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

6 months to
10 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 44 39
Rank change year-on-year +25 -5 +30
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 455 146 243
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 7.55% 4.89% 4.23%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.35% 5.34% 5.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 261 91 127
10th Percentile £340 £325 £353
25th Percentile £425 £416 £456
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £505
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% +3.96% -8.18%
75th Percentile £615 £600 £644
90th Percentile £700 £650 £688
England median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% -6.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 57 9 18
10th Percentile £46.55 - £18.35
25th Percentile £80.75 £15.13 £27.36
Median hourly rate £87.96 £19.91 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +341.79% -46.91% -16.67%
75th Percentile £88.00 £67.50 £52.19
90th Percentile £91.80 £71.41 £62.07
England median hourly rate £55.00 £46.06 £36.50
% change year-on-year +19.41% +26.19% -27.00%

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 4,867 2,734 4,755
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.79% 91.50% 82.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,096 1,746 2,744
10th Percentile £280 £250 £261
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £501
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -0.20% -0.79%
75th Percentile £610 £600 £625
90th Percentile £700 £660 £700
England median daily rate £515 £520 £525
% change year-on-year -0.96% -0.95% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 469 190 470
10th Percentile £15.05 £13.23 £13.00
25th Percentile £21.35 £15.00 £18.32
Median hourly rate £52.50 £25.15 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +108.75% -47.05% -9.52%
75th Percentile £82.25 £58.73 £65.00
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £77.04
England median hourly rate £47.00 £28.00 £37.50
% change year-on-year +67.86% -25.33% +4.17%

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 June 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 June 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 June 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 +15 215 £519 +1.27% 186
Berkshire +24 163 £510 -0.54% 102
Hampshire +19 139 £550 -6.38% 100
Surrey +14 47 £450 - 55
Buckinghamshire -12 44 £525 -4.55% 43
West Sussex -13 21 £550 +31.34% 18
Oxfordshire -21 8 £725 +190.00% 43
East Sussex -2 7 £643 +16.91% 8
Middlesex - 4 - - 7
Kent -2 2 £463 -18.50% 34
Sussex - 1 £600 - 5
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 14 (3.08%) Confluence
2 10 (2.20%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.22%) Adobe Experience Manager
3 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.22%) SharePoint 2010
3 1 (0.22%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 28 (6.15%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (1.32%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.32%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 5 (1.10%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.66%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.22%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.22%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 15 (3.30%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (1.54%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 3 (0.66%) iTrent
3 3 (0.66%) Maximo
3 3 (0.66%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.44%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.44%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.44%) SAP SD
4 2 (0.44%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.22%) Primavera
5 1 (0.22%) SAP BPC
5 1 (0.22%) SAP BRIM
5 1 (0.22%) SAP Business One
5 1 (0.22%) SAP Convergent Charging
5 1 (0.22%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.22%) SAP PLM
Cloud Services
1 63 (13.85%) Azure
2 43 (9.45%) AWS
3 23 (5.05%) Power Platform
4 13 (2.86%) GCP
5 12 (2.64%) Azure DevOps
6 11 (2.42%) Entra ID
7 9 (1.98%) SaaS
7 9 (1.98%) Serverless
8 6 (1.32%) OpenShift
9 5 (1.10%) GitHub
9 5 (1.10%) GitHub Actions
9 5 (1.10%) Microsoft 365
9 5 (1.10%) Microsoft Purview
9 5 (1.10%) OCI
10 4 (0.88%) Amazon EKS
10 4 (0.88%) Amazon S3
10 4 (0.88%) AWS Lambda
10 4 (0.88%) Azure Logic Apps
10 4 (0.88%) dbt
10 4 (0.88%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 13 (2.86%) Network Security
2 11 (2.42%) LAN
3 10 (2.20%) Firewall
4 7 (1.54%) VPN
5 6 (1.32%) DNS
6 5 (1.10%) VLAN
7 4 (0.88%) TCP/IP
7 4 (0.88%) WAN
7 4 (0.88%) Wi-Fi
8 3 (0.66%) BGP
8 3 (0.66%) DHCP
8 3 (0.66%) OSPF
8 3 (0.66%) SD-WAN
8 3 (0.66%) Wireless
9 2 (0.44%) IPv4
9 2 (0.44%) IPv6
9 2 (0.44%) MPLS
9 2 (0.44%) MQTT
9 2 (0.44%) Multicast
9 2 (0.44%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (4.84%) Power BI
2 9 (1.98%) Metadata
3 7 (1.54%) Data Warehouse
4 6 (1.32%) Tableau
5 4 (0.88%) Data Lake
5 4 (0.88%) Geospatial Data
5 4 (0.88%) GIS
5 4 (0.88%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (0.88%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (0.88%) SQL Server
6 3 (0.66%) DynamoDB
6 3 (0.66%) Metadata Repository
6 3 (0.66%) Redis
6 3 (0.66%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 2 (0.44%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.44%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.44%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.44%) SAP HANA
7 2 (0.44%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 2 (0.44%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 27 (5.93%) Rational DOORS
2 20 (4.40%) JIRA
3 8 (1.76%) GitLab
4 7 (1.54%) Jenkins
5 5 (1.10%) Git
6 4 (0.88%) SonarQube
7 3 (0.66%) Hudson
7 3 (0.66%) Selenium
8 2 (0.44%) Sonatype Nexus
8 2 (0.44%) SpecFlow
8 2 (0.44%) Visual Studio
9 1 (0.22%) Balsamiq
9 1 (0.22%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.22%) Cucumber
9 1 (0.22%) Cypress.io
9 1 (0.22%) ERwin
9 1 (0.22%) Postman
9 1 (0.22%) SoapUI
9 1 (0.22%) TestRail
9 1 (0.22%) WebDriver
General
1 200 (43.96%) Social Skills
2 107 (23.52%) Analytical Skills
3 100 (21.98%) Finance
4 53 (11.65%) Public Sector
5 51 (11.21%) Aerospace
6 17 (3.74%) Legal
6 17 (3.74%) Retail
7 16 (3.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 14 (3.08%) Organisational Skills
8 14 (3.08%) Telecoms
9 13 (2.86%) French Language
9 13 (2.86%) Influencing Skills
9 13 (2.86%) Spanish Language
10 12 (2.64%) Law
11 7 (1.54%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.10%) Aviation
12 5 (1.10%) Marketing
13 4 (0.88%) Billing
13 4 (0.88%) Military
14 3 (0.66%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 66 (14.51%) Analyst
2 48 (10.55%) Lead
3 46 (10.11%) Delivery Manager
3 46 (10.11%) Senior
4 36 (7.91%) Architect
4 36 (7.91%) Product Manager
5 29 (6.37%) Product Delivery Manager
6 22 (4.84%) IT Manager
6 22 (4.84%) Systems Delivery Manager
6 22 (4.84%) Systems Manager
7 16 (3.52%) Service Manager
8 14 (3.08%) Data Analyst
8 14 (3.08%) Solutions Architect
9 13 (2.86%) 2nd Line Support
9 13 (2.86%) 2nd Line Technical Support
9 13 (2.86%) Technical Support
10 12 (2.64%) Consultant
10 12 (2.64%) Senior Analyst
10 12 (2.64%) Service Analyst
11 11 (2.42%) Financial Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (2.42%) OAuth
2 8 (1.76%) RESTful
2 8 (1.76%) SAML
2 8 (1.76%) SOAP
3 7 (1.54%) .NET
3 7 (1.54%) OpenID
4 6 (1.32%) LDAP
4 6 (1.32%) OAuth2
5 5 (1.10%) GraphQL
5 5 (1.10%) JSON
5 5 (1.10%) REST
6 4 (0.88%) ARM Templates
6 4 (0.88%) EDI
6 4 (0.88%) Kafka
6 4 (0.88%) Keycloak
6 4 (0.88%) XML
7 3 (0.66%) Elastic Stack
7 3 (0.66%) JWT
7 3 (0.66%) Playwright
7 3 (0.66%) React
Miscellaneous
1 64 (14.07%) Product Ownership
2 25 (5.49%) Data Structures
3 20 (4.40%) Onboarding
4 19 (4.18%) Management Information System
5 16 (3.52%) Data Centre
6 15 (3.30%) Legacy Systems
7 14 (3.08%) Analytical Mindset
7 14 (3.08%) Cloud Native
7 14 (3.08%) Security Posture
8 12 (2.64%) Operational Technology
9 11 (2.42%) PMI
10 8 (1.76%) CMDB
10 8 (1.76%) Data Protection Act
11 6 (1.32%) Taxonomies
12 5 (1.10%) Distributed Systems
12 5 (1.10%) PKI
12 5 (1.10%) Security Operations Centre
12 5 (1.10%) Virtual Team
13 4 (0.88%) Life Science
13 4 (0.88%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 24 (5.27%) Windows
2 7 (1.54%) Linux
3 3 (0.66%) Windows Server
4 2 (0.44%) Apple iOS
4 2 (0.44%) Windows Server 2019
5 1 (0.22%) Android
5 1 (0.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 144 (31.65%) Agile
2 108 (23.74%) Stakeholder Management
3 101 (22.20%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 83 (18.24%) Problem-Solving
5 75 (16.48%) ITIL
6 60 (13.19%) Roadmaps
7 58 (12.75%) Decision-Making
8 53 (11.65%) Service Management
9 47 (10.33%) ITSM
10 46 (10.11%) Cybersecurity
11 43 (9.45%) CI/CD
11 43 (9.45%) Scaled Agile Framework
12 42 (9.23%) Change Management
13 41 (9.01%) Configuration Management
13 41 (9.01%) DevOps
13 41 (9.01%) Risk Management
13 41 (9.01%) Service Delivery
14 39 (8.57%) Computer Science
14 39 (8.57%) Project Delivery
15 37 (8.13%) PRINCE2
Programming Languages
1 34 (7.47%) SQL
2 20 (4.40%) Python
3 15 (3.30%) Java
4 12 (2.64%) PowerShell
5 7 (1.54%) C#
6 6 (1.32%) Bash
7 4 (0.88%) Bicep
7 4 (0.88%) JavaScript
8 3 (0.66%) TypeScript
9 2 (0.44%) Apex Code
9 2 (0.44%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 2 (0.44%) PL/SQL
9 2 (0.44%) Rust
9 2 (0.44%) Shell Script
9 2 (0.44%) T-SQL
10 1 (0.22%) ABAP
10 1 (0.22%) C
10 1 (0.22%) Objective-C
10 1 (0.22%) Swift
10 1 (0.22%) VB
Qualifications
1 222 (48.79%) Security Cleared
2 117 (25.71%) SC Cleared
3 76 (16.70%) Degree
4 59 (12.97%) DV Cleared
5 22 (4.84%) ACCA
5 22 (4.84%) CIMA
6 20 (4.40%) PMI Certification
7 10 (2.20%) Azure Certification
7 10 (2.20%) PMP
8 9 (1.98%) Cisco Certification
9 8 (1.76%) CCNP
10 7 (1.54%) CISSP
11 5 (1.10%) AWS Certification
11 5 (1.10%) Computer Science Degree
11 5 (1.10%) ISTQB
12 4 (0.88%) BPSS Clearance
12 4 (0.88%) CCNA
12 4 (0.88%) CISM
12 4 (0.88%) Six Sigma Green Belt
13 3 (0.66%) CESG Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (7.69%) Data Quality
2 26 (5.71%) QA
3 22 (4.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 19 (4.18%) PMO
5 17 (3.74%) NIST
6 15 (3.30%) GDPR
7 13 (2.86%) NCSC
8 11 (2.42%) SLA
9 7 (1.54%) Accessibility
10 6 (1.32%) Cyber Essentials
11 5 (1.10%) GRC
12 3 (0.66%) Def Stans
12 3 (0.66%) ISO 22301
12 3 (0.66%) ISO 31000
12 3 (0.66%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.44%) Actionable Recommendations
14 1 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 1 (0.22%) Disclosure Scotland
14 1 (0.22%) IFRS
14 1 (0.22%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 16 (3.52%) Active Directory
2 14 (3.08%) VMware Infrastructure
3 13 (2.86%) Docker
4 5 (1.10%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.66%) VMware NSX
6 2 (0.44%) Firmware
6 2 (0.44%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.22%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.22%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 18 (3.96%) Kubernetes
1 18 (3.96%) Terraform
2 13 (2.86%) Ansible
3 7 (1.54%) Grafana
4 6 (1.32%) Prometheus
5 4 (0.88%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 4 (0.88%) Nessus
5 4 (0.88%) Puppet
5 4 (0.88%) Single Sign-On
6 3 (0.66%) OpenVAS
7 2 (0.44%) Argo
7 2 (0.44%) Cisco Prime
7 2 (0.44%) Iperf
7 2 (0.44%) Nagios
7 2 (0.44%) Nmap
7 2 (0.44%) Podman
7 2 (0.44%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.44%) Rancher
7 2 (0.44%) SCCM
8 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Intune
Vendors
1 40 (8.79%) Microsoft
2 36 (7.91%) SAP
3 33 (7.25%) ServiceNow
4 25 (5.49%) IBM
5 22 (4.84%) Oracle
6 21 (4.62%) VMware
7 9 (1.98%) Salesforce
8 8 (1.76%) Cisco
9 7 (1.54%) Juniper
10 6 (1.32%) Databricks
10 6 (1.32%) SolarWinds
10 6 (1.32%) Virgin Media
11 5 (1.10%) Google
11 5 (1.10%) Palo Alto
11 5 (1.10%) Red Hat
11 5 (1.10%) Remedy
12 4 (0.88%) ESRI
12 4 (0.88%) Qualys
12 4 (0.88%) Rapid7
12 4 (0.88%) Workday