Service Design Contract Job Trends in England

Service Design
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring Service Design skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 13 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 175 272 222
Rank change year-on-year +97 -50 -47
Contract jobs citing Service Design 619 215 385
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.54% 0.89% 1.05%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.81% 0.98% 1.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 468 158 255
10th Percentile £369 £400 £400
25th Percentile £425 £463 £458
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £545
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +0.92% -3.54%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £619
90th Percentile £738 £704 £733
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £525
% change year-on-year - - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 1 11
10th Percentile £50.66 - -
25th Percentile £78.83 - £17.80
Median hourly rate £95.25 £31.52 £33.07
Median % change year-on-year +202.19% -4.67% -42.50%
75th Percentile £103.94 - £34.53
90th Percentile £106.68 - £72.90
UK median hourly rate £95.00 £31.52 £33.07
% change year-on-year +201.40% -4.67% -42.50%

All Process & Methodology Skills
England

Service Design 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 England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 34,138 22,003 31,618
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 84.68% 91.23% 86.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,766 14,379 20,694
10th Percentile £319 £308 £300
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.38% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £618 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £505 £516 £525
% change year-on-year -2.13% -1.71% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,120 924 2,243
10th Percentile £15.31 £14.42 £12.88
25th Percentile £20.35 £18.47 £16.00
Median hourly rate £47.00 £29.02 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +61.96% -20.49% -2.25%
75th Percentile £67.84 £63.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £42.50 £28.60 £36.50
% change year-on-year +48.60% -21.64% +1.39%

Service Design
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Service Design relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Service Design job vacancy trend in England

Service Design
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Service Design.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Service Design

Service Design
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Design in England over the 6 months to 13 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Service Design in England

Service Design
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Service Design.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Service Design

Service Design
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Design in England over the 6 months to 13 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Design in England

Service Design
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Service Design within the England region over the 6 months to 13 May 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
London +54 250 £520 -5.45% 83
North of England +11 116 £485 -3.00% 19
South East +13 92 £525 +5.00% 33
South West +5 69 £725 +28.89% 17
Midlands +6 67 £492 -10.55% 16
West Midlands -1 64 £484 -12.09% 10
North West -5 50 £463 -2.63% 2
Yorkshire -10 47 £538 -15.69% 12
North East -1 20 £420 -18.05% 5
East of England -28 5 £400 -50.00% 14
East Midlands - 3 £525 - 6
Service Design
UK

Service Design
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 51 (8.24%) Confluence
2 12 (1.94%) SharePoint
3 6 (0.97%) LiveCycle
4 3 (0.48%) CMS
5 2 (0.32%) Appian
5 2 (0.32%) Drupal
5 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Exchange
6 1 (0.16%) Anypoint
6 1 (0.16%) Apache Solr
6 1 (0.16%) Mule
6 1 (0.16%) Oracle Application Server
6 1 (0.16%) Tomcat
Applications
1 37 (5.98%) Microsoft Office
2 30 (4.85%) Microsoft Project
3 13 (2.10%) Microsoft Excel
4 7 (1.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (1.13%) Sketch
5 6 (0.97%) MS Visio
6 5 (0.81%) Adobe XD
7 4 (0.65%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.65%) InVision
8 3 (0.48%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 3 (0.48%) Trello
9 2 (0.32%) Zeplin
10 1 (0.16%) Adobe After Effects
Business Applications
1 4 (0.65%) Dynamics CRM
1 4 (0.65%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.32%) Oracle EBS
2 2 (0.32%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
3 1 (0.16%) Adobe Campaign
3 1 (0.16%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.16%) Oracle Payroll
Cloud Services
1 37 (5.98%) Azure
2 32 (5.17%) AWS
2 32 (5.17%) Figma
3 21 (3.39%) Power Platform
4 17 (2.75%) SaaS
5 9 (1.45%) Microsoft 365
6 7 (1.13%) Miro
7 6 (0.97%) GCP
8 5 (0.81%) Google Analytics
8 5 (0.81%) Google Tag Manager
8 5 (0.81%) IaaS
8 5 (0.81%) Microsoft Copilot
8 5 (0.81%) PaaS
8 5 (0.81%) Power Automate
9 4 (0.65%) OpenShift
10 3 (0.48%) Azure AI
10 3 (0.48%) Azure DevOps
10 3 (0.48%) Datadog
10 3 (0.48%) GitHub
10 3 (0.48%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 4 (0.65%) Cisco Nexus
1 4 (0.65%) Firewall
1 4 (0.65%) VPN
2 3 (0.48%) 3GPP
3 2 (0.32%) 2G
3 2 (0.32%) 3G
3 2 (0.32%) 4G
3 2 (0.32%) 5G
3 2 (0.32%) BGP
3 2 (0.32%) Diameter Protocol
3 2 (0.32%) NX-OS
3 2 (0.32%) OSPF
3 2 (0.32%) Radio Access Network
3 2 (0.32%) SIGTRAN
3 2 (0.32%) SS7
3 2 (0.32%) TETRA
3 2 (0.32%) VLAN
3 2 (0.32%) VXLAN
4 1 (0.16%) SD-WAN
4 1 (0.16%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (3.07%) Power BI
2 5 (0.81%) BigQuery
2 5 (0.81%) Looker
3 4 (0.65%) Electronic Patient Records
3 4 (0.65%) SQL Server
3 4 (0.65%) Tableau
4 2 (0.32%) Oracle Reports
4 2 (0.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 1 (0.16%) EDRMS
5 1 (0.16%) Metadata
5 1 (0.16%) Oracle Exadata
5 1 (0.16%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 61 (9.85%) JIRA
2 8 (1.29%) Jenkins
3 5 (0.81%) GitLab
4 3 (0.48%) Axure RP
4 3 (0.48%) Git
5 2 (0.32%) Appium
5 2 (0.32%) Cucumber
5 2 (0.32%) Postman
5 2 (0.32%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.16%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.16%) JUnit
6 1 (0.16%) Maven
6 1 (0.16%) Mocha
6 1 (0.16%) Mockito
6 1 (0.16%) NUnit
6 1 (0.16%) REST Assured
6 1 (0.16%) Selenium
6 1 (0.16%) Subversion
6 1 (0.16%) Team Foundation Server
6 1 (0.16%) VersionOne
General
1 200 (32.31%) Social Skills
2 180 (29.08%) Public Sector
3 75 (12.12%) Finance
4 70 (11.31%) Analytical Skills
5 38 (6.14%) Military
6 26 (4.20%) Influencing Skills
7 21 (3.39%) Presentation Skills
8 18 (2.91%) Legal
9 15 (2.42%) Banking
9 15 (2.42%) Local Government
10 13 (2.10%) Telecoms
11 12 (1.94%) Retail
12 9 (1.45%) Organisational Skills
13 8 (1.29%) Documentation Skills
14 7 (1.13%) Law
15 6 (0.97%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 5 (0.81%) Financial Institution
16 5 (0.81%) Marketing
17 3 (0.48%) Back Office
17 3 (0.48%) Police
Job Titles
1 238 (38.45%) Designer
2 188 (30.37%) Service Designer
3 98 (15.83%) Architect
4 76 (12.28%) Senior
5 65 (10.50%) Lead
6 64 (10.34%) Analyst
7 58 (9.37%) User Researcher
8 55 (8.89%) Service Architect
9 42 (6.79%) Business Analyst
10 38 (6.14%) Senior Designer
11 33 (5.33%) Lead Designer
12 32 (5.17%) Lead Service Designer
12 32 (5.17%) Senior Service Designer
13 17 (2.75%) Interaction Designer
13 17 (2.75%) Service Manager
14 14 (2.26%) Senior User Researcher
14 14 (2.26%) Technical Architect
15 13 (2.10%) Consultant
15 13 (2.10%) Service Analyst
15 13 (2.10%) UX Designer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 16 (2.58%) REST
2 11 (1.78%) HTML
2 11 (1.78%) SOAP
3 7 (1.13%) RESTful
4 6 (0.97%) CSS
5 5 (0.81%) .NET
5 5 (0.81%) Spring
5 5 (0.81%) Spring Boot
5 5 (0.81%) Web Services
6 4 (0.65%) Microsoft Graph
7 3 (0.48%) AngularJS
7 3 (0.48%) Middleware
7 3 (0.48%) NestJS
7 3 (0.48%) Node.js
7 3 (0.48%) OAuth
7 3 (0.48%) Oracle Fusion
7 3 (0.48%) STL
8 2 (0.32%) Flask
8 2 (0.32%) Kafka
8 2 (0.32%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 65 (10.50%) Product Ownership
2 34 (5.49%) Onboarding
3 20 (3.23%) NHS
4 15 (2.42%) Legacy Systems
5 14 (2.26%) Cloud Native
6 13 (2.10%) CMDB
7 11 (1.78%) Data Centre
8 9 (1.45%) AI Agents
8 9 (1.45%) Hybrid Cloud
9 7 (1.13%) Data Protection Act
9 7 (1.13%) Management Information System
10 5 (0.81%) Security Posture
11 4 (0.65%) Analytical Mindset
11 4 (0.65%) IVR
11 4 (0.65%) Mobile App
11 4 (0.65%) Self-Motivation
11 4 (0.65%) Virtual Team
12 3 (0.48%) Hackathon
12 3 (0.48%) Operational Technology
12 3 (0.48%) PMI
Operating Systems
1 4 (0.65%) Windows
2 1 (0.16%) Linux
2 1 (0.16%) MVS
2 1 (0.16%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 262 (42.33%) Agile
2 180 (29.08%) User Research
3 140 (22.62%) ITIL
4 116 (18.74%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
5 96 (15.51%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 96 (15.51%) User Experience
6 93 (15.02%) Roadmaps
6 93 (15.02%) Service Management
7 89 (14.38%) Journey Map
7 89 (14.38%) Stakeholder Management
7 89 (14.38%) Workshop Facilitation
8 88 (14.22%) Continuous Improvement
9 78 (12.60%) Decision-Making
10 62 (10.02%) UX Design
11 55 (8.89%) Interaction Design
11 55 (8.89%) Prototyping
12 54 (8.72%) Acceptance Criteria
12 54 (8.72%) Collaborative Working
12 54 (8.72%) Service Delivery
13 52 (8.40%) Problem-Solving
Programming Languages
1 13 (2.10%) SQL
2 8 (1.29%) Java
2 8 (1.29%) JavaScript
2 8 (1.29%) PowerShell
3 7 (1.13%) Python
4 4 (0.65%) Bash
4 4 (0.65%) C#
4 4 (0.65%) T-SQL
5 3 (0.48%) Kusto Query Language
6 1 (0.16%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 1 (0.16%) DataWeave
6 1 (0.16%) Groovy
6 1 (0.16%) PL/SQL
6 1 (0.16%) R
6 1 (0.16%) Scala
6 1 (0.16%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 211 (34.09%) Security Cleared
2 163 (26.33%) SC Cleared
3 56 (9.05%) Degree
4 51 (8.24%) DV Cleared
5 36 (5.82%) TOGAF Certification
6 33 (5.33%) BPSS Clearance
7 14 (2.26%) ITIL Certification
8 9 (1.45%) AWS Certification
9 7 (1.13%) Azure Certification
10 4 (0.65%) CISM
10 4 (0.65%) CISSP
10 4 (0.65%) PMI Certification
11 3 (0.48%) CRISC
12 2 (0.32%) APMG
12 2 (0.32%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
12 2 (0.32%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
12 2 (0.32%) Computer Science Degree
12 2 (0.32%) IIBA
13 1 (0.16%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 1 (0.16%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 112 (18.09%) Accessibility
2 19 (3.07%) WCAG
3 14 (2.26%) QA
4 13 (2.10%) ISO/IEC 20000
5 12 (1.94%) SLA
6 11 (1.78%) Actionable Recommendations
6 11 (1.78%) Data Quality
7 10 (1.62%) NCSC
8 8 (1.29%) GDPR
9 7 (1.13%) Government Security Classifications
10 5 (0.81%) PMO
11 4 (0.65%) COBIT
11 4 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 27001
12 3 (0.48%) NIST
13 2 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials
13 2 (0.32%) GRC
14 1 (0.16%) California Consumer Privacy Act
14 1 (0.16%) FINRA
14 1 (0.16%) ISO 31000
14 1 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 5 (0.81%) Docker
2 4 (0.65%) VMware NSX
3 3 (0.48%) IAG
4 2 (0.32%) EMC RecoverPoint
4 2 (0.32%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.16%) Active Directory
5 1 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 27 (4.36%) OPNET
2 9 (1.45%) Kubernetes
3 8 (1.29%) Ansible
4 6 (0.97%) Single Sign-On
5 5 (0.81%) Terraform
6 3 (0.48%) vRealize
7 2 (0.32%) Avamar
7 2 (0.32%) EMC VPLEX
8 1 (0.16%) Prometheus
8 1 (0.16%) SysTrack
8 1 (0.16%) VxRail
Vendors
1 62 (10.02%) ServiceNow
2 35 (5.65%) Microsoft
3 27 (4.36%) Atlassian
3 27 (4.36%) Remedy
4 13 (2.10%) VMware
5 11 (1.78%) Adobe
6 10 (1.62%) Cisco
7 8 (1.29%) Oracle
7 8 (1.29%) SAP
8 7 (1.13%) Salesforce
9 6 (0.97%) Google
10 4 (0.65%) Foundry
10 4 (0.65%) Palo Alto
10 4 (0.65%) Workday
10 4 (0.65%) Zscaler
11 3 (0.48%) Genesys
11 3 (0.48%) UiPath
11 3 (0.48%) Virgin Media
12 2 (0.32%) NetApp
12 2 (0.32%) Red Hat