Test Manager Contract Job Trends in Manchester

Test Manager
North West > Manchester

The median Test Manager daily rate in Manchester is £450, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 4 November 2025.

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

6 months to
4 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 79 65 99
Rank change year-on-year -14 +34 +29
Contract jobs requiring a Test Manager 9 15 5
As % of all contract jobs in Manchester 0.84% 1.29% 0.31%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.91% 1.38% 0.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 9 10 4
10th Percentile £398 £323 £431
25th Percentile £425 £327 £459
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £470 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.15% -10.57% +20.69%
75th Percentile £575 £506 £575
90th Percentile £580 £639 -
North West median daily rate £450 £489 £500
% change year-on-year -7.98% -2.20% -

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Manchester

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Manchester. 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 Manchester with a recognized job title 989 1,086 1,510
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.91% 93.70% 92.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 640 625 1,111
10th Percentile £300 £314 £276
25th Percentile £387 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £580 £575 £582
90th Percentile £675 £675 £675
North West median daily rate £450 £475 £500
% change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 37 64
10th Percentile £14.85 £15.79 £15.01
25th Percentile £19.02 £22.00 £16.71
Median hourly rate £22.41 £32.50 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year -31.05% +66.67% -2.82%
75th Percentile £31.40 £60.00 £46.88
90th Percentile £60.00 £72.70 £65.88
North West median hourly rate £29.00 £32.50 £34.08
% change year-on-year -10.77% -4.64% +56.47%

Test Manager
Job Vacancy Trend in Manchester

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

Test Manager job vacancy trend in Manchester

Test Manager
Daily Rate Trend in Manchester

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Test Manager job vacancies in Manchester.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Test Manager job vacancies in Manchester

Test Manager
Daily Rate Histogram in Manchester

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Test Manager in Manchester over the 6 months to 4 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Test Manager in Manchester

Test Manager Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester

For the 6 months to 4 November 2025, Test 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 Manchester region featuring Test Manager in the job title.

1 8 (88.89%) Test Strategy
2 7 (77.78%) End-to-End Testing
3 6 (66.67%) Test Scripting
4 5 (55.56%) QA
5 4 (44.44%) Continuous Improvement
5 4 (44.44%) Test Planning
5 4 (44.44%) User Acceptance Testing
6 3 (33.33%) Agile
6 3 (33.33%) Cash Management
6 3 (33.33%) Defect Management
6 3 (33.33%) Defect Tracking
6 3 (33.33%) Risk Management
6 3 (33.33%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 3 (33.33%) System Integration Testing
6 3 (33.33%) Test Automation
7 2 (22.22%) AWS
7 2 (22.22%) Functional Testing
7 2 (22.22%) HP
7 2 (22.22%) HP ALM
7 2 (22.22%) Integration Testing
7 2 (22.22%) ISTQB
7 2 (22.22%) Migration
7 2 (22.22%) Project Delivery
7 2 (22.22%) Regression Testing
7 2 (22.22%) SAP
7 2 (22.22%) SAP S/4HANA
7 2 (22.22%) SuccessFactors
7 2 (22.22%) Test Management
7 2 (22.22%) Traceability Matrix
8 1 (11.11%) Operational Acceptance Testing

Test Manager Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester 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:

Business Applications
1 2 (22.22%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 2 (22.22%) AWS
1 2 (22.22%) SuccessFactors
General
1 5 (55.56%) Finance
2 3 (33.33%) Public Sector
3 1 (11.11%) Law
3 1 (11.11%) Legal
3 1 (11.11%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 3 (33.33%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
2 2 (22.22%) Data Centre
2 2 (22.22%) Legacy Systems
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (88.89%) Test Strategy
2 7 (77.78%) End-to-End Testing
3 6 (66.67%) Test Scripting
4 4 (44.44%) Continuous Improvement
4 4 (44.44%) Test Planning
4 4 (44.44%) User Acceptance Testing
5 3 (33.33%) Agile
5 3 (33.33%) Cash Management
5 3 (33.33%) Defect Management
5 3 (33.33%) Defect Tracking
5 3 (33.33%) Risk Management
5 3 (33.33%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 3 (33.33%) System Integration Testing
5 3 (33.33%) Test Automation
6 2 (22.22%) Integration Testing
6 2 (22.22%) Migration
6 2 (22.22%) Project Delivery
6 2 (22.22%) Regression Testing
6 2 (22.22%) Test Management
6 2 (22.22%) Traceability Matrix
Qualifications
1 2 (22.22%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (55.56%) QA
Systems Management
1 2 (22.22%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 2 (22.22%) HP
1 2 (22.22%) SAP