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

6 months to
8 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 78 56 55
Rank change year-on-year -22 -1 +9
Contract jobs citing Service Management 765 580 663
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.86% 4.01% 3.16%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.49% 4.47% 3.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 505 341 479
10th Percentile £213 £200 £223
25th Percentile £400 £308 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £492 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.66% -6.29% +9.38%
75th Percentile £600 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £688 £675
UK median daily rate £525 £496 £525
% change year-on-year +5.85% -5.52% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 70 57 18
10th Percentile £14.95 - £13.65
25th Percentile £16.17 £12.62 £17.02
Median hourly rate £60.00 £20.83 £23.37
Median % change year-on-year +188.05% -10.87% +9.67%
75th Percentile £83.94 £22.14 £42.81
90th Percentile £98.55 £33.75 £49.13
UK median hourly rate £60.00 £20.83 £23.37
% change year-on-year +188.05% -10.87% -44.19%

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 21,937 12,961 17,420
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 82.09% 89.67% 83.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,023 7,925 10,281
10th Percentile £300 £235 £250
25th Percentile £405 £366 £380
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £575 £600
90th Percentile £680 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £517 £505 £525
% change year-on-year +2.28% -3.81% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,285 1,111 2,119
10th Percentile £14.25 £14.20 £12.50
25th Percentile £19.33 £16.95 £15.62
Median hourly rate £44.50 £24.66 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +80.45% -35.31% +1.65%
75th Percentile £68.00 £52.25 £61.60
90th Percentile £81.24 £72.50 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £37.50
% change year-on-year +74.79% -32.93% -6.25%

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 8 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 8 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 8 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 +32 235 £538 +43.33% 119
North of England -32 209 £475 +2.59% 80
South West -29 125 £500 -10.11% 42
North West -26 116 £513 +4.17% 40
Yorkshire -12 87 £450 +5.88% 26
Midlands -46 86 £475 -1.04% 57
West Midlands -44 76 £476 -4.80% 34
Scotland -21 57 £500 - 13
East of England -26 41 £525 -4.55% 24
Wales -10 13 £800 +188.29% 8
East Midlands -15 10 £315 -27.75% 23
Northern Ireland +10 6 - - 13
North East -37 6 £440 +125.64% 17
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 41 (5.36%) SharePoint
2 30 (3.92%) Microsoft Exchange
3 25 (3.27%) Confluence
4 11 (1.44%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.78%) Mattermost
6 3 (0.39%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.26%) IIS
8 1 (0.13%) Apache
8 1 (0.13%) CMS
8 1 (0.13%) JBoss
8 1 (0.13%) LiveCycle
Applications
1 55 (7.19%) Microsoft Office
2 20 (2.61%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.52%) Chatbot
4 4 (0.52%) PTC Creo
5 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.26%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.13%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 48 (6.27%) Remedy ITSM
2 10 (1.31%) SAP S/4HANA
3 8 (1.05%) Teamcenter
4 5 (0.65%) 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
1 111 (14.51%) Azure
2 76 (9.93%) Microsoft 365
3 45 (5.88%) Power Platform
4 37 (4.84%) Entra ID
5 35 (4.58%) AWS
6 20 (2.61%) OneDrive
7 19 (2.48%) Azure DevOps
7 19 (2.48%) SaaS
8 18 (2.35%) GCP
9 9 (1.18%) PaaS
10 8 (1.05%) OCI
11 7 (0.92%) Microsoft Copilot
12 5 (0.65%) Azure AKS
12 5 (0.65%) Azure Machine Learning
12 5 (0.65%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 5 (0.65%) Google App Engine
13 4 (0.52%) Azure Monitor
13 4 (0.52%) Dynamics 365
13 4 (0.52%) GitHub
13 4 (0.52%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 33 (4.31%) Firewall
2 32 (4.18%) DNS
3 29 (3.79%) LAN
4 21 (2.75%) DHCP
4 21 (2.75%) WAN
5 16 (2.09%) Network Security
5 16 (2.09%) VPN
6 15 (1.96%) BGP
7 14 (1.83%) OSPF
7 14 (1.83%) Wireless
8 12 (1.57%) BIG-IP
8 12 (1.57%) Cisco ISE
8 12 (1.57%) VLAN
8 12 (1.57%) Wi-Fi
9 11 (1.44%) Skype
10 10 (1.31%) Junos
10 10 (1.31%) TCP/IP
11 9 (1.18%) VXLAN
12 8 (1.05%) Ethernet VPN
13 5 (0.65%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (5.23%) Power BI
2 15 (1.96%) SQL Server
3 5 (0.65%) Oracle Reports
3 5 (0.65%) PostgreSQL
3 5 (0.65%) Relational Database
4 4 (0.52%) MySQL
4 4 (0.52%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 3 (0.39%) Azure SQL Database
5 3 (0.39%) MariaDB
5 3 (0.39%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 3 (0.39%) 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%) GIS
7 1 (0.13%) InfluxDB
7 1 (0.13%) OpenStack Swift
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database 11g
Development Applications
1 74 (9.67%) JIRA
2 15 (1.96%) Git
3 7 (0.92%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.78%) Bitbucket
4 6 (0.78%) GitLab
5 5 (0.65%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 5 (0.65%) Browser DevTools
6 4 (0.52%) MLflow
7 3 (0.39%) Fiddler
8 2 (0.26%) Firebug
8 2 (0.26%) IntelliJ
8 2 (0.26%) Rational DOORS
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
1 265 (34.64%) Social Skills
2 111 (14.51%) Finance
3 105 (13.73%) Analytical Skills
4 72 (9.41%) Public Sector
5 37 (4.84%) Legal
6 28 (3.66%) Influencing Skills
7 23 (3.01%) Documentation Skills
8 21 (2.75%) Organisational Skills
8 21 (2.75%) Telecoms
9 19 (2.48%) Military
10 15 (1.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 14 (1.83%) Aerospace
12 12 (1.57%) Banking
12 12 (1.57%) Presentation Skills
13 11 (1.44%) Local Government
14 9 (1.18%) Retail
15 5 (0.65%) Financial Institution
16 3 (0.39%) Publishing
17 1 (0.13%) Automotive
17 1 (0.13%) Games
Job Titles
1 100 (13.07%) Analyst
2 91 (11.90%) Service Manager
3 81 (10.59%) Lead
4 61 (7.97%) Senior
5 50 (6.54%) Architect
6 48 (6.27%) Service Analyst
7 45 (5.88%) IT Manager
8 29 (3.79%) Delivery Manager
8 29 (3.79%) Project Manager
9 26 (3.40%) Network Engineer
10 24 (3.14%) IT Analyst
11 23 (3.01%) Consultant
11 23 (3.01%) Support Engineer
12 21 (2.75%) IT Services Manager
12 21 (2.75%) Service Delivery Manager
13 20 (2.61%) Administrator
14 18 (2.35%) Service Transition Manager
14 18 (2.35%) Transition Manager
15 17 (2.22%) Designer
15 17 (2.22%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.01%) REST
2 9 (1.18%) OAuth
2 9 (1.18%) SOAP
3 8 (1.05%) 802.1X
4 5 (0.65%) OpenID
4 5 (0.65%) Oracle Fusion
4 5 (0.65%) SAML
4 5 (0.65%) XML
5 4 (0.52%) Middleware
5 4 (0.52%) OAuth2
5 4 (0.52%) Software Packaging
5 4 (0.52%) XMPP
6 3 (0.39%) .NET
6 3 (0.39%) CSS
6 3 (0.39%) Elastic Stack
6 3 (0.39%) FIDO
6 3 (0.39%) Flash
6 3 (0.39%) HTML
6 3 (0.39%) JSON
6 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Graph
Miscellaneous
1 59 (7.71%) Onboarding
2 46 (6.01%) CMDB
3 38 (4.97%) Product Ownership
4 29 (3.79%) Management Information System
5 27 (3.53%) Data Centre
5 27 (3.53%) PKI
6 23 (3.01%) Clustering
7 18 (2.35%) Virtual Team
8 17 (2.22%) Enterprise Software
9 16 (2.09%) Data Protection Act
10 12 (1.57%) Analytical Mindset
10 12 (1.57%) Operational Technology
11 11 (1.44%) Driving Licence
11 11 (1.44%) Self-Motivation
12 8 (1.05%) Cyber Threat
12 8 (1.05%) PMI
12 8 (1.05%) Replication
12 8 (1.05%) Security Posture
13 7 (0.92%) Cloud Native
14 6 (0.78%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 171 (22.35%) Windows
2 37 (4.84%) Windows 10
3 36 (4.71%) Linux
4 32 (4.18%) Windows Server
5 15 (1.96%) Windows 7
6 11 (1.44%) Unix
7 9 (1.18%) Mac OS
8 5 (0.65%) Android
8 5 (0.65%) Apple iOS
8 5 (0.65%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 3 (0.39%) Windows XP
10 2 (0.26%) Solaris
10 2 (0.26%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.13%) Rocky
11 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
11 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.13%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 438 (57.25%) ITIL
2 342 (44.71%) ITSM
3 202 (26.41%) Continuous Improvement
4 187 (24.44%) Stakeholder Management
5 171 (22.35%) Service Delivery
6 150 (19.61%) Agile
7 149 (19.48%) Problem-Solving
8 116 (15.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 112 (14.64%) Change Management
10 89 (11.63%) Customer Service
11 73 (9.54%) DevOps
12 65 (8.50%) Incident Management
12 65 (8.50%) Problem Management
13 61 (7.97%) Configuration Management
13 61 (7.97%) Project Delivery
14 60 (7.84%) Cybersecurity
14 60 (7.84%) Roadmaps
15 49 (6.41%) Decision-Making
15 49 (6.41%) Service Design
16 48 (6.27%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 67 (8.76%) PowerShell
2 44 (5.75%) Python
3 40 (5.23%) SQL
4 21 (2.75%) JavaScript
5 16 (2.09%) Bash
6 11 (1.44%) VB
6 11 (1.44%) VBScript
7 6 (0.78%) Java
8 4 (0.52%) C#
8 4 (0.52%) Perl
8 4 (0.52%) PL/SQL
8 4 (0.52%) T-SQL
9 3 (0.39%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.26%) Apex Code
10 2 (0.26%) C
10 2 (0.26%) Search Processing Language
10 2 (0.26%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.13%) Bicep
11 1 (0.13%) Go
11 1 (0.13%) Scala
Qualifications
1 356 (46.54%) Security Cleared
2 221 (28.89%) SC Cleared
3 130 (16.99%) DV Cleared
4 68 (8.89%) Degree
5 37 (4.84%) ITIL Certification
6 24 (3.14%) Cisco Certification
7 21 (2.75%) PMI Certification
8 20 (2.61%) PMP
9 18 (2.35%) BPSS Clearance
10 16 (2.09%) Computer Science Degree
10 16 (2.09%) Microsoft Certification
11 13 (1.70%) CCNA
12 12 (1.57%) A+ Certification
13 11 (1.44%) DBS Check
14 10 (1.31%) CCNP
15 9 (1.18%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 9 (1.18%) JNCIA
15 9 (1.18%) JNCIP
15 9 (1.18%) JNCIS
15 9 (1.18%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 52 (6.80%) SLA
2 30 (3.92%) Data Quality
3 23 (3.01%) ISO/IEC 20000
4 22 (2.88%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 22 (2.88%) PMO
5 18 (2.35%) QA
6 16 (2.09%) NCSC
7 13 (1.70%) GDPR
7 13 (1.70%) GRC
8 12 (1.57%) ISO 9001
9 9 (1.18%) COBIT
10 7 (0.92%) Disclosure Scotland
10 7 (0.92%) Government Security Classifications
11 6 (0.78%) ISO 31000
11 6 (0.78%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 5 (0.65%) Accessibility
12 5 (0.65%) Cyber Essentials
13 4 (0.52%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 4 (0.52%) GMP
13 4 (0.52%) NIST
System Software
1 88 (11.50%) Active Directory
2 37 (4.84%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (2.22%) VMware ESXi
4 12 (1.57%) BitLocker
5 10 (1.31%) Docker
6 9 (1.18%) VMware NSX
7 8 (1.05%) vSphere
8 7 (0.92%) vCloud
9 5 (0.65%) Virtual Machines
10 4 (0.52%) Hyper-V
10 4 (0.52%) NFS
11 3 (0.39%) Firmware
11 3 (0.39%) Virtual Desktop
12 2 (0.26%) GPFS
12 2 (0.26%) KVM
13 1 (0.13%) iptables
13 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
13 1 (0.13%) Samba
13 1 (0.13%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 44 (5.75%) SCCM
2 35 (4.58%) Microsoft Intune
3 21 (2.75%) Ansible
4 14 (1.83%) Terraform
5 10 (1.31%) Kubernetes
5 10 (1.31%) SCOM
6 9 (1.18%) vCenter Server
7 8 (1.05%) FortiGate
7 8 (1.05%) Jamf Pro
7 8 (1.05%) Single Sign-On
8 4 (0.52%) PowerCLI
8 4 (0.52%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.52%) vMotion
9 3 (0.39%) Cisco Prime
9 3 (0.39%) Dell DRAC
9 3 (0.39%) Grafana
9 3 (0.39%) Puppet
9 3 (0.39%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 3 (0.39%) vRealize
10 2 (0.26%) Nagios
Vendors
1 186 (24.31%) ServiceNow
2 144 (18.82%) Microsoft
3 50 (6.54%) Remedy
3 50 (6.54%) VMware
4 34 (4.44%) Cisco
5 26 (3.40%) BMC
6 19 (2.48%) SolarWinds
7 18 (2.35%) Oracle
7 18 (2.35%) Splunk
8 16 (2.09%) SAP
9 13 (1.70%) HP
9 13 (1.70%) Juniper
10 12 (1.57%) Dell
10 12 (1.57%) F5
11 10 (1.31%) Atlassian
11 10 (1.31%) Canon
11 10 (1.31%) Dynatrace
11 10 (1.31%) Qualys
12 9 (1.18%) IBM
12 9 (1.18%) IFS