Category Manager Contract Job Trends in London

Category Manager
England > London

The median Category Manager daily rate in London is £595, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 2 December 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 359 375 414
Rank change year-on-year +16 +39 +157
Contract jobs requiring a Category Manager 10 4 4
As % of all contract jobs in London 0.071% 0.026% 0.020%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.077% 0.027% 0.022%
Number of daily rates quoted 5 4 1
10th Percentile - £455 -
25th Percentile £500 £540 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £595 £650 £413
Median % change year-on-year -8.46% +57.58% -13.16%
75th Percentile £625 £728 £419
90th Percentile £663 £801 -
England median daily rate £525 £625 £550
% change year-on-year -16.00% +13.64% +19.57%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
London

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in London. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in London with a recognized job title 13,052 14,572 18,284
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.28% 93.66% 93.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,666 9,460 13,218
10th Percentile £338 £338 £335
25th Percentile £425 £450 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £530 £550 £563
Median % change year-on-year -3.64% -2.22% -2.77%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £688
90th Percentile £763 £800 £788
England median daily rate £504 £525 £534
% change year-on-year -4.00% -1.69% -2.91%
Number of hourly rates quoted 229 154 212
10th Percentile £17.50 £17.25 £18.18
25th Percentile £21.00 £23.80 £21.75
Median hourly rate £27.50 £36.65 £36.31
Median % change year-on-year -24.97% +0.95% +3.73%
75th Percentile £53.75 £54.69 £60.00
90th Percentile £75.32 £80.75 £73.54
England median hourly rate £25.47 £37.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year -32.08% -16.67% +38.46%

Category Manager
Job Vacancy Trend in London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Category Manager' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in London.

Category Manager job vacancy trend in London

Category Manager
Daily Rate Trend in London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Category Manager job vacancies in London.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Category Manager job vacancies in London

Category Manager
Daily Rate Histogram in London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Category Manager in London over the 6 months to 2 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Category Manager in London

Category Manager
Hourly Rate Trend in London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Category Manager job vacancies in London.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Category Manager job vacancies in London

Category Manager
Contract Job Locations in London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Category Manager within the London region over the 6 months to 2 December 2025. 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
Central London - 6 £588 - 1
Category Manager
England

Category Manager Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in London

For the 6 months to 2 December 2025, Category Manager contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the London region featuring Category Manager in the job title.

1 7 (70.00%) Stakeholder Management
2 5 (50.00%) Ariba
3 4 (40.00%) Cost Optimisation
3 4 (40.00%) Cybersecurity
3 4 (40.00%) FinOps
3 4 (40.00%) Information Security
3 4 (40.00%) SaaS
4 3 (30.00%) Contract Negotiation
5 2 (20.00%) Decision-Making
5 2 (20.00%) IT Strategy
5 2 (20.00%) Microsoft
5 2 (20.00%) Microsoft Excel
5 2 (20.00%) Microsoft Office
5 2 (20.00%) Spend Analysis
5 2 (20.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 2 (20.00%) Supplier Management
6 1 (10.00%) Analytics
6 1 (10.00%) AWS
6 1 (10.00%) Azure
6 1 (10.00%) Collaborative Working
6 1 (10.00%) Continuous Improvement
6 1 (10.00%) Data Analysis
6 1 (10.00%) Data Protection
6 1 (10.00%) Degree
6 1 (10.00%) E-Procurement
6 1 (10.00%) ERP
6 1 (10.00%) GCP
6 1 (10.00%) Market Research
6 1 (10.00%) Master's Degree
6 1 (10.00%) Matrix Organization

Category Manager Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in 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:

Applications
1 2 (20.00%) Microsoft Excel
1 2 (20.00%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (10.00%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Cloud Services
1 4 (40.00%) SaaS
2 1 (10.00%) AWS
2 1 (10.00%) Azure
2 1 (10.00%) GCP
General
1 8 (80.00%) Finance
2 3 (30.00%) Legal
3 2 (20.00%) Analytical Skills
3 2 (20.00%) Banking
3 2 (20.00%) Telecoms
4 1 (10.00%) Inclusion and Diversity
4 1 (10.00%) Influencing Skills
4 1 (10.00%) Investment Banking
4 1 (10.00%) Organisational Skills
4 1 (10.00%) Presentation Skills
4 1 (10.00%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 1 (10.00%) Data Protection Act
Processes & Methodologies
1 7 (70.00%) Stakeholder Management
2 4 (40.00%) Cost Optimisation
2 4 (40.00%) Cybersecurity
2 4 (40.00%) FinOps
2 4 (40.00%) Information Security
3 3 (30.00%) Contract Negotiation
4 2 (20.00%) Decision-Making
4 2 (20.00%) IT Strategy
4 2 (20.00%) Spend Analysis
4 2 (20.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 2 (20.00%) Supplier Management
5 1 (10.00%) Analytics
5 1 (10.00%) Continuous Improvement
5 1 (10.00%) Data Analysis
5 1 (10.00%) Data Protection
5 1 (10.00%) E-Procurement
5 1 (10.00%) ERP
5 1 (10.00%) Market Research
5 1 (10.00%) Risk Management
5 1 (10.00%) Supply Chain Management
Qualifications
1 1 (10.00%) Degree
1 1 (10.00%) Master's Degree
1 1 (10.00%) MBA
Vendors
1 5 (50.00%) Ariba
2 2 (20.00%) Microsoft
3 1 (10.00%) Oracle
3 1 (10.00%) SAP