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

6 months to
6 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 175 276 224
Rank change year-on-year +101 -52 -40
Contract jobs citing Service Design 626 214 394
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.54% 0.88% 1.07%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.82% 0.96% 1.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 472 156 266
10th Percentile £363 £398 £400
25th Percentile £420 £463 £459
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £541 £548
Median % change year-on-year -3.84% -1.23% -2.67%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £625
90th Percentile £738 £707 £719
UK median daily rate £513 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -2.38% - -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 34,459 22,249 31,937
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 84.78% 91.20% 86.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,987 14,574 20,950
10th Percentile £319 £310 £300
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.86% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £614 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £520 £525
% change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,148 932 2,245
10th Percentile £15.36 £14.67 £12.92
25th Percentile £20.35 £18.50 £16.00
Median hourly rate £45.46 £30.00 £36.05
Median % change year-on-year +51.53% -16.77% -0.96%
75th Percentile £67.50 £63.75 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £41.56 £29.00 £35.95
% change year-on-year +43.29% -19.33% +0.42%

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 6 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 6 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 6 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 +66 248 £523 -3.43% 67
North of England +28 121 £480 -1.54% 21
South East +17 95 £525 +5.00% 32
South West +7 72 £725 +28.89% 13
Midlands -11 66 £484 -12.09% 11
West Midlands -1 63 £475 -13.64% 8
North West -10 51 £463 -2.63% 6
Yorkshire -17 45 £538 -15.69% 9
North East +4 25 £423 -17.56% 6
East of England -34 4 £400 -50.00% 13
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 55 (8.79%) Confluence
2 11 (1.76%) 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 40 (6.39%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (5.11%) Microsoft Project
3 13 (2.08%) Microsoft Excel
4 9 (1.44%) Sketch
5 7 (1.12%) Adobe XD
5 7 (1.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 6 (0.96%) InVision
6 6 (0.96%) MS Visio
7 4 (0.64%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.64%) Trello
8 3 (0.48%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 3 (0.48%) Spreadsheet
8 3 (0.48%) Zeplin
9 2 (0.32%) Adobe After Effects
Business Applications
1 4 (0.64%) Dynamics CRM
1 4 (0.64%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.32%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.16%) Adobe Campaign
3 1 (0.16%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.16%) Oracle Payroll
3 1 (0.16%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 36 (5.75%) Figma
2 35 (5.59%) Azure
3 32 (5.11%) AWS
4 21 (3.35%) Power Platform
5 16 (2.56%) SaaS
6 8 (1.28%) Microsoft 365
6 8 (1.28%) Miro
7 6 (0.96%) GCP
8 5 (0.80%) Google Analytics
8 5 (0.80%) Google Tag Manager
8 5 (0.80%) IaaS
8 5 (0.80%) Microsoft Copilot
8 5 (0.80%) PaaS
8 5 (0.80%) Power Automate
9 4 (0.64%) OpenShift
9 4 (0.64%) Serverless
10 3 (0.48%) Amazon ECS
10 3 (0.48%) Amazon S3
10 3 (0.48%) AWS CloudFormation
10 3 (0.48%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 4 (0.64%) Cisco Nexus
1 4 (0.64%) Firewall
1 4 (0.64%) 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%) Cisco ISE
4 1 (0.16%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (3.04%) Power BI
2 5 (0.80%) BigQuery
2 5 (0.80%) Looker
3 4 (0.64%) Electronic Patient Records
3 4 (0.64%) SQL Server
3 4 (0.64%) 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 65 (10.38%) JIRA
2 8 (1.28%) Jenkins
3 5 (0.80%) Axure RP
3 5 (0.80%) GitLab
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
1 205 (32.75%) Social Skills
2 188 (30.03%) Public Sector
3 75 (11.98%) Analytical Skills
4 73 (11.66%) Finance
5 41 (6.55%) Military
6 25 (3.99%) Influencing Skills
7 22 (3.51%) Presentation Skills
8 20 (3.19%) Legal
9 15 (2.40%) Banking
9 15 (2.40%) Local Government
10 12 (1.92%) Retail
10 12 (1.92%) Telecoms
11 10 (1.60%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (1.12%) Documentation Skills
12 7 (1.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 7 (1.12%) Law
13 5 (0.80%) Financial Institution
13 5 (0.80%) Marketing
14 3 (0.48%) Back Office
15 2 (0.32%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 242 (38.66%) Designer
2 192 (30.67%) Service Designer
3 96 (15.34%) Architect
4 78 (12.46%) Senior
5 68 (10.86%) Analyst
6 65 (10.38%) Lead
7 60 (9.58%) User Researcher
8 57 (9.11%) Service Architect
9 45 (7.19%) Business Analyst
10 39 (6.23%) Senior Designer
11 33 (5.27%) Senior Service Designer
12 32 (5.11%) Lead Designer
13 31 (4.95%) Lead Service Designer
14 17 (2.72%) Interaction Designer
14 17 (2.72%) Service Manager
15 15 (2.40%) Senior Analyst
16 13 (2.08%) Consultant
16 13 (2.08%) Service Analyst
16 13 (2.08%) UX Designer
17 12 (1.92%) Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (2.40%) REST
2 12 (1.92%) HTML
3 10 (1.60%) SOAP
4 7 (1.12%) CSS
4 7 (1.12%) RESTful
5 5 (0.80%) .NET
5 5 (0.80%) Spring
5 5 (0.80%) Spring Boot
5 5 (0.80%) Web Services
6 4 (0.64%) Microsoft Graph
7 3 (0.48%) Django
7 3 (0.48%) FastAPI
7 3 (0.48%) Flask
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
7 3 (0.48%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 68 (10.86%) Product Ownership
2 34 (5.43%) Onboarding
3 20 (3.19%) NHS
4 15 (2.40%) Legacy Systems
5 14 (2.24%) Cloud Native
6 13 (2.08%) CMDB
7 11 (1.76%) Data Centre
8 9 (1.44%) Hybrid Cloud
9 8 (1.28%) AI Agents
10 7 (1.12%) Data Protection Act
10 7 (1.12%) Management Information System
11 5 (0.80%) Security Posture
12 4 (0.64%) Analytical Mindset
12 4 (0.64%) IVR
12 4 (0.64%) Mobile App
12 4 (0.64%) PMI
12 4 (0.64%) Self-Motivation
12 4 (0.64%) Virtual Team
13 3 (0.48%) Hackathon
13 3 (0.48%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 4 (0.64%) Windows
2 1 (0.16%) Linux
2 1 (0.16%) MVS
2 1 (0.16%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 276 (44.09%) Agile
2 189 (30.19%) User Research
3 140 (22.36%) ITIL
4 125 (19.97%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
5 101 (16.13%) User Experience
6 95 (15.18%) Journey Map
6 95 (15.18%) Service Management
6 95 (15.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 93 (14.86%) Workshop Facilitation
8 92 (14.70%) Roadmaps
9 91 (14.54%) Stakeholder Management
10 90 (14.38%) Continuous Improvement
11 78 (12.46%) Decision-Making
12 69 (11.02%) UX Design
13 62 (9.90%) Acceptance Criteria
14 58 (9.27%) Interaction Design
14 58 (9.27%) Problem-Solving
14 58 (9.27%) Service Delivery
15 56 (8.95%) Prototyping
15 56 (8.95%) Usability Testing
Programming Languages
1 13 (2.08%) SQL
2 9 (1.44%) JavaScript
3 8 (1.28%) Java
3 8 (1.28%) PowerShell
3 8 (1.28%) Python
4 4 (0.64%) Bash
4 4 (0.64%) C#
4 4 (0.64%) 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
1 216 (34.50%) Security Cleared
2 168 (26.84%) SC Cleared
3 63 (10.06%) Degree
4 49 (7.83%) DV Cleared
5 39 (6.23%) TOGAF Certification
6 31 (4.95%) BPSS Clearance
7 14 (2.24%) ITIL Certification
8 9 (1.44%) AWS Certification
9 7 (1.12%) Azure Certification
10 5 (0.80%) PMI Certification
11 4 (0.64%) CISM
11 4 (0.64%) CISSP
12 3 (0.48%) CRISC
13 2 (0.32%) APMG
13 2 (0.32%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
13 2 (0.32%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 2 (0.32%) Computer Science Degree
13 2 (0.32%) IIBA
14 1 (0.16%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 1 (0.16%) CESG Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 119 (19.01%) Accessibility
2 25 (3.99%) WCAG
3 14 (2.24%) Actionable Recommendations
3 14 (2.24%) QA
4 13 (2.08%) ISO/IEC 20000
5 12 (1.92%) SLA
6 11 (1.76%) Data Quality
7 10 (1.60%) NCSC
8 9 (1.44%) GDPR
9 7 (1.12%) Government Security Classifications
10 4 (0.64%) COBIT
10 4 (0.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 4 (0.64%) PMO
11 3 (0.48%) NIST
12 2 (0.32%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 2 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.32%) GRC
13 1 (0.16%) ISO 31000
13 1 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 1 (0.16%) MiFID
System Software
1 6 (0.96%) Docker
2 4 (0.64%) 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 30 (4.79%) OPNET
2 10 (1.60%) Kubernetes
3 8 (1.28%) Ansible
4 6 (0.96%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (0.96%) Terraform
5 3 (0.48%) vRealize
6 2 (0.32%) Avamar
6 2 (0.32%) EMC VPLEX
7 1 (0.16%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.16%) SysTrack
7 1 (0.16%) VxRail
Vendors
1 64 (10.22%) ServiceNow
2 38 (6.07%) Microsoft
3 30 (4.79%) Atlassian
3 30 (4.79%) Remedy
4 13 (2.08%) VMware
5 12 (1.92%) Adobe
6 10 (1.60%) Cisco
7 8 (1.28%) Oracle
7 8 (1.28%) SAP
8 6 (0.96%) Google
8 6 (0.96%) Salesforce
9 4 (0.64%) Foundry
9 4 (0.64%) Palo Alto
9 4 (0.64%) Workday
9 4 (0.64%) Zscaler
10 3 (0.48%) Genesys
10 3 (0.48%) UiPath
10 3 (0.48%) Virgin Media
11 2 (0.32%) IBM
11 2 (0.32%) Red Hat