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

6 months to
27 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 39 37
Rank change year-on-year +25 -2 +28
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 645 176 222
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 9.72% 4.97% 4.64%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.08% 5.56% 5.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 370 101 114
10th Percentile £331 £325 £357
25th Percentile £425 £425 £452
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £519
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -3.61% -6.74%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £638
90th Percentile £700 £650 £688
England median daily rate £514 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.80% -4.76% -8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 64 10 12
10th Percentile £32.18 - £18.35
25th Percentile £62.63 £15.13 £22.59
Median hourly rate £85.00 £15.25 £28.78
Median % change year-on-year +457.38% -47.01% -35.11%
75th Percentile £88.00 £58.19 £58.75
90th Percentile - £70.16 £59.93
England median hourly rate £35.53 £28.75 £50.00
% change year-on-year +23.58% -42.50% -20.00%

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 5,340 3,163 3,935
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.49% 89.33% 82.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,265 1,961 2,368
10th Percentile £280 £238 £260
25th Percentile £420 £394 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £517
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -3.34% -0.22%
75th Percentile £618 £600 £638
90th Percentile £713 £675 £700
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 602 317 308
10th Percentile £13.52 £13.50 £15.00
25th Percentile £19.54 £15.50 £26.57
Median hourly rate £52.50 £24.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +118.75% -58.15% +14.70%
75th Percentile £72.25 £53.75 £70.39
90th Percentile £88.00 £69.85 £76.86
England median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £42.50
% change year-on-year +74.79% -40.82% -

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 27 August 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 27 August 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 27 August 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 +24 299 £550 +4.76% 294
Berkshire +30 208 £525 - 132
Hampshire +17 185 £550 +1.85% 159
Buckinghamshire -4 74 £569 +3.45% 90
Surrey +20 68 £450 -10.00% 77
West Sussex +2 39 £490 +15.29% 37
Middlesex - 23 - - 13
Oxfordshire -13 17 £650 +44.44% 79
Kent +5 7 £405 - 43
East Sussex +4 4 £575 +17.95% 34
Sussex - 1 £600 - 9
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 31 (4.81%) SharePoint
2 17 (2.64%) Confluence
3 4 (0.62%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.31%) Oracle Application Server
4 2 (0.31%) Smallworld
5 1 (0.16%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.16%) Apache
5 1 (0.16%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.16%) Apache Superset
5 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.16%) SharePoint 2010
5 1 (0.16%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 57 (8.84%) Microsoft Excel
2 27 (4.19%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 24 (3.72%) Microsoft Project
4 15 (2.33%) Microsoft Office
5 2 (0.31%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.16%) CINEMA 4D
6 1 (0.16%) Houdini
6 1 (0.16%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.16%) NUKE
6 1 (0.16%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 18 (2.79%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.78%) Primavera
3 4 (0.62%) Oracle ERP
4 3 (0.47%) iTrent
4 3 (0.47%) Maximo
4 3 (0.47%) NEC Housing
4 3 (0.47%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.31%) Salesforce CRM
5 2 (0.31%) SAP SD
5 2 (0.31%) Teamcenter
6 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS R12
6 1 (0.16%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.16%) SAP BPC
6 1 (0.16%) SAP BRIM
6 1 (0.16%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.16%) SAP Convergent Charging
6 1 (0.16%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.16%) SAP PLM
6 1 (0.16%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 120 (18.60%) Azure
2 83 (12.87%) AWS
3 32 (4.96%) GCP
3 32 (4.96%) Power Platform
4 25 (3.88%) SaaS
5 23 (3.57%) GitHub
6 22 (3.41%) Azure DevOps
7 20 (3.10%) Entra ID
8 17 (2.64%) Microsoft 365
9 14 (2.17%) Azure Monitor
10 13 (2.02%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 13 (2.02%) GitHub Actions
11 12 (1.86%) Datadog
11 12 (1.86%) OpenShift
11 12 (1.86%) Serverless
12 8 (1.24%) AWS CloudFormation
12 8 (1.24%) OCI
13 7 (1.09%) Amazon EKS
14 6 (0.93%) Azure AKS
14 6 (0.93%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 26 (4.03%) DNS
2 25 (3.88%) Network Security
3 16 (2.48%) Firewall
4 13 (2.02%) LAN
5 10 (1.55%) DHCP
6 9 (1.40%) Broadband
7 8 (1.24%) TCP/IP
7 8 (1.24%) WAN
8 7 (1.09%) SD-WAN
8 7 (1.09%) Wi-Fi
9 6 (0.93%) VPN
9 6 (0.93%) Wireless
10 5 (0.78%) Intranet
11 4 (0.62%) DNSSEC
11 4 (0.62%) Radio Access Network
12 3 (0.47%) Intrusion Detection
12 3 (0.47%) MQTT
12 3 (0.47%) VLAN
13 2 (0.31%) Modbus
13 2 (0.31%) Software-Defined Networking
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (4.50%) Power BI
2 12 (1.86%) Data Warehouse
3 10 (1.55%) Metadata
3 10 (1.55%) PostgreSQL
4 7 (1.09%) Oracle Reports
5 6 (0.93%) Spark SQL
5 6 (0.93%) Tableau
6 5 (0.78%) DynamoDB
7 4 (0.62%) Geospatial Data
7 4 (0.62%) GIS
7 4 (0.62%) Redis
8 3 (0.47%) Big Data
8 3 (0.47%) Elasticsearch
8 3 (0.47%) NoSQL
8 3 (0.47%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.31%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.31%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.31%) Oracle ODI
9 2 (0.31%) SAP HANA
9 2 (0.31%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 30 (4.65%) JIRA
2 22 (3.41%) Rational DOORS
3 19 (2.95%) GitLab
4 17 (2.64%) Jenkins
5 15 (2.33%) Git
6 5 (0.78%) SonarQube
7 4 (0.62%) MSI
8 3 (0.47%) Cucumber
9 2 (0.31%) Hudson
9 2 (0.31%) REST Assured
9 2 (0.31%) Selenium
9 2 (0.31%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.16%) ERwin
10 1 (0.16%) JUnit
10 1 (0.16%) Mockito
10 1 (0.16%) Postman
10 1 (0.16%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.16%) SpecFlow
10 1 (0.16%) Subversion
10 1 (0.16%) TestRail
General
1 293 (45.43%) Social Skills
2 184 (28.53%) Analytical Skills
3 116 (17.98%) Finance
4 71 (11.01%) Public Sector
5 58 (8.99%) Aerospace
6 41 (6.36%) Organisational Skills
7 29 (4.50%) Influencing Skills
8 21 (3.26%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 21 (3.26%) Retail
9 20 (3.10%) Legal
9 20 (3.10%) Telecoms
10 16 (2.48%) Documentation Skills
10 16 (2.48%) French Language
10 16 (2.48%) Spanish Language
11 13 (2.02%) Presentation Skills
12 10 (1.55%) Military
13 9 (1.40%) Manufacturing
14 8 (1.24%) Games
14 8 (1.24%) Law
15 7 (1.09%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 86 (13.33%) Analyst
2 81 (12.56%) Lead
3 61 (9.46%) Senior
4 60 (9.30%) Architect
5 47 (7.29%) Delivery Manager
6 39 (6.05%) Product Manager
7 29 (4.50%) Product Delivery Manager
8 24 (3.72%) Consultant
9 21 (3.26%) Data Analyst
10 20 (3.10%) Systems Manager
11 19 (2.95%) Systems Delivery Manager
12 17 (2.64%) IT Manager
13 16 (2.48%) 2nd Line Support
13 16 (2.48%) 2nd Line Technical Support
13 16 (2.48%) Project Manager
13 16 (2.48%) Security Analyst
13 16 (2.48%) Senior Analyst
13 16 (2.48%) Technical Support
14 15 (2.33%) Solutions Architect
15 14 (2.17%) Senior Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 48 (7.44%) Terraform
2 14 (2.17%) REST
3 11 (1.71%) OAuth
3 11 (1.71%) RESTful
3 11 (1.71%) SOAP
4 10 (1.55%) .NET
5 9 (1.40%) ARM Templates
5 9 (1.40%) Kafka
5 9 (1.40%) PySpark
6 8 (1.24%) SAML
7 7 (1.09%) EDI
7 7 (1.09%) OpenID
8 6 (0.93%) GraphQL
8 6 (0.93%) JSON
8 6 (0.93%) LDAP
8 6 (0.93%) OAuth2
9 5 (0.78%) HTML
9 5 (0.78%) Keycloak
9 5 (0.78%) Middleware
9 5 (0.78%) React
Miscellaneous
1 77 (11.94%) Product Ownership
2 37 (5.74%) Cloud Native
3 33 (5.12%) Onboarding
4 28 (4.34%) Management Information System
5 25 (3.88%) Data Structures
6 24 (3.72%) Operational Technology
7 19 (2.95%) Security Posture
8 17 (2.64%) Hybrid Cloud
9 15 (2.33%) CMDB
10 14 (2.17%) Cyber Threat
10 14 (2.17%) Data Centre
11 12 (1.86%) Analytical Mindset
11 12 (1.86%) Data Protection Act
11 12 (1.86%) PMI
12 11 (1.71%) Enterprise Software
12 11 (1.71%) Security Operations Centre
12 11 (1.71%) Self-Motivation
13 10 (1.55%) Legacy Systems
14 9 (1.40%) Social Media
15 8 (1.24%) Graphic Design
Operating Systems
1 69 (10.70%) Windows
2 32 (4.96%) Linux
3 21 (3.26%) Windows Server
4 7 (1.09%) Windows Server 2019
5 4 (0.62%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.16%) Embedded Linux
6 1 (0.16%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.16%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 232 (35.97%) Agile
2 178 (27.60%) Problem-Solving
2 178 (27.60%) Stakeholder Management
3 157 (24.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 111 (17.21%) ITIL
5 100 (15.50%) Decision-Making
6 89 (13.80%) Roadmaps
7 87 (13.49%) DevOps
8 86 (13.33%) Service Delivery
9 81 (12.56%) Cybersecurity
10 78 (12.09%) Service Management
11 77 (11.94%) CI/CD
12 70 (10.85%) ITSM
13 68 (10.54%) PRINCE2
13 68 (10.54%) Project Delivery
14 63 (9.77%) Change Management
15 59 (9.15%) Project Management
16 58 (8.99%) AI
17 56 (8.68%) Computer Science
18 54 (8.37%) Scaled Agile Framework
Programming Languages
1 64 (9.92%) Python
2 61 (9.46%) SQL
3 42 (6.51%) PowerShell
4 25 (3.88%) Bash
5 17 (2.64%) Java
6 7 (1.09%) Bicep
6 7 (1.09%) C#
6 7 (1.09%) JavaScript
7 6 (0.93%) Apex Code
8 5 (0.78%) TypeScript
9 4 (0.62%) Shell Script
10 3 (0.47%) Go
10 3 (0.47%) PL/SQL
10 3 (0.47%) Rust
11 2 (0.31%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.31%) Magik
12 1 (0.16%) ABAP
12 1 (0.16%) Groovy
12 1 (0.16%) Perl
12 1 (0.16%) VBA
Qualifications
1 317 (49.15%) Security Cleared
2 164 (25.43%) SC Cleared
3 122 (18.91%) Degree
4 107 (16.59%) DV Cleared
5 35 (5.43%) PMI Certification
6 24 (3.72%) PMP
7 17 (2.64%) ACCA
7 17 (2.64%) Azure Certification
7 17 (2.64%) BPSS Clearance
7 17 (2.64%) CIMA
7 17 (2.64%) Computer Science Degree
8 15 (2.33%) CISSP
9 13 (2.02%) AWS Certification
9 13 (2.02%) ITIL Certification
10 10 (1.55%) Cisco Certification
11 9 (1.40%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
12 6 (0.93%) CCNP
12 6 (0.93%) CISM
12 6 (0.93%) Master's Degree
13 5 (0.78%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (8.37%) QA
2 50 (7.75%) PMO
3 49 (7.60%) Data Quality
4 31 (4.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 20 (3.10%) GDPR
5 20 (3.10%) NIST
6 17 (2.64%) SLA
7 16 (2.48%) NCSC
8 8 (1.24%) Cyber Essentials
8 8 (1.24%) ISO 9001
9 7 (1.09%) GRC
10 6 (0.93%) ISO 22301
11 3 (0.47%) Accessibility
11 3 (0.47%) ISO 31000
12 2 (0.31%) Def Stans
12 2 (0.31%) Disclosure Scotland
12 2 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 2 (0.31%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.31%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.16%) COBIT
System Software
1 28 (4.34%) Active Directory
2 27 (4.19%) Docker
3 24 (3.72%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (1.24%) IAG
5 5 (0.78%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (0.78%) Virtual Machines
5 5 (0.78%) vSphere
6 4 (0.62%) VMware NSX
7 3 (0.47%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.47%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 46 (7.13%) Kubernetes
2 35 (5.43%) Ansible
3 12 (1.86%) Grafana
4 8 (1.24%) Microsoft Intune
4 8 (1.24%) Prometheus
4 8 (1.24%) Puppet
5 7 (1.09%) SCCM
5 7 (1.09%) WMI
6 5 (0.78%) Progress Chef
7 4 (0.62%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.47%) Argo
8 3 (0.47%) Podman
8 3 (0.47%) Single Sign-On
9 2 (0.31%) CASB
9 2 (0.31%) CSIRT
9 2 (0.31%) Rancher
9 2 (0.31%) vCenter Server
10 1 (0.16%) Amdocs OSS
10 1 (0.16%) Istio
10 1 (0.16%) QRadar
Vendors
1 118 (18.29%) Microsoft
2 48 (7.44%) SAP
3 45 (6.98%) ServiceNow
4 32 (4.96%) VMware
5 25 (3.88%) Oracle
6 22 (3.41%) IBM
7 18 (2.79%) Salesforce
8 16 (2.48%) Databricks
9 14 (2.17%) Google
10 12 (1.86%) Dynatrace
11 11 (1.71%) Juniper
12 8 (1.24%) Cisco
12 8 (1.24%) Nexthink
12 8 (1.24%) Workday
13 7 (1.09%) Splunk
14 6 (0.93%) Baan
14 6 (0.93%) Red Hat
14 6 (0.93%) Virgin Media
15 5 (0.78%) SolarWinds
16 4 (0.62%) Infoblox