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

6 months to
30 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 38 39
Rank change year-on-year +19 +1 +27
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 437 143 246
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 7.28% 4.88% 4.38%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.03% 5.34% 5.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 249 86 131
10th Percentile £325 £311 £363
25th Percentile £425 £412 £456
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +3.50% -2.44% -6.82%
75th Percentile £600 £584 £650
90th Percentile £700 £625 £688
England median daily rate £500 £510 £525
% change year-on-year -1.94% -2.88% -6.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 57 9 17
10th Percentile £40.35 - £18.35
25th Percentile £80.50 £15.13 £24.00
Median hourly rate £87.96 £59.00 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +49.08% +57.33% -16.67%
75th Percentile £88.00 £67.50 £43.75
90th Percentile £91.80 £80.10 £57.60
England median hourly rate £55.00 £49.23 £36.50
% change year-on-year +11.72% +34.88% -28.78%

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 4,840 2,680 4,684
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.60% 91.37% 83.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,112 1,719 2,712
10th Percentile £280 £250 £260
25th Percentile £410 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £500 £511
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -2.15% +2.10%
75th Percentile £609 £600 £625
90th Percentile £700 £656 £700
England median daily rate £514 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -2.10% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 451 176 448
10th Percentile £15.05 £13.25 £13.00
25th Percentile £21.35 £15.00 £18.20
Median hourly rate £52.50 £27.88 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +88.31% -41.31% -8.83%
75th Percentile £82.25 £62.24 £62.50
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £76.90
England median hourly rate £47.00 £28.55 £37.18
% change year-on-year +64.62% -23.21% -0.85%

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 30 May 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 30 May 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 30 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
Thames Valley +13 210 £518 +3.65% 134
Berkshire +22 161 £510 +1.90% 65
Hampshire +20 131 £550 +2.33% 76
Surrey +9 42 £450 - 40
Buckinghamshire -13 41 £525 -4.55% 39
West Sussex -13 19 £531 +37.10% 18
East Sussex 0 8 £622 +13.00% 8
Oxfordshire -18 8 £725 +190.00% 34
Middlesex - 4 - - 9
Kent -7 2 £463 -18.50% 25
Sussex - 2 £600 - 1
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 13 (2.97%) Confluence
2 10 (2.29%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.46%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.23%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 1 (0.23%) SharePoint 2010
4 1 (0.23%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 28 (6.41%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (1.83%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 6 (1.37%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (0.92%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.23%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 14 (3.20%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (1.83%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 3 (0.69%) iTrent
3 3 (0.69%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.46%) Maximo
4 2 (0.46%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.46%) SAP SD
4 2 (0.46%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.23%) Primavera
5 1 (0.23%) SAP BPC
5 1 (0.23%) SAP BRIM
5 1 (0.23%) SAP Business One
5 1 (0.23%) SAP Convergent Charging
5 1 (0.23%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.23%) SAP PLM
Cloud Services
1 61 (13.96%) Azure
2 40 (9.15%) AWS
3 23 (5.26%) Power Platform
4 13 (2.97%) GCP
5 12 (2.75%) Azure DevOps
6 9 (2.06%) Entra ID
7 8 (1.83%) Serverless
8 7 (1.60%) SaaS
9 6 (1.37%) GitHub
9 6 (1.37%) GitHub Actions
9 6 (1.37%) OpenShift
10 5 (1.14%) Microsoft 365
11 4 (0.92%) Amazon EKS
11 4 (0.92%) Amazon S3
11 4 (0.92%) AWS Lambda
11 4 (0.92%) Azure Logic Apps
11 4 (0.92%) dbt
11 4 (0.92%) Microsoft Purview
12 3 (0.69%) Amazon ECS
12 3 (0.69%) AWS CodePipeline
Communications & Networking
1 12 (2.75%) Firewall
2 11 (2.52%) LAN
2 11 (2.52%) Network Security
3 9 (2.06%) VPN
4 6 (1.37%) VLAN
5 5 (1.14%) DNS
5 5 (1.14%) TCP/IP
6 4 (0.92%) WAN
6 4 (0.92%) Wi-Fi
7 3 (0.69%) BGP
7 3 (0.69%) DHCP
7 3 (0.69%) IPv4
7 3 (0.69%) IPv6
7 3 (0.69%) OSPF
7 3 (0.69%) SD-WAN
7 3 (0.69%) Wireless
8 2 (0.46%) Cisco ASA
8 2 (0.46%) MPLS
8 2 (0.46%) Multicast
8 2 (0.46%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (5.03%) Power BI
2 9 (2.06%) Metadata
3 6 (1.37%) Data Warehouse
3 6 (1.37%) Tableau
4 4 (0.92%) Data Lake
4 4 (0.92%) Oracle Reports
4 4 (0.92%) SQL Server
5 3 (0.69%) DynamoDB
5 3 (0.69%) Geospatial Data
5 3 (0.69%) GIS
5 3 (0.69%) Metadata Repository
5 3 (0.69%) PostgreSQL
5 3 (0.69%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 2 (0.46%) Azure SQL Database
6 2 (0.46%) NoSQL
6 2 (0.46%) Redis
6 2 (0.46%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 2 (0.46%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 1 (0.23%) SAP HANA
7 1 (0.23%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 27 (6.18%) Rational DOORS
2 18 (4.12%) JIRA
3 8 (1.83%) GitLab
4 7 (1.60%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.92%) Git
6 3 (0.69%) Hudson
6 3 (0.69%) Selenium
6 3 (0.69%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.46%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.46%) SpecFlow
7 2 (0.46%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.23%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 1 (0.23%) Balsamiq
8 1 (0.23%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.23%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.23%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.23%) ERwin
8 1 (0.23%) Postman
8 1 (0.23%) WebDriver
General
1 190 (43.48%) Social Skills
2 99 (22.65%) Finance
3 97 (22.20%) Analytical Skills
4 50 (11.44%) Aerospace
5 49 (11.21%) Public Sector
6 17 (3.89%) Legal
6 17 (3.89%) Organisational Skills
7 15 (3.43%) Retail
8 14 (3.20%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 14 (3.20%) Telecoms
9 13 (2.97%) Influencing Skills
9 13 (2.97%) Law
10 11 (2.52%) French Language
10 11 (2.52%) Spanish Language
11 6 (1.37%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.14%) Aviation
12 5 (1.14%) Marketing
13 4 (0.92%) Billing
13 4 (0.92%) Military
14 3 (0.69%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 62 (14.19%) Analyst
2 45 (10.30%) Lead
3 43 (9.84%) Senior
4 42 (9.61%) Delivery Manager
5 35 (8.01%) Product Manager
6 34 (7.78%) Architect
7 29 (6.64%) Product Delivery Manager
8 23 (5.26%) IT Manager
9 22 (5.03%) Systems Delivery Manager
9 22 (5.03%) Systems Manager
10 14 (3.20%) Service Manager
11 13 (2.97%) Project Manager
12 12 (2.75%) Data Analyst
12 12 (2.75%) Senior Analyst
12 12 (2.75%) Solutions Architect
13 11 (2.52%) 2nd Line Support
13 11 (2.52%) 2nd Line Technical Support
13 11 (2.52%) Consultant
13 11 (2.52%) Financial Analyst
13 11 (2.52%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (2.29%) OAuth
2 7 (1.60%) RESTful
2 7 (1.60%) SAML
2 7 (1.60%) SOAP
3 6 (1.37%) .NET
3 6 (1.37%) LDAP
3 6 (1.37%) OAuth2
3 6 (1.37%) OpenID
4 5 (1.14%) GraphQL
4 5 (1.14%) REST
5 4 (0.92%) EDI
5 4 (0.92%) JSON
6 3 (0.69%) ARM Templates
6 3 (0.69%) Elastic Stack
6 3 (0.69%) JWT
6 3 (0.69%) Kafka
6 3 (0.69%) Middleware
6 3 (0.69%) Oracle Fusion
6 3 (0.69%) Playwright
6 3 (0.69%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 59 (13.50%) Product Ownership
2 26 (5.95%) Data Structures
3 21 (4.81%) Onboarding
4 18 (4.12%) Data Centre
4 18 (4.12%) Management Information System
5 15 (3.43%) Legacy Systems
6 12 (2.75%) Analytical Mindset
6 12 (2.75%) Cloud Native
6 12 (2.75%) Operational Technology
6 12 (2.75%) Security Posture
7 11 (2.52%) PMI
8 8 (1.83%) Data Protection Act
9 6 (1.37%) CMDB
9 6 (1.37%) Taxonomies
10 5 (1.14%) Distributed Systems
10 5 (1.14%) PKI
10 5 (1.14%) Virtual Team
11 4 (0.92%) Enterprise Software
11 4 (0.92%) Security Operations Centre
11 4 (0.92%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 19 (4.35%) Windows
2 5 (1.14%) Linux
3 2 (0.46%) Apple iOS
3 2 (0.46%) Windows Server
4 1 (0.23%) Android
4 1 (0.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.23%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 137 (31.35%) Agile
2 103 (23.57%) Stakeholder Management
3 97 (22.20%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 78 (17.85%) Problem-Solving
5 70 (16.02%) ITIL
6 59 (13.50%) Roadmaps
7 53 (12.13%) Decision-Making
8 52 (11.90%) Service Management
9 44 (10.07%) Cybersecurity
9 44 (10.07%) ITSM
10 42 (9.61%) Scaled Agile Framework
11 41 (9.38%) Change Management
11 41 (9.38%) Risk Management
12 40 (9.15%) CI/CD
12 40 (9.15%) Computer Science
12 40 (9.15%) Configuration Management
12 40 (9.15%) DevOps
12 40 (9.15%) PRINCE2
13 37 (8.47%) Project Delivery
13 37 (8.47%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 28 (6.41%) SQL
2 17 (3.89%) Python
3 15 (3.43%) Java
4 10 (2.29%) PowerShell
5 6 (1.37%) C#
6 4 (0.92%) Bash
6 4 (0.92%) Bicep
7 3 (0.69%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.46%) Apex Code
8 2 (0.46%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 2 (0.46%) PL/SQL
8 2 (0.46%) T-SQL
8 2 (0.46%) TypeScript
9 1 (0.23%) ABAP
9 1 (0.23%) C
9 1 (0.23%) Objective-C
9 1 (0.23%) Rust
9 1 (0.23%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.23%) Swift
9 1 (0.23%) VB
Qualifications
1 209 (47.83%) Security Cleared
2 108 (24.71%) SC Cleared
3 79 (18.08%) Degree
4 53 (12.13%) DV Cleared
5 22 (5.03%) ACCA
5 22 (5.03%) CIMA
6 21 (4.81%) PMI Certification
7 11 (2.52%) PMP
8 10 (2.29%) Cisco Certification
9 9 (2.06%) Azure Certification
9 9 (2.06%) CCNP
10 7 (1.60%) CISSP
11 6 (1.37%) Computer Science Degree
12 5 (1.14%) CCNA
13 4 (0.92%) AWS Certification
13 4 (0.92%) CISM
14 3 (0.69%) CESG Certified Professional
14 3 (0.69%) ISTQB
14 3 (0.69%) JNCIS
15 2 (0.46%) BC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (7.09%) Data Quality
2 25 (5.72%) QA
3 20 (4.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 18 (4.12%) NIST
5 16 (3.66%) PMO
6 13 (2.97%) GDPR
7 12 (2.75%) NCSC
7 12 (2.75%) SLA
8 7 (1.60%) Cyber Essentials
9 6 (1.37%) Accessibility
10 4 (0.92%) GRC
11 3 (0.69%) Def Stans
11 3 (0.69%) ISO 22301
11 3 (0.69%) ISO 31000
11 3 (0.69%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.46%) Actionable Recommendations
13 1 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.23%) IFRS
13 1 (0.23%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.23%) SOC 2
System Software
1 15 (3.43%) Active Directory
2 13 (2.97%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (2.29%) Docker
4 5 (1.14%) Virtual Machines
5 4 (0.92%) VMware NSX
6 2 (0.46%) Firmware
6 2 (0.46%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.23%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.23%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 16 (3.66%) Kubernetes
2 14 (3.20%) Terraform
3 10 (2.29%) Ansible
4 6 (1.37%) Grafana
5 5 (1.14%) Prometheus
5 5 (1.14%) Single Sign-On
6 4 (0.92%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 4 (0.92%) Nagios
6 4 (0.92%) Nessus
7 3 (0.69%) OpenVAS
8 2 (0.46%) Argo
8 2 (0.46%) Cisco Prime
8 2 (0.46%) Iperf
8 2 (0.46%) Nmap
8 2 (0.46%) Rancher
8 2 (0.46%) SCCM
9 1 (0.23%) HP ALM
9 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Intune
9 1 (0.23%) Puppet
9 1 (0.23%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 39 (8.92%) Microsoft
2 34 (7.78%) SAP
3 30 (6.86%) ServiceNow
4 25 (5.72%) IBM
5 21 (4.81%) Oracle
6 20 (4.58%) VMware
7 9 (2.06%) Cisco
7 9 (2.06%) Salesforce
8 7 (1.60%) Juniper
8 7 (1.60%) SolarWinds
9 6 (1.37%) Databricks
9 6 (1.37%) Google
9 6 (1.37%) Palo Alto
9 6 (1.37%) Virgin Media
10 5 (1.14%) Red Hat
10 5 (1.14%) Remedy
11 4 (0.92%) F5
11 4 (0.92%) Qualys
11 4 (0.92%) Rapid7
11 4 (0.92%) Splunk