Continuous Improvement Contract Job Trends in the South East

Continual Improvement
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Continuous Improvement skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 40 45
Rank change year-on-year +15 +5 +31
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 394 145 227
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.97% 4.85% 4.02%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 8.49% 5.29% 4.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 230 96 112
10th Percentile £306 £319 £400
25th Percentile £413 £419 £462
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - +1.94%
75th Percentile £583 £618 £650
90th Percentile £659 £675 £688
England median daily rate £500 £514 £525
% change year-on-year -2.68% -2.14% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 57 9 21
10th Percentile £15.00 £20.78 £18.35
25th Percentile £80.50 £21.00 £24.00
Median hourly rate £88.00 £61.76 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +42.49% +64.69% -6.25%
75th Percentile - £67.50 £55.00
90th Percentile £96.00 £80.10 £70.50
England median hourly rate £48.34 £57.50 £37.50
% change year-on-year -15.94% +53.33% -37.50%

All Process & Methodology Skills
South East

Continuous Improvement 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 the South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 4,642 2,742 4,858
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 82.14% 91.64% 86.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,030 1,768 2,846
10th Percentile £290 £252 £225
25th Percentile £411 £402 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £501 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.40% +0.05% -0.94%
75th Percentile £613 £603 £618
90th Percentile £713 £675 £688
England median daily rate £505 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.81% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 415 158 440
10th Percentile £15.55 £14.20 £13.00
25th Percentile £19.36 £16.95 £18.32
Median hourly rate £45.59 £28.50 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +59.95% -36.67% -5.26%
75th Percentile £81.00 £62.50 £62.48
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £76.86
England median hourly rate £40.00 £32.03 £34.11
% change year-on-year +24.90% -6.10% -9.05%

Continuous Improvement
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Continuous Improvement relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Continuous Improvement job vacancy trend in the South East

Continuous Improvement
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Continuous Improvement.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Continuous Improvement in the South East over the 6 months to 10 April 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Continuous Improvement in the South East

Continuous Improvement
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Continuous Improvement.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Continuous Improvement in the South East over the 6 months to 10 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Continuous Improvement in the South East

Continuous Improvement
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Continuous Improvement within the South East region over the 6 months to 10 April 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
Thames Valley +16 207 £490 -2.00% 98
Berkshire +27 170 £461 -7.80% 51
Hampshire +15 106 £513 -6.82% 67
Buckinghamshire -8 34 £509 -9.56% 21
Surrey +10 33 £525 +5.00% 40
West Sussex -8 16 £506 +30.65% 14
East Sussex +1 10 £622 +13.00% 13
Sussex - 5 - - 6
Oxfordshire -15 3 £525 +110.00% 27
Middlesex - 1 - - 4
Continuous Improvement
England

Continuous Improvement
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 10 (2.54%) Confluence
2 7 (1.78%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.27%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (0.51%) WebLogic
5 1 (0.25%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.25%) Tomcat
Applications
1 19 (4.82%) Microsoft Excel
2 16 (4.06%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (1.78%) MS Visio
4 6 (1.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (1.52%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.76%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 8 (2.03%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
1 8 (2.03%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (0.76%) iTrent
2 3 (0.76%) Remedy ITSM
3 2 (0.51%) SAP SD
3 2 (0.51%) Workday HCM
4 1 (0.25%) assyst
4 1 (0.25%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.25%) Oracle BRM
4 1 (0.25%) Primavera
4 1 (0.25%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.25%) SAP Business One
4 1 (0.25%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.25%) SAP PLM
4 1 (0.25%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 72 (18.27%) Azure
2 54 (13.71%) AWS
3 29 (7.36%) GCP
4 19 (4.82%) Power Platform
5 13 (3.30%) Azure DevOps
5 13 (3.30%) SaaS
6 8 (2.03%) Microsoft 365
7 7 (1.78%) Google Workspace
8 6 (1.52%) Amazon EKS
8 6 (1.52%) GitHub
9 5 (1.27%) PaaS
9 5 (1.27%) Serverless
10 4 (1.02%) Entra ID
10 4 (1.02%) GitHub Actions
10 4 (1.02%) IaaS
10 4 (1.02%) OCI
10 4 (1.02%) OpenShift
11 3 (0.76%) Azure Machine Learning
11 3 (0.76%) dbt
11 3 (0.76%) Vertex AI
Communications & Networking
1 15 (3.81%) Network Security
2 13 (3.30%) Firewall
3 12 (3.05%) VPN
4 6 (1.52%) DNS
5 5 (1.27%) TCP/IP
5 5 (1.27%) VLAN
5 5 (1.27%) WAN
6 4 (1.02%) Broadband
6 4 (1.02%) MPLS
6 4 (1.02%) SD-WAN
7 3 (0.76%) BGP
7 3 (0.76%) IPv4
7 3 (0.76%) IPv6
7 3 (0.76%) LAN
7 3 (0.76%) OSPF
7 3 (0.76%) Wi-Fi
8 2 (0.51%) DHCP
8 2 (0.51%) Intranet
8 2 (0.51%) Intrusion Detection
8 2 (0.51%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (4.06%) Power BI
2 7 (1.78%) Data Warehouse
3 6 (1.52%) Data Lake
3 6 (1.52%) Metadata
4 5 (1.27%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (1.02%) Oracle Database
5 4 (1.02%) SQL Server
6 3 (0.76%) Metadata Repository
6 3 (0.76%) Pinecone
6 3 (0.76%) PostgreSQL
6 3 (0.76%) Redis
6 3 (0.76%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 3 (0.76%) Tableau
6 3 (0.76%) Weaviate
7 2 (0.51%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.51%) Oracle Database 11g
7 2 (0.51%) Oracle Database 12c
7 2 (0.51%) Oracle ODI
7 2 (0.51%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 2 (0.51%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 27 (6.85%) Rational DOORS
2 18 (4.57%) JIRA
3 8 (2.03%) GitLab
4 6 (1.52%) Jenkins
5 5 (1.27%) Git
6 4 (1.02%) Selenium
7 2 (0.51%) Cypress.io
7 2 (0.51%) Hudson
7 2 (0.51%) Oracle APEX
7 2 (0.51%) Oracle Forms
7 2 (0.51%) SpecFlow
7 2 (0.51%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.25%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 1 (0.25%) Balsamiq
8 1 (0.25%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.25%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.25%) JMeter
8 1 (0.25%) LoadRunner
8 1 (0.25%) Subversion
8 1 (0.25%) WebDriver
General
1 179 (45.43%) Social Skills
2 92 (23.35%) Analytical Skills
3 85 (21.57%) Finance
4 49 (12.44%) Public Sector
5 44 (11.17%) Aerospace
6 18 (4.57%) Influencing Skills
7 17 (4.31%) Legal
8 16 (4.06%) Organisational Skills
9 14 (3.55%) Law
10 13 (3.30%) Telecoms
11 9 (2.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 9 (2.28%) Retail
12 6 (1.52%) Documentation Skills
12 6 (1.52%) Manufacturing
12 6 (1.52%) Marketing
13 4 (1.02%) Billing
13 4 (1.02%) Military
13 4 (1.02%) Presentation Skills
14 3 (0.76%) Automotive
15 2 (0.51%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 46 (11.68%) Lead
2 45 (11.42%) Delivery Manager
3 38 (9.64%) Analyst
3 38 (9.64%) Senior
4 35 (8.88%) Product Manager
5 29 (7.36%) Product Delivery Manager
6 22 (5.58%) Systems Delivery Manager
6 22 (5.58%) Systems Manager
7 21 (5.33%) IT Manager
8 17 (4.31%) Service Manager
9 15 (3.81%) Consultant
10 12 (3.05%) Architect
11 11 (2.79%) Project Manager
12 10 (2.54%) Accountant
12 10 (2.54%) Senior Analyst
12 10 (2.54%) Service Delivery Manager
12 10 (2.54%) Support Officer
12 10 (2.54%) Systems Accountant
13 9 (2.28%) Designer
13 9 (2.28%) Transformation Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (1.52%) .NET
2 4 (1.02%) Node.js
2 4 (1.02%) Oracle Fusion
2 4 (1.02%) RESTful
3 3 (0.76%) Faiss
3 3 (0.76%) Kafka
3 3 (0.76%) Keycloak
3 3 (0.76%) Playwright
3 3 (0.76%) REST
3 3 (0.76%) SOAP
3 3 (0.76%) Spring
3 3 (0.76%) Spring Boot
3 3 (0.76%) YAML
4 2 (0.51%) ADO
4 2 (0.51%) Elastic Stack
4 2 (0.51%) JSON
4 2 (0.51%) OAuth
4 2 (0.51%) OAuth2
4 2 (0.51%) Unity (Game Engine)
4 2 (0.51%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 48 (12.18%) Product Ownership
2 24 (6.09%) Data Structures
3 18 (4.57%) Management Information System
4 17 (4.31%) Data Centre
5 16 (4.06%) Onboarding
6 15 (3.81%) Legacy Systems
7 13 (3.30%) Analytical Mindset
8 11 (2.79%) Cloud Native
8 11 (2.79%) Security Posture
9 9 (2.28%) Data Protection Act
9 9 (2.28%) Enterprise Software
9 9 (2.28%) PKI
9 9 (2.28%) PMI
9 9 (2.28%) Security Operations Centre
10 7 (1.78%) Virtual Team
11 6 (1.52%) CMDB
11 6 (1.52%) Taxonomies
12 5 (1.27%) e-Learning
12 5 (1.27%) Hybrid Cloud
12 5 (1.27%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 18 (4.57%) Linux
1 18 (4.57%) Windows
2 3 (0.76%) Windows Server
3 2 (0.51%) Apple iOS
3 2 (0.51%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 2 (0.51%) Unix
4 1 (0.25%) Android
4 1 (0.25%) Solaris
4 1 (0.25%) VMS
4 1 (0.25%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 105 (26.65%) Agile
2 96 (24.37%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 84 (21.32%) ITIL
4 81 (20.56%) Stakeholder Management
5 78 (19.80%) Problem-Solving
6 67 (17.01%) Service Management
7 63 (15.99%) Change Management
8 61 (15.48%) ITSM
9 51 (12.94%) Roadmaps
10 43 (10.91%) PRINCE2
11 42 (10.66%) Computer Science
12 39 (9.90%) Service Delivery
13 37 (9.39%) Configuration Management
13 37 (9.39%) DevOps
14 36 (9.14%) Scaled Agile Framework
15 35 (8.88%) Analytics
15 35 (8.88%) Performance Metrics
15 35 (8.88%) Risk Management
16 34 (8.63%) Cybersecurity
16 34 (8.63%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 25 (6.35%) Python
2 17 (4.31%) SQL
3 15 (3.81%) PowerShell
4 13 (3.30%) Java
5 7 (1.78%) Bash
6 6 (1.52%) C#
6 6 (1.52%) PL/SQL
7 4 (1.02%) Bicep
8 3 (0.76%) JavaScript
9 2 (0.51%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 2 (0.51%) T-SQL
9 2 (0.51%) TypeScript
10 1 (0.25%) ABAP
10 1 (0.25%) C
10 1 (0.25%) Objective-C
10 1 (0.25%) Perl
10 1 (0.25%) Scala
10 1 (0.25%) Swift
10 1 (0.25%) VB
Qualifications
1 185 (46.95%) Security Cleared
2 100 (25.38%) SC Cleared
3 74 (18.78%) Degree
4 39 (9.90%) DV Cleared
5 18 (4.57%) PMI Certification
6 15 (3.81%) ACCA
6 15 (3.81%) CIMA
7 12 (3.05%) CISSP
8 10 (2.54%) Cisco Certification
8 10 (2.54%) PMP
9 8 (2.03%) CCNP
9 8 (2.03%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (1.78%) ISTQB
11 6 (1.52%) Azure Certification
12 5 (1.27%) CCNA
12 5 (1.27%) CISM
13 4 (1.02%) Microsoft Certification
14 3 (0.76%) CCIE
14 3 (0.76%) JNCIS
14 3 (0.76%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (5.84%) Data Quality
2 22 (5.58%) QA
3 18 (4.57%) NIST
4 17 (4.31%) PMO
5 16 (4.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 12 (3.05%) GDPR
6 12 (3.05%) SLA
7 8 (2.03%) Cyber Essentials
8 7 (1.78%) NCSC
9 6 (1.52%) Accessibility
9 6 (1.52%) GRC
10 3 (0.76%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.76%) Def Stans
10 3 (0.76%) ISO 22301
10 3 (0.76%) ISO 31000
10 3 (0.76%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.25%) COBIT
11 1 (0.25%) HIPAA
11 1 (0.25%) IFRS
11 1 (0.25%) JSP 440
System Software
1 13 (3.30%) VMware Infrastructure
2 10 (2.54%) Active Directory
2 10 (2.54%) Docker
3 6 (1.52%) VMware NSX
4 2 (0.51%) Firmware
4 2 (0.51%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (0.51%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.51%) vSphere
5 1 (0.25%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 12 (3.05%) Ansible
1 12 (3.05%) Kubernetes
2 9 (2.28%) Terraform
3 6 (1.52%) Grafana
3 6 (1.52%) Single Sign-On
4 5 (1.27%) Prometheus
4 5 (1.27%) SCCM
5 4 (1.02%) Nagios
5 4 (1.02%) Nessus
6 3 (0.76%) Argo
6 3 (0.76%) OpenVAS
6 3 (0.76%) Rancher
7 2 (0.51%) Cisco Prime
7 2 (0.51%) Iperf
7 2 (0.51%) Nmap
7 2 (0.51%) Podman
7 2 (0.51%) Proxmox
8 1 (0.25%) Progress Chef
8 1 (0.25%) Puppet
8 1 (0.25%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 37 (9.39%) Microsoft
2 33 (8.38%) ServiceNow
3 27 (6.85%) Oracle
4 25 (6.35%) Google
4 25 (6.35%) IBM
5 24 (6.09%) SAP
6 22 (5.58%) VMware
7 10 (2.54%) Cisco
8 8 (2.03%) SolarWinds
9 7 (1.78%) Juniper
9 7 (1.78%) Palo Alto
9 7 (1.78%) Splunk
9 7 (1.78%) Workday
10 6 (1.52%) Fortinet
10 6 (1.52%) Zscaler
11 5 (1.27%) BMC
11 5 (1.27%) Remedy
11 5 (1.27%) Salesforce
12 4 (1.02%) CheckPoint
12 4 (1.02%) Red Hat