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 20 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 175 267 220
Rank change year-on-year +92 -47 -49
Contract jobs citing Service Design 622 213 386
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.51% 0.88% 1.06%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.79% 0.96% 1.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 470 153 254
10th Percentile £381 £400 £400
25th Percentile £431 £463 £461
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -5.45% - -2.22%
75th Percentile £624 £638 £625
90th Percentile £738 £710 £738
UK median daily rate £523 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -0.38% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 1 11
10th Percentile £40.99 - -
25th Percentile £60.33 £51.34 £17.80
Median hourly rate £95.50 £52.67 £33.07
Median % change year-on-year +81.32% +59.29% -42.50%
75th Percentile £103.25 £54.01 £34.53
90th Percentile £106.25 - £72.90
UK median hourly rate £95.50 £52.67 £33.07
% change year-on-year +81.32% +59.29% -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 34,792 22,163 31,446
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 84.62% 91.27% 86.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,183 14,469 20,624
10th Percentile £325 £306 £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 £619 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £510 £514 £525
% change year-on-year -0.88% -2.10% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,136 960 2,252
10th Percentile £15.25 £14.42 £12.93
25th Percentile £20.35 £18.20 £15.99
Median hourly rate £46.11 £28.75 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +60.37% -21.23% -1.75%
75th Percentile £67.84 £62.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £42.50 £28.17 £36.05
% change year-on-year +50.90% -21.86% +0.13%

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 20 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 20 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 20 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 +66 259 £525 -4.55% 70
North of England +19 115 £494 +1.23% 13
South East +1 87 £525 -12.50% 25
Midlands +1 74 £481 -8.38% 12
West Midlands +11 71 £478 -8.95% 9
South West -10 60 £606 +5.43% 10
North West -12 48 £463 -2.63% 1
Yorkshire -15 47 £544 -14.71% 8
North East -4 21 £420 -18.05% 4
East of England -27 6 £525 -34.38% 8
East Midlands - 3 £525 - 3
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 42 (6.75%) Confluence
2 13 (2.09%) SharePoint
3 6 (0.96%) 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 27 (4.34%) Microsoft Office
2 21 (3.38%) Microsoft Project
3 17 (2.73%) Microsoft Excel
4 11 (1.77%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (1.13%) MS Visio
5 7 (1.13%) Sketch
6 5 (0.80%) Adobe XD
7 4 (0.64%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.64%) 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 (0.64%) Dynamics CRM
1 4 (0.64%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (0.48%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
3 2 (0.32%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.16%) Adobe Campaign
4 1 (0.16%) NetSuite
4 1 (0.16%) Oracle Payroll
Cloud Services
1 32 (5.14%) Figma
2 30 (4.82%) Azure
3 25 (4.02%) AWS
4 18 (2.89%) Power Platform
5 17 (2.73%) SaaS
6 10 (1.61%) Microsoft 365
7 7 (1.13%) Miro
8 5 (0.80%) GCP
8 5 (0.80%) IaaS
8 5 (0.80%) PaaS
8 5 (0.80%) Power Automate
9 4 (0.64%) Datadog
9 4 (0.64%) Google Analytics
9 4 (0.64%) Google Tag Manager
9 4 (0.64%) Microsoft Copilot
10 3 (0.48%) Azure AI
10 3 (0.48%) Dynamics 365
10 3 (0.48%) Entra ID
10 3 (0.48%) OCI
10 3 (0.48%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 5 (0.80%) Cisco Nexus
2 4 (0.64%) Firewall
3 3 (0.48%) 3GPP
3 3 (0.48%) BGP
3 3 (0.48%) NX-OS
3 3 (0.48%) OSPF
3 3 (0.48%) VLAN
3 3 (0.48%) VXLAN
4 2 (0.32%) 2G
4 2 (0.32%) 3G
4 2 (0.32%) 4G
4 2 (0.32%) 5G
4 2 (0.32%) Broadband
4 2 (0.32%) Diameter Protocol
4 2 (0.32%) Radio Access Network
4 2 (0.32%) SIGTRAN
4 2 (0.32%) SS7
4 2 (0.32%) TETRA
4 2 (0.32%) VPN
5 1 (0.16%) Cisco ISE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.57%) Power BI
2 4 (0.64%) BigQuery
2 4 (0.64%) Electronic Patient Records
2 4 (0.64%) Looker
2 4 (0.64%) SQL Server
2 4 (0.64%) Tableau
3 2 (0.32%) Oracle Reports
3 2 (0.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 1 (0.16%) EDRMS
4 1 (0.16%) Metadata
4 1 (0.16%) Oracle Exadata
4 1 (0.16%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 52 (8.36%) JIRA
2 7 (1.13%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.64%) 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%) 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
1 195 (31.35%) Social Skills
2 181 (29.10%) Public Sector
3 79 (12.70%) Finance
4 59 (9.49%) Analytical Skills
5 30 (4.82%) Military
6 27 (4.34%) Influencing Skills
7 21 (3.38%) Presentation Skills
8 18 (2.89%) Banking
8 18 (2.89%) Legal
9 16 (2.57%) Telecoms
10 15 (2.41%) Local Government
11 11 (1.77%) Retail
12 10 (1.61%) Documentation Skills
13 9 (1.45%) Organisational Skills
14 7 (1.13%) Law
15 6 (0.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 5 (0.80%) Financial Institution
16 5 (0.80%) Marketing
17 3 (0.48%) Back Office
17 3 (0.48%) Police
Job Titles
1 243 (39.07%) Designer
2 192 (30.87%) Service Designer
3 89 (14.31%) Architect
4 79 (12.70%) Senior
5 65 (10.45%) Lead
6 61 (9.81%) Analyst
6 61 (9.81%) User Researcher
7 47 (7.56%) Service Architect
8 41 (6.59%) Business Analyst
9 40 (6.43%) Senior Designer
10 33 (5.31%) Lead Designer
10 33 (5.31%) Senior Service Designer
11 32 (5.14%) Lead Service Designer
12 23 (3.70%) Service Manager
13 18 (2.89%) Interaction Designer
14 16 (2.57%) Senior User Researcher
15 14 (2.25%) Consultant
15 14 (2.25%) Service Design Manager
16 13 (2.09%) Service Analyst
17 12 (1.93%) Delivery Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (2.41%) REST
2 11 (1.77%) HTML
2 11 (1.77%) SOAP
3 6 (0.96%) CSS
3 6 (0.96%) RESTful
4 5 (0.80%) .NET
4 5 (0.80%) Spring
4 5 (0.80%) Spring Boot
4 5 (0.80%) Web Services
5 4 (0.64%) Microsoft Graph
6 3 (0.48%) AngularJS
6 3 (0.48%) Middleware
6 3 (0.48%) Oracle Fusion
6 3 (0.48%) STL
7 2 (0.32%) Node.js
7 2 (0.32%) OAuth
7 2 (0.32%) Playwright
7 2 (0.32%) React Native
7 2 (0.32%) SAML
7 2 (0.32%) TanStack
Miscellaneous
1 55 (8.84%) Product Ownership
2 38 (6.11%) Onboarding
3 22 (3.54%) NHS
4 16 (2.57%) CMDB
5 15 (2.41%) Legacy Systems
6 10 (1.61%) Data Centre
7 9 (1.45%) AI Agents
8 8 (1.29%) Cloud Native
8 8 (1.29%) Data Protection Act
9 7 (1.13%) Hybrid Cloud
9 7 (1.13%) Management Information System
10 5 (0.80%) Security Posture
11 4 (0.64%) IVR
11 4 (0.64%) Mobile App
11 4 (0.64%) Self-Motivation
11 4 (0.64%) Virtual Team
12 3 (0.48%) Analytical Mindset
12 3 (0.48%) Hackathon
12 3 (0.48%) Operational Technology
12 3 (0.48%) PMI
Operating Systems
1 4 (0.64%) Windows
2 2 (0.32%) Android
2 2 (0.32%) Apple iOS
3 1 (0.16%) Linux
3 1 (0.16%) MVS
3 1 (0.16%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 247 (39.71%) Agile
2 181 (29.10%) User Research
3 139 (22.35%) ITIL
4 118 (18.97%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
5 96 (15.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 96 (15.43%) Stakeholder Management
6 94 (15.11%) User Experience
7 93 (14.95%) Workshop Facilitation
8 91 (14.63%) Journey Map
9 89 (14.31%) Roadmaps
10 88 (14.15%) Continuous Improvement
11 85 (13.67%) Service Management
12 81 (13.02%) Decision-Making
13 61 (9.81%) UX Design
14 57 (9.16%) Prototyping
15 56 (9.00%) Interaction Design
16 55 (8.84%) Collaborative Working
17 54 (8.68%) Service Delivery
18 51 (8.20%) ITSM
18 51 (8.20%) Usability Testing
Programming Languages
1 12 (1.93%) SQL
2 8 (1.29%) Java
2 8 (1.29%) PowerShell
3 7 (1.13%) JavaScript
4 6 (0.96%) Python
5 4 (0.64%) Bash
5 4 (0.64%) C#
5 4 (0.64%) T-SQL
6 3 (0.48%) Kusto Query Language
7 1 (0.16%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 1 (0.16%) DataWeave
7 1 (0.16%) Groovy
7 1 (0.16%) PL/SQL
7 1 (0.16%) R
7 1 (0.16%) Scala
Qualifications
1 207 (33.28%) Security Cleared
2 156 (25.08%) SC Cleared
3 52 (8.36%) DV Cleared
4 47 (7.56%) Degree
5 35 (5.63%) BPSS Clearance
6 22 (3.54%) TOGAF Certification
7 14 (2.25%) ITIL Certification
8 4 (0.64%) CISM
8 4 (0.64%) CISSP
8 4 (0.64%) PMI Certification
9 3 (0.48%) AWS Certification
9 3 (0.48%) CRISC
10 2 (0.32%) APMG
10 2 (0.32%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
10 2 (0.32%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 2 (0.32%) Computer Science Degree
10 2 (0.32%) IIBA
11 1 (0.16%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 1 (0.16%) Azure Certification
11 1 (0.16%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 110 (17.68%) Accessibility
2 21 (3.38%) WCAG
3 13 (2.09%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 13 (2.09%) QA
4 12 (1.93%) SLA
5 11 (1.77%) Actionable Recommendations
5 11 (1.77%) Data Quality
6 9 (1.45%) NCSC
7 8 (1.29%) GDPR
8 7 (1.13%) Government Security Classifications
9 5 (0.80%) PMO
10 4 (0.64%) COBIT
10 4 (0.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
11 3 (0.48%) NIST
12 2 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.32%) GRC
13 1 (0.16%) California Consumer Privacy Act
13 1 (0.16%) FINRA
13 1 (0.16%) ISO 31000
13 1 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 3 (0.48%) Docker
1 3 (0.48%) IAG
2 2 (0.32%) EMC RecoverPoint
2 2 (0.32%) Virtual Machines
2 2 (0.32%) VMware NSX
3 1 (0.16%) Active Directory
3 1 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 18 (2.89%) OPNET
2 7 (1.13%) Ansible
2 7 (1.13%) Kubernetes
3 4 (0.64%) Single Sign-On
4 3 (0.48%) Terraform
4 3 (0.48%) vRealize
5 2 (0.32%) Avamar
5 2 (0.32%) EMC VPLEX
6 1 (0.16%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.16%) SysTrack
6 1 (0.16%) VxRail
Vendors
1 56 (9.00%) ServiceNow
2 35 (5.63%) Microsoft
3 18 (2.89%) Atlassian
3 18 (2.89%) Remedy
4 11 (1.77%) Adobe
5 8 (1.29%) Oracle
5 8 (1.29%) Salesforce
5 8 (1.29%) SAP
6 6 (0.96%) Cisco
6 6 (0.96%) VMware
7 5 (0.80%) Google
8 4 (0.64%) Foundry
8 4 (0.64%) Workday
9 3 (0.48%) F5
9 3 (0.48%) Genesys
9 3 (0.48%) Sparx
9 3 (0.48%) UiPath
9 3 (0.48%) Virgin Media
10 2 (0.32%) NetApp
10 2 (0.32%) Red Hat