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

6 months to
5 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 77 52 58
Rank change year-on-year -25 +6 +9
Contract jobs citing Service Management 811 632 590
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.98% 4.16% 3.19%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.65% 4.66% 3.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 527 373 427
10th Percentile £230 £200 £210
25th Percentile £410 £313 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% +6.06%
75th Percentile £610 £575 £600
90th Percentile £718 £649 £650
UK median daily rate £525 £494 £525
% change year-on-year +6.28% -5.90% +0.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 71 16
10th Percentile £14.50 - £17.09
25th Percentile £16.17 £12.62 £20.31
Median hourly rate £55.00 £18.73 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +193.65% -31.89% +29.05%
75th Percentile £85.00 £22.14 £48.75
90th Percentile £93.77 £54.01 £51.88
UK median hourly rate £57.50 £18.73 £27.50
% change year-on-year +206.99% -31.89% -43.30%

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 22,195 13,551 15,359
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 81.60% 89.22% 83.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,037 8,183 9,201
10th Percentile £300 £240 £250
25th Percentile £406 £368 £386
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £594 £575 £600
90th Percentile £685 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,371 1,310 1,591
10th Percentile £14.22 £13.85 £13.69
25th Percentile £19.25 £16.96 £16.50
Median hourly rate £43.96 £23.05 £40.94
Median % change year-on-year +90.72% -43.70% +3.38%
75th Percentile £68.55 £46.18 £65.00
90th Percentile £82.25 £70.16 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £40.50
% change year-on-year +74.79% -37.90% -4.71%

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 5 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 5 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 5 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 +19 275 £550 +10.00% 144
North of England -31 202 £443 -0.11% 113
South West -32 119 £513 -6.82% 48
North West -39 113 £480 +3.17% 61
Midlands -50 97 £486 -2.80% 68
West Midlands -40 90 £486 -5.63% 43
Yorkshire -25 84 £443 +26.84% 38
Scotland -11 64 £500 +1.11% 21
East of England -13 41 £525 -4.55% 46
Wales -6 12 £800 +247.83% 10
Northern Ireland +12 8 - - 9
East Midlands -18 7 £450 +50.00% 26
North East -40 5 £440 +125.64% 15
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 (5.43%) SharePoint
2 29 (3.58%) Confluence
3 26 (3.21%) Microsoft Exchange
4 8 (0.99%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.74%) Mattermost
6 3 (0.37%) CMS
6 3 (0.37%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.25%) IIS
8 1 (0.12%) Apache
8 1 (0.12%) JBoss
Applications
1 54 (6.66%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (2.34%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.49%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.25%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.25%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.12%) Camtasia
6 1 (0.12%) Maple
Business Applications
1 50 (6.17%) Remedy ITSM
2 5 (0.62%) ContrOCC
3 4 (0.49%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.37%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.25%) NEC Housing
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle Applications
5 2 (0.25%) Primavera
6 1 (0.12%) Remedy AR System
6 1 (0.12%) SAP HR
6 1 (0.12%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 120 (14.80%) Azure
2 83 (10.23%) Microsoft 365
3 49 (6.04%) Entra ID
4 45 (5.55%) Power Platform
5 38 (4.69%) AWS
6 23 (2.84%) SaaS
7 20 (2.47%) OneDrive
8 19 (2.34%) Azure DevOps
9 16 (1.97%) GCP
10 11 (1.36%) Microsoft Copilot
10 11 (1.36%) OCI
11 10 (1.23%) Azure Monitor
12 9 (1.11%) GitHub
13 7 (0.86%) PaaS
14 6 (0.74%) Azure AKS
15 5 (0.62%) Azure Machine Learning
15 5 (0.62%) Azure Sentinel
15 5 (0.62%) Azure Synapse Analytics
15 5 (0.62%) Google App Engine
16 4 (0.49%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 46 (5.67%) Firewall
2 38 (4.69%) DNS
3 24 (2.96%) DHCP
3 24 (2.96%) Network Security
3 24 (2.96%) VPN
4 23 (2.84%) LAN
5 19 (2.34%) BGP
5 19 (2.34%) TCP/IP
6 17 (2.10%) WAN
7 16 (1.97%) OSPF
8 14 (1.73%) Wireless
9 12 (1.48%) Cisco ISE
10 11 (1.36%) BIG-IP
11 10 (1.23%) Junos
11 10 (1.23%) VXLAN
12 9 (1.11%) Ethernet VPN
12 9 (1.11%) SSH
12 9 (1.11%) VLAN
13 8 (0.99%) Skype
14 6 (0.74%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (4.56%) Power BI
2 19 (2.34%) SQL Server
3 6 (0.74%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 5 (0.62%) Oracle Reports
4 5 (0.62%) PostgreSQL
4 5 (0.62%) Relational Database
4 5 (0.62%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 4 (0.49%) MySQL
5 4 (0.49%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 3 (0.37%) Azure SQL Database
6 3 (0.37%) MariaDB
7 2 (0.25%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.25%) Microsoft Analysis Services
7 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.12%) Data Warehouse
8 1 (0.12%) DTS
8 1 (0.12%) InfluxDB
8 1 (0.12%) Looker
8 1 (0.12%) OpenStack Swift
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Database 11g
Development Applications
1 77 (9.49%) JIRA
2 16 (1.97%) Git
3 13 (1.60%) Bitbucket
4 12 (1.48%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 8 (0.99%) Jenkins
6 7 (0.86%) GitLab
7 5 (0.62%) Browser DevTools
8 4 (0.49%) MLflow
8 4 (0.49%) Rational DOORS
9 3 (0.37%) Fiddler
10 2 (0.25%) Firebug
10 2 (0.25%) IntelliJ
10 2 (0.25%) Sonatype Nexus
10 2 (0.25%) webpack
11 1 (0.12%) Gemini Tracker
11 1 (0.12%) Gradle
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
1 302 (37.24%) Social Skills
2 118 (14.55%) Analytical Skills
3 115 (14.18%) Finance
4 77 (9.49%) Public Sector
5 37 (4.56%) Influencing Skills
6 33 (4.07%) Legal
7 32 (3.95%) Documentation Skills
8 25 (3.08%) Military
9 21 (2.59%) Organisational Skills
9 21 (2.59%) Telecoms
10 16 (1.97%) Aerospace
11 15 (1.85%) Banking
11 15 (1.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 15 (1.85%) Presentation Skills
12 12 (1.48%) Local Government
13 4 (0.49%) Financial Institution
13 4 (0.49%) Law
14 3 (0.37%) Police
14 3 (0.37%) Publishing
14 3 (0.37%) Retail
Job Titles
1 97 (11.96%) Analyst
2 91 (11.22%) Lead
3 78 (9.62%) Service Manager
4 75 (9.25%) Senior
5 53 (6.54%) Architect
6 47 (5.80%) IT Manager
6 47 (5.80%) Service Analyst
7 31 (3.82%) Delivery Manager
7 31 (3.82%) Support Engineer
8 28 (3.45%) Network Engineer
8 28 (3.45%) Project Manager
9 26 (3.21%) Service Architect
10 24 (2.96%) Consultant
11 22 (2.71%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 21 (2.59%) IT Analyst
12 21 (2.59%) Service Delivery Manager
13 20 (2.47%) Administrator
13 20 (2.47%) IT Services Manager
13 20 (2.47%) Transition Manager
14 18 (2.22%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (3.58%) REST
2 10 (1.23%) SOAP
3 9 (1.11%) OAuth
4 8 (0.99%) 802.1X
4 8 (0.99%) SAML
5 5 (0.62%) ARM Templates
5 5 (0.62%) OpenID
5 5 (0.62%) Oracle Fusion
5 5 (0.62%) XML
6 4 (0.49%) .NET
6 4 (0.49%) Middleware
6 4 (0.49%) OAuth2
6 4 (0.49%) Web Services
6 4 (0.49%) XMPP
7 3 (0.37%) CSS
7 3 (0.37%) Elastic Stack
7 3 (0.37%) Flash
7 3 (0.37%) HTML
7 3 (0.37%) JSON
7 3 (0.37%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 73 (9.00%) Onboarding
2 37 (4.56%) Management Information System
3 36 (4.44%) CMDB
3 36 (4.44%) Product Ownership
4 31 (3.82%) PKI
5 27 (3.33%) Data Centre
6 25 (3.08%) Clustering
7 20 (2.47%) Enterprise Software
8 16 (1.97%) Data Protection Act
9 15 (1.85%) Operational Technology
10 14 (1.73%) Analytical Mindset
10 14 (1.73%) Hybrid Cloud
10 14 (1.73%) Self-Motivation
11 13 (1.60%) Virtual Team
12 9 (1.11%) Cloud Native
13 8 (0.99%) Replication
14 7 (0.86%) Cyber Threat
14 7 (0.86%) Driving Licence
14 7 (0.86%) Security Posture
14 7 (0.86%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 180 (22.19%) Windows
2 51 (6.29%) Windows Server
3 45 (5.55%) Linux
4 32 (3.95%) Windows 10
5 12 (1.48%) Unix
6 10 (1.23%) Windows 7
7 9 (1.11%) Mac OS
8 7 (0.86%) Android
8 7 (0.86%) Apple iOS
9 6 (0.74%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.37%) Windows Server 2012
11 2 (0.25%) Solaris
11 2 (0.25%) Ubuntu
11 2 (0.25%) 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
1 464 (57.21%) ITIL
2 368 (45.38%) ITSM
3 218 (26.88%) Continuous Improvement
4 207 (25.52%) Service Delivery
5 204 (25.15%) Stakeholder Management
6 162 (19.98%) Agile
7 161 (19.85%) Problem-Solving
8 129 (15.91%) Change Management
9 114 (14.06%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 94 (11.59%) Customer Service
11 88 (10.85%) DevOps
12 82 (10.11%) Incident Management
13 70 (8.63%) Cybersecurity
14 69 (8.51%) Project Delivery
15 63 (7.77%) Service Design
16 59 (7.27%) Risk Management
17 58 (7.15%) Roadmaps
18 57 (7.03%) Project Management
19 55 (6.78%) Problem Management
20 54 (6.66%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 77 (9.49%) PowerShell
2 51 (6.29%) Python
3 43 (5.30%) SQL
4 28 (3.45%) Bash
5 22 (2.71%) JavaScript
6 8 (0.99%) Java
6 8 (0.99%) VB
6 8 (0.99%) VBScript
7 6 (0.74%) Bicep
8 4 (0.49%) C
8 4 (0.49%) C#
8 4 (0.49%) Perl
8 4 (0.49%) PL/SQL
8 4 (0.49%) T-SQL
9 3 (0.37%) Lua
10 2 (0.25%) Apex Code
10 2 (0.25%) Search Processing Language
10 2 (0.25%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.25%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.12%) Go
Qualifications
1 383 (47.23%) Security Cleared
2 231 (28.48%) SC Cleared
3 134 (16.52%) DV Cleared
4 86 (10.60%) Degree
5 40 (4.93%) ITIL Certification
6 26 (3.21%) Cisco Certification
7 25 (3.08%) BPSS Clearance
7 25 (3.08%) PMP
8 24 (2.96%) PMI Certification
9 15 (1.85%) Computer Science Degree
9 15 (1.85%) Microsoft Certification
10 14 (1.73%) CCNA
11 13 (1.60%) DBS Check
12 12 (1.48%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 11 (1.36%) CCNP
14 10 (1.23%) A+ Certification
15 9 (1.11%) JNCIA
15 9 (1.11%) JNCIP
15 9 (1.11%) JNCIS
16 8 (0.99%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (6.66%) SLA
2 30 (3.70%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 24 (2.96%) Data Quality
4 22 (2.71%) PMO
5 20 (2.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 20 (2.47%) QA
6 18 (2.22%) GRC
7 17 (2.10%) NCSC
8 15 (1.85%) ISO 9001
9 12 (1.48%) GDPR
10 10 (1.23%) COBIT
11 8 (0.99%) Disclosure Scotland
12 7 (0.86%) Cyber Essentials
12 7 (0.86%) Government Security Classifications
13 6 (0.74%) ISO 31000
13 6 (0.74%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 5 (0.62%) Accessibility
15 4 (0.49%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 4 (0.49%) GMP
15 4 (0.49%) NIST
System Software
1 97 (11.96%) Active Directory
2 45 (5.55%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.59%) VMware ESXi
4 15 (1.85%) VMware NSX
5 14 (1.73%) Docker
6 10 (1.23%) vCloud
7 9 (1.11%) BitLocker
7 9 (1.11%) Hyper-V
7 9 (1.11%) vSphere
8 5 (0.62%) Virtual Desktop
8 5 (0.62%) Virtual Machines
9 4 (0.49%) NFS
10 3 (0.37%) Firmware
11 2 (0.25%) GPFS
11 2 (0.25%) KVM
12 1 (0.12%) iptables
12 1 (0.12%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.12%) Samba
12 1 (0.12%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 42 (5.18%) SCCM
2 41 (5.06%) Microsoft Intune
3 29 (3.58%) Terraform
4 27 (3.33%) Ansible
5 15 (1.85%) SCOM
6 14 (1.73%) Kubernetes
7 13 (1.60%) vCenter Server
8 9 (1.11%) Single Sign-On
9 8 (0.99%) FortiGate
10 6 (0.74%) Jamf Pro
11 5 (0.62%) Progress Chef
12 4 (0.49%) PowerCLI
12 4 (0.49%) Puppet
12 4 (0.49%) vMotion
13 3 (0.37%) Cisco Prime
13 3 (0.37%) Dell DRAC
13 3 (0.37%) Grafana
13 3 (0.37%) NetBackup
13 3 (0.37%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
13 3 (0.37%) vRealize
Vendors
1 208 (25.65%) ServiceNow
2 161 (19.85%) Microsoft
3 63 (7.77%) VMware
4 52 (6.41%) Remedy
5 42 (5.18%) Cisco
6 28 (3.45%) BMC
7 20 (2.47%) Oracle
8 19 (2.34%) Splunk
9 18 (2.22%) Atlassian
9 18 (2.22%) SolarWinds
10 15 (1.85%) Juniper
11 13 (1.60%) Dynatrace
12 12 (1.48%) F5
13 11 (1.36%) CyberArk
13 11 (1.36%) IBM
13 11 (1.36%) SAP
14 10 (1.23%) Citrix
14 10 (1.23%) Qualys
15 9 (1.11%) Dell
15 9 (1.11%) Red Hat