%) Power Platform
6 36 (3.81%) SaaS
7 27 (2.86%) Azure DevOps
8 25 (2.65%) GCP
9 23 (2.43%) OneDrive
10 14 (1.48%) Azure Monitor
11 13 (1.38%) Dynamics 365
12 10 (1.06%) Microsoft Copilot
13 9 (0.95%) GitHub
13 9 (0.95%) Power Automate
13 9 (0.95%) Serverless
14 8 (0.85%) Azure Functions
14 8 (0.85%) IaaS
15 6 (0.63%) Azure Sentinel
15 6 (0.63%) OCI
16 5 (0.53%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 45 (4.76%) DNS
2 44 (4.66%) Firewall
3 38 (4.02%) VPN
4 33 (3.49%) DHCP
5 30 (3.17%) Network Security
6 23 (2.43%) TCP/IP
7 22 (2.33%) LAN
8 17 (1.80%) WAN
9 16 (1.69%) Skype
10 13 (1.38%) Wireless
11 12 (1.27%) VLAN
11 12 (1.27%) Wi-Fi
12 10 (1.06%) SSH
13 8 (0.85%) BGP
14 7 (0.74%) Intrusion Detection
15 6 (0.63%) Internet
15 6 (0.63%) NetScaler
15 6 (0.63%) OSPF
15 6 (0.63%) Software-Defined Networking
16 5 (0.53%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (3.07%) Power BI
2 28 (2.96%) SQL Server
3 20 (2.12%) Metadata
4 8 (0.85%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 6 (0.63%) MySQL
6 5 (0.53%) MariaDB
6 5 (0.53%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 4 (0.42%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (0.42%) Oracle Reports
7 4 (0.42%) Relational Database
7 4 (0.42%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 3 (0.32%) Amazon Aurora
8 3 (0.32%) Looker
8 3 (0.32%) PostgreSQL
9 2 (0.21%) EDRMS
9 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Analysis Services
9 2 (0.21%) Oracle Database
10 1 (0.11%) Azure SQL Database
10 1 (0.11%) Data Warehouse
10 1 (0.11%) Oracle Database 11g
Development Applications
1 74 (7.83%) JIRA
2 22 (2.33%) Git
3 9 (0.95%) Jenkins
4 8 (0.85%) Atlassian Bamboo
4 8 (0.85%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.53%) Browser DevTools
6 4 (0.42%) webpack
7 3 (0.32%) Fiddler
7 3 (0.32%) GitLab
7 3 (0.32%) Gradle
7 3 (0.32%) Maven
7 3 (0.32%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.21%) Firebug
8 2 (0.21%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.11%) Claude Code
9 1 (0.11%) Gemini Tracker
9 1 (0.11%) IBM UrbanCode
9 1 (0.11%) MLflow
9 1 (0.11%) Snyk
9 1 (0.11%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 382 (40.42%) Social Skills
2 152 (16.08%) Analytical Skills
3 138 (14.60%) Finance
4 105 (11.11%) Public Sector
5 45 (4.76%) Documentation Skills
6 40 (4.23%) Influencing Skills
7 38 (4.02%) Organisational Skills
8 31 (3.28%) Legal
9 30 (3.17%) Aerospace
10 24 (2.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 23 (2.43%) Banking
11 23 (2.43%) Telecoms
12 21 (2.22%) Military
13 17 (1.80%) Presentation Skills
14 15 (1.59%) Local Government
15 14 (1.48%) Manufacturing
16 5 (0.53%) Retail
17 4 (0.42%) Law
18 3 (0.32%) Police
19 2 (0.21%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 108 (11.43%) Lead
2 94 (9.95%) Analyst
3 85 (8.99%) Architect
4 69 (7.30%) Senior
5 63 (6.67%) Service Manager
6 47 (4.97%) Delivery Manager
7 44 (4.66%) IT Manager
8 43 (4.55%) Support Engineer
9 41 (4.34%) Service Analyst
10 35 (3.70%) Consultant
11 33 (3.49%) Service Architect
12 32 (3.39%) Developer
13 30 (3.17%) Project Manager
14 26 (2.75%) Desktop Engineer
15 25 (2.65%) Administrator
15 25 (2.65%) Technical Leader
16 23 (2.43%) Change Manager
17 22 (2.33%) 2nd Line Support
17 22 (2.33%) Desktop Support
18 21 (2.22%) Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (4.13%) Terraform
2 32 (3.39%) REST
3 17 (1.80%) XML
4 14 (1.48%) Middleware
5 12 (1.27%) JSON
6 10 (1.06%) SAML
7 9 (0.95%) SOAP
8 8 (0.85%) Web Services
8 8 (0.85%) XSLT
9 7 (0.74%) OAuth
10 6 (0.63%) .NET
10 6 (0.63%) ARM Templates
11 5 (0.53%) OpenID
11 5 (0.53%) SailPoint
12 4 (0.42%) AngularJS
12 4 (0.42%) Node.js
12 4 (0.42%) OAuth2
12 4 (0.42%) React
12 4 (0.42%) Redux
12 4 (0.42%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 89 (9.42%) Onboarding
2 60 (6.35%) Management Information System
3 52 (5.50%) CMDB
4 35 (3.70%) Data Centre
5 34 (3.60%) Enterprise Software
6 30 (3.17%) PKI
7 23 (2.43%) Data Protection Act
7 23 (2.43%) Product Ownership
8 19 (2.01%) Hybrid Cloud
9 16 (1.69%) Operational Technology
10 15 (1.59%) Analytical Mindset
10 15 (1.59%) Clustering
10 15 (1.59%) Virtual Team
11 13 (1.38%) Cyber Threat
11 13 (1.38%) Self-Motivation
12 12 (1.27%) Security Operations Centre
13 11 (1.16%) Security Posture
14 9 (0.95%) Cloud Native
14 9 (0.95%) NHS
14 9 (0.95%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 217 (22.96%) Windows
2 65 (6.88%) Windows Server
3 56 (5.93%) Linux
4 49 (5.19%) Windows 10
5 17 (1.80%) Windows 7
6 15 (1.59%) Unix
7 12 (1.27%) Android
7 12 (1.27%) Apple iOS
7 12 (1.27%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 3 (0.32%) Solaris
9 3 (0.32%) Windows Server 2012
10 2 (0.21%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
10 2 (0.21%) Windows XP
10 2 (0.21%) zOS
11 1 (0.11%) AIX
11 1 (0.11%) SUSE
11 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2008
11 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 535 (56.61%) ITIL
2 399 (42.22%) ITSM
3 290 (30.69%) Stakeholder Management
4 278 (29.42%) Continuous Improvement
5 211 (22.33%) Service Delivery
6 184 (19.47%) Agile
7 178 (18.84%) Problem-Solving
8 154 (16.30%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 147 (15.56%) Change Management
10 123 (13.02%) Roadmaps
11 112 (11.85%) Cybersecurity
12 110 (11.64%) Customer Service
13 109 (11.53%) Incident Management
14 88 (9.31%) DevOps
15 86 (9.10%) Project Delivery
16 78 (8.25%) Risk Management
17 75 (7.94%) Data Protection
18 74 (7.83%) Decision-Making
19 70 (7.41%) Service Design
20 69 (7.30%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 103 (10.90%) PowerShell
2 59 (6.24%) Python
3 37 (3.92%) SQL
4 32 (3.39%) Bash
5 28 (2.96%) JavaScript
6 19 (2.01%) VBScript
7 15 (1.59%) VB
8 12 (1.27%) Java
9 11 (1.16%) C#
10 7 (0.74%) Bicep
11 6 (0.63%) Shell Script
12 4 (0.42%) C
12 4 (0.42%) T-SQL
12 4 (0.42%) TypeScript
13 3 (0.32%) Groovy
13 3 (0.32%) Lua
13 3 (0.32%) Perl
14 2 (0.21%) Apex Code
14 2 (0.21%) PL/SQL
14 2 (0.21%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 435 (46.03%) Security Cleared
2 275 (29.10%) SC Cleared
3 134 (14.18%) DV Cleared
4 105 (11.11%) Degree
5 36 (3.81%) BPSS Clearance
6 34 (3.60%) ITIL Certification
7 31 (3.28%) PMP
8 30 (3.17%) PMI Certification
9 28 (2.96%) Microsoft Certification
10 18 (1.90%) Cisco Certification
11 17 (1.80%) Computer Science Degree
12 16 (1.69%) Azure Certification
13 15 (1.59%) DBS Check
13 15 (1.59%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 14 (1.48%) CISSP
15 12 (1.27%) A+ Certification
16 11 (1.16%) CISM
17 10 (1.06%) CCNP
18 9 (0.95%) CCNA
19 8 (0.85%) BC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 70 (7.41%) SLA
2 37 (3.92%) Data Quality
3 28 (2.96%) GRC
3 28 (2.96%) QA
4 27 (2.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 26 (2.75%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 20 (2.12%) NCSC
7 19 (2.01%) GDPR
7 19 (2.01%) PMO
8 16 (1.69%) NIST
9 15 (1.59%) ISO 9001
10 10 (1.06%) Accessibility
11 9 (0.95%) COBIT
11 9 (0.95%) Disclosure Scotland
12 8 (0.85%) WCAG
13 6 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials
13 6 (0.63%) ISO 31000
13 6 (0.63%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 5 (0.53%) ISO 22301
14 5 (0.53%) JSP 440
System Software
1 111 (11.75%) Active Directory
2 62 (6.56%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (2.43%) Hyper-V
3 23 (2.43%) VMware ESXi
4 17 (1.80%) VMware NSX
5 16 (1.69%) BitLocker
6 15 (1.59%) Docker
6 15 (1.59%) Virtual Desktop
7 14 (1.48%) vSphere
8 13 (1.38%) vCloud
9 6 (0.63%) Citrix Hypervisor
9 6 (0.63%) Firmware
9 6 (0.63%) XenApp
9 6 (0.63%) XenDesktop
10 3 (0.32%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 3 (0.32%) NFS
10 3 (0.32%) Virtual Machines
10 3 (0.32%) Virtual Servers
11 2 (0.21%) GPFS
11 2 (0.21%) KVM
Systems Management
1 60 (6.35%) SCCM
2 54 (5.71%) Microsoft Intune
3 36 (3.81%) Ansible
4 20 (2.12%) SCOM
5 17 (1.80%) vCenter Server
6 14 (1.48%) Kubernetes
6 14 (1.48%) Single Sign-On
7 6 (0.63%) Jamf Pro
7 6 (0.63%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.42%) NetBackup
8 4 (0.42%) PowerCLI
8 4 (0.42%) vMotion
8 4 (0.42%) WSUS
9 3 (0.32%) Cisco Prime
9 3 (0.32%) Dell DRAC
9 3 (0.32%) OPNET
9 3 (0.32%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 3 (0.32%) Tivoli
9 3 (0.32%) Tivoli Monitoring
9 3 (0.32%) vRealize
Vendors
1 236 (24.97%) Microsoft
2 232 (24.55%) ServiceNow
3 83 (8.78%) VMware
4 47 (4.97%) Remedy
5 33 (3.49%) BMC
6 30 (3.17%) Cisco
7 21 (2.22%) Oracle
8 20 (2.12%) CyberArk
9 17 (1.80%) Atlassian
10 16 (1.69%) IBM
11 15 (1.59%) Dynatrace
12 13 (1.38%) Citrix
12 13 (1.38%) SAP
12 13 (1.38%) SolarWinds
13 11 (1.16%) Apple
13 11 (1.16%) Splunk
14 10 (1.06%) Palo Alto
14 10 (1.06%) Qualys
15 9 (0.95%) Google
15 9 (0.95%) Red Hat