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

6 months to
6 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 68 68 59
Rank change year-on-year 0 -9 +8
Contract jobs citing Service Management 680 436 688
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.48% 3.21% 3.28%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.13% 3.61% 3.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 464 273 516
10th Percentile £185 £200 £269
25th Percentile £306 £375 £422
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £528
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% -2.84% +13.44%
75th Percentile £588 £613 £608
90th Percentile £734 £687 £706
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £531
% change year-on-year -4.76% -1.04% +6.10%
Number of hourly rates quoted 68 19 13
10th Percentile £13.25 £19.27 £12.53
25th Percentile £16.64 £24.18 £15.46
Median hourly rate £28.55 £30.40 £17.29
Median % change year-on-year -6.09% +75.88% -43.20%
75th Percentile £60.00 £37.00 £17.78
90th Percentile £74.26 £69.00 £43.30
UK median hourly rate £27.50 £30.20 £17.72
% change year-on-year -8.94% +70.43% -29.12%

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 16,480 12,066 18,070
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 84.33% 88.82% 86.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,081 7,132 11,314
10th Percentile £238 £231 £250
25th Percentile £381 £380 £390
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £480 £497 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.47% -0.55% -
75th Percentile £575 £590 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,781 657 1,710
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.44 £13.00
25th Percentile £17.17 £20.12 £15.50
Median hourly rate £25.00 £30.88 £35.50
Median % change year-on-year -19.03% -13.03% +18.89%
75th Percentile £58.75 £64.10 £62.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £74.56 £73.75
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -22.62% -7.14% +9.38%

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 6 February 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 6 February 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 6 February 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 +26 177 £450 - 101
North of England -4 167 £500 +17.65% 70
South West -1 155 £575 +3.05% 30
Midlands -7 107 £431 -25.00% 46
North West +1 91 £550 +25.71% 45
West Midlands -15 79 £475 -18.10% 25
Yorkshire -22 61 £475 +105.85% 19
East of England -9 46 £330 -40.00% 43
East Midlands -3 28 £413 -14.51% 21
Scotland -15 27 £488 +0.78% 11
North East -6 18 £280 -53.04% 6
Northern Ireland - 4 £325 - 2
Wales -3 3 £160 -58.71% 9
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 63 (9.26%) Confluence
2 58 (8.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 47 (6.91%) SharePoint
4 14 (2.06%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.74%) Apache
5 5 (0.74%) SharePoint Server
5 5 (0.74%) WebLogic
6 2 (0.29%) JBoss
7 1 (0.15%) CMS
7 1 (0.15%) HCL Notes
7 1 (0.15%) LiveCycle
Applications
1 85 (12.50%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (5.29%) Microsoft Project
3 19 (2.79%) Microsoft Excel
4 6 (0.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.59%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.59%) PTC Creo
Business Applications
1 16 (2.35%) Remedy ITSM
2 13 (1.91%) Oracle EBS
3 8 (1.18%) SAP S/4HANA
4 5 (0.74%) Teamcenter
5 3 (0.44%) assyst
6 2 (0.29%) Dynamics CRM
6 2 (0.29%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.15%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.15%) SAP ERP
7 1 (0.15%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 109 (16.03%) Azure
2 74 (10.88%) Microsoft 365
3 71 (10.44%) AWS
4 39 (5.74%) GCP
5 28 (4.12%) Entra ID
6 25 (3.68%) Power Platform
7 18 (2.65%) OneDrive
8 16 (2.35%) SaaS
9 11 (1.62%) Azure DevOps
10 8 (1.18%) PowerApps
11 7 (1.03%) Salesforce Service Cloud
12 6 (0.88%) IaaS
13 5 (0.74%) Azure Monitor
13 5 (0.74%) Dynamics 365
13 5 (0.74%) OpenShift
13 5 (0.74%) Power Automate
14 4 (0.59%) AWS Lambda
14 4 (0.59%) GitHub
14 4 (0.59%) PaaS
14 4 (0.59%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 43 (6.32%) DNS
2 30 (4.41%) DHCP
3 26 (3.82%) VLAN
4 24 (3.53%) Skype
5 23 (3.38%) Firewall
6 20 (2.94%) VPN
7 17 (2.50%) Cisco Firepower
7 17 (2.50%) Cisco IOS
7 17 (2.50%) Cisco ISE
7 17 (2.50%) Junos
7 17 (2.50%) LAN
7 17 (2.50%) TCP/IP
8 16 (2.35%) Network Security
9 15 (2.21%) WAN
10 14 (2.06%) Wi-Fi
11 8 (1.18%) WebEx
12 6 (0.88%) BGP
12 6 (0.88%) Unified Communications
13 5 (0.74%) Software-Defined Networking
13 5 (0.74%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.35%) Power BI
2 14 (2.06%) Relational Database
3 7 (1.03%) SQL Server
4 4 (0.59%) Amazon RDS
4 4 (0.59%) InfluxDB
4 4 (0.59%) Metadata
5 3 (0.44%) PostgreSQL
6 2 (0.29%) Azure SQL Database
6 2 (0.29%) Big Data
6 2 (0.29%) Data Mining
6 2 (0.29%) GIS
6 2 (0.29%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.15%) BusinessObjects
7 1 (0.15%) Electronic Patient Records
7 1 (0.15%) Oracle Database
7 1 (0.15%) Oracle Discoverer
7 1 (0.15%) Oracle Reports
7 1 (0.15%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 92 (13.53%) JIRA
2 12 (1.76%) Jenkins
3 6 (0.88%) Bitbucket
3 6 (0.88%) Git
4 4 (0.59%) GitLab
5 2 (0.29%) ScriptRunner
6 1 (0.15%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.15%) MLflow
6 1 (0.15%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 283 (41.62%) Social Skills
2 140 (20.59%) Analytical Skills
3 95 (13.97%) Public Sector
4 74 (10.88%) Finance
5 42 (6.18%) Military
6 40 (5.88%) Legal
7 30 (4.41%) Organisational Skills
8 20 (2.94%) Documentation Skills
8 20 (2.94%) Manufacturing
9 19 (2.79%) Telecoms
10 18 (2.65%) Retail
11 14 (2.06%) Banking
12 13 (1.91%) Influencing Skills
13 7 (1.03%) Electronics
13 7 (1.03%) Marketing
13 7 (1.03%) Presentation Skills
14 6 (0.88%) Investment Banking
15 5 (0.74%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 4 (0.59%) Aerospace
17 2 (0.29%) Billing
Job Titles
1 87 (12.79%) Analyst
2 76 (11.18%) Architect
3 71 (10.44%) Lead
4 60 (8.82%) Service Manager
5 53 (7.79%) Support Engineer
6 42 (6.18%) Service Architect
7 39 (5.74%) IT Support
8 29 (4.26%) Hardware Engineer
9 28 (4.12%) Support Analyst
10 26 (3.82%) 2nd Line Support
11 25 (3.68%) Consultant
12 24 (3.53%) IT Analyst
13 22 (3.24%) Desktop Support
13 22 (3.24%) Network Engineer
14 21 (3.09%) IT Manager
14 21 (3.09%) Service Analyst
15 20 (2.94%) 3rd Line Support
16 19 (2.79%) 3rd Line Engineer
16 19 (2.79%) Break Fix Engineer
16 19 (2.79%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.38%) REST
2 8 (1.18%) XMPP
3 7 (1.03%) SOAP
4 6 (0.88%) RFC 2544
5 4 (0.59%) .NET
5 4 (0.59%) Elastic Stack
5 4 (0.59%) RabbitMQ
6 3 (0.44%) Web Services
7 2 (0.29%) CSS
7 2 (0.29%) Middleware
7 2 (0.29%) ModSecurity
7 2 (0.29%) Spring Boot
8 1 (0.15%) ARM Templates
8 1 (0.15%) HTML
8 1 (0.15%) JSON
8 1 (0.15%) LDAP
8 1 (0.15%) Lightning Web Components
8 1 (0.15%) Microsoft Graph
8 1 (0.15%) Oracle GoldenGate
8 1 (0.15%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 55 (8.09%) Product Ownership
2 34 (5.00%) CMDB
3 29 (4.26%) Onboarding
4 26 (3.82%) Data Centre
5 25 (3.68%) Management Information System
6 21 (3.09%) Virtual Team
7 18 (2.65%) Driving Licence
7 18 (2.65%) PKI
7 18 (2.65%) Self-Motivation
8 15 (2.21%) Analytical Mindset
9 10 (1.47%) PMI
10 8 (1.18%) Mainframe
10 8 (1.18%) NHS
11 7 (1.03%) Enterprise Software
12 6 (0.88%) Fibre Optics
13 5 (0.74%) Data Structures
13 5 (0.74%) Smartphone
14 4 (0.59%) Data Protection Act
14 4 (0.59%) Hybrid Cloud
14 4 (0.59%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 179 (26.32%) Windows
2 60 (8.82%) Linux
3 52 (7.65%) Windows Server
4 50 (7.35%) Windows 10
5 12 (1.76%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 11 (1.62%) Windows 7
7 9 (1.32%) Mac OS
7 9 (1.32%) Unix
8 8 (1.18%) Apple iOS
9 7 (1.03%) Android
9 7 (1.03%) Windows Server 2012
10 4 (0.59%) Ubuntu
10 4 (0.59%) Windows Server 2003
10 4 (0.59%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.59%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.44%) CentOS
11 3 (0.44%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.15%) AIX
12 1 (0.15%) Solaris
12 1 (0.15%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 411 (60.44%) ITIL
2 310 (45.59%) ITSM
3 148 (21.76%) Problem-Solving
4 125 (18.38%) Continuous Improvement
5 117 (17.21%) Agile
5 117 (17.21%) Change Management
6 97 (14.26%) Stakeholder Management
7 95 (13.97%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 90 (13.24%) Customer Service
9 85 (12.50%) Service Delivery
10 70 (10.29%) Service Design
11 58 (8.53%) Problem Management
12 57 (8.38%) Incident Management
12 57 (8.38%) Knowledge Transfer
12 57 (8.38%) Project Management
13 52 (7.65%) Acceptance Criteria
13 52 (7.65%) Performance Metrics
14 51 (7.50%) DevOps
15 47 (6.91%) Configuration Management
16 45 (6.62%) Critical Thinking
Programming Languages
1 68 (10.00%) PowerShell
2 50 (7.35%) Python
3 42 (6.18%) SQL
4 15 (2.21%) Perl
4 15 (2.21%) Shell Script
5 11 (1.62%) Bash
6 9 (1.32%) VB
6 9 (1.32%) VBScript
7 8 (1.18%) Java
8 6 (0.88%) JavaScript
9 4 (0.59%) Go
10 2 (0.29%) PHP
10 2 (0.29%) VBA
11 1 (0.15%) Apex Code
11 1 (0.15%) C#
11 1 (0.15%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.15%) Scala
11 1 (0.15%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 329 (48.38%) Security Cleared
2 251 (36.91%) SC Cleared
3 96 (14.12%) Degree
4 93 (13.68%) DV Cleared
5 37 (5.44%) ITIL Certification
6 34 (5.00%) Microsoft Certification
7 30 (4.41%) TOGAF Certification
8 17 (2.50%) PMI Certification
9 16 (2.35%) MCSE
9 16 (2.35%) PMP
10 15 (2.21%) A+ Certification
10 15 (2.21%) Computer Science Degree
11 14 (2.06%) Azure Certification
11 14 (2.06%) BPSS Clearance
11 14 (2.06%) Cisco Certification
11 14 (2.06%) Network+ Certification
12 13 (1.91%) CCNP
13 12 (1.76%) CCNA
14 11 (1.62%) Server+ Certification
15 8 (1.18%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (4.71%) SLA
2 17 (2.50%) Data Quality
3 12 (1.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 10 (1.47%) QA
5 9 (1.32%) GDPR
5 9 (1.32%) PMO
6 5 (0.74%) Cyber Essentials
6 5 (0.74%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 4 (0.59%) Disclosure Scotland
7 4 (0.59%) NCSC
8 3 (0.44%) ISO 9001
9 2 (0.29%) Accessibility
9 2 (0.29%) GRC
9 2 (0.29%) GxP
9 2 (0.29%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 2 (0.29%) NIST
10 1 (0.15%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.15%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 90 (13.24%) Active Directory
2 35 (5.15%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (3.09%) VMware NSX
4 13 (1.91%) Hyper-V
5 9 (1.32%) BitLocker
6 7 (1.03%) Docker
7 6 (0.88%) Virtual Desktop
7 6 (0.88%) Virtual Servers
8 5 (0.74%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 3 (0.44%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.29%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.15%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 32 (4.71%) OPNET
2 30 (4.41%) SCCM
3 24 (3.53%) vCenter Server
4 20 (2.94%) Ansible
5 17 (2.50%) Microsoft Intune
6 16 (2.35%) Terraform
7 15 (2.21%) Kubernetes
8 12 (1.76%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 11 (1.62%) WSUS
10 5 (0.74%) Grafana
10 5 (0.74%) Jamf Pro
11 4 (0.59%) Nessus
11 4 (0.59%) Packer
11 4 (0.59%) Progress Chef
11 4 (0.59%) Prometheus
12 2 (0.29%) Docker Swarm
12 2 (0.29%) FortiGate
12 2 (0.29%) Puppet
12 2 (0.29%) SCOM
12 2 (0.29%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 156 (22.94%) ServiceNow
2 141 (20.74%) Microsoft
3 59 (8.68%) Cisco
4 56 (8.24%) Atlassian
5 52 (7.65%) Remedy
6 47 (6.91%) VMware
7 33 (4.85%) SolarWinds
8 32 (4.71%) Google
8 32 (4.71%) Oracle
9 29 (4.26%) HP
10 23 (3.38%) SAP
10 23 (3.38%) Splunk
11 19 (2.79%) Juniper
12 13 (1.91%) Red Hat
12 13 (1.91%) Salesforce
12 13 (1.91%) Veeam
13 12 (1.76%) Dynatrace
14 11 (1.62%) AppDynamics
15 10 (1.47%) Citrix
15 10 (1.47%) Dell