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

6 months to
14 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 42 42
Rank change year-on-year +28 0 +28
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 654 167 203
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 9.92% 4.82% 4.39%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.32% 5.40% 5.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 373 94 107
10th Percentile £343 £351 £360
25th Percentile £440 £448 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +7.50% -2.44% -6.82%
75th Percentile £618 £600 £638
90th Percentile £700 £650 £673
England median daily rate £520 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 13 9
10th Percentile £18.44 £13.03 £21.85
25th Percentile £46.25 £15.13 £25.99
Median hourly rate £67.60 £15.25 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year +343.28% -70.95% -2.78%
75th Percentile £85.00 £58.00 £58.75
90th Percentile £89.35 £67.73 £60.73
England median hourly rate £32.23 £25.15 £47.50
% change year-on-year +28.13% -47.05% -26.92%

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 5,308 3,091 3,812
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.52% 89.15% 82.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,191 1,927 2,290
10th Percentile £280 £220 £257
25th Percentile £425 £380 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -2.44% -1.14%
75th Percentile £619 £600 £625
90th Percentile £713 £656 £690
England median daily rate £525 £508 £525
% change year-on-year +3.45% -3.33% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 613 305 261
10th Percentile £13.45 £13.35 £16.00
25th Percentile £17.23 £15.50 £32.00
Median hourly rate £52.43 £20.40 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +156.99% -64.43% +9.24%
75th Percentile £70.00 £50.00 £71.90
90th Percentile £86.80 £69.65 £78.75
England median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% -1.71%

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 14 September 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 14 September 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 14 September 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 +23 293 £550 +7.32% 488
Berkshire +32 204 £550 +7.32% 241
Hampshire +24 201 £575 +6.78% 230
Buckinghamshire 0 72 £572 +11.61% 128
Surrey +24 69 £450 -10.00% 149
West Sussex +1 40 £483 +25.32% 80
Middlesex - 24 - - 24
Oxfordshire -12 17 £650 -1.89% 121
Kent +5 8 £405 - 69
East Sussex -1 3 £575 +17.95% 45
Sussex -4 1 £600 - 12
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 34 (5.20%) SharePoint
2 16 (2.45%) Confluence
3 4 (0.61%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.31%) Oracle Application Server
4 2 (0.31%) Smallworld
5 1 (0.15%) Apache
5 1 (0.15%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.15%) Apache Superset
5 1 (0.15%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.15%) SharePoint 2010
5 1 (0.15%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 66 (10.09%) Microsoft Excel
2 31 (4.74%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 26 (3.98%) Microsoft Project
4 15 (2.29%) Microsoft Office
5 2 (0.31%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.31%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.15%) CINEMA 4D
6 1 (0.15%) Houdini
6 1 (0.15%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.15%) NUKE
Business Applications
1 18 (2.75%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.76%) Primavera
3 4 (0.61%) Oracle ERP
4 3 (0.46%) iTrent
4 3 (0.46%) Maximo
4 3 (0.46%) NEC Housing
4 3 (0.46%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.31%) Dynamics CRM
5 2 (0.31%) Salesforce CRM
5 2 (0.31%) SAP SD
6 1 (0.15%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.15%) Oracle EBS R12
6 1 (0.15%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.15%) SAP BPC
6 1 (0.15%) SAP BRIM
6 1 (0.15%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.15%) SAP Convergent Charging
6 1 (0.15%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.15%) SAP PSCD
6 1 (0.15%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 124 (18.96%) Azure
2 97 (14.83%) AWS
3 34 (5.20%) Power Platform
4 31 (4.74%) GCP
5 25 (3.82%) SaaS
6 24 (3.67%) GitHub
7 22 (3.36%) Azure DevOps
8 21 (3.21%) Entra ID
9 17 (2.60%) Microsoft 365
10 15 (2.29%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 15 (2.29%) Azure Monitor
10 15 (2.29%) Serverless
11 14 (2.14%) GitHub Actions
12 13 (1.99%) OpenShift
13 11 (1.68%) Datadog
14 8 (1.22%) AWS CloudFormation
14 8 (1.22%) AWS Lambda
14 8 (1.22%) OCI
15 7 (1.07%) Azure AKS
16 6 (0.92%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 27 (4.13%) DNS
2 23 (3.52%) Network Security
3 17 (2.60%) Firewall
4 13 (1.99%) LAN
5 11 (1.68%) DHCP
6 10 (1.53%) Broadband
7 9 (1.38%) TCP/IP
8 8 (1.22%) WAN
9 7 (1.07%) SD-WAN
9 7 (1.07%) VPN
9 7 (1.07%) Wi-Fi
10 6 (0.92%) Wireless
11 5 (0.76%) Intranet
12 4 (0.61%) DNSSEC
12 4 (0.61%) Radio Access Network
12 4 (0.61%) Software-Defined Networking
13 3 (0.46%) Intrusion Detection
13 3 (0.46%) MQTT
13 3 (0.46%) VLAN
14 2 (0.31%) Modbus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (4.74%) Power BI
2 17 (2.60%) Metadata
3 16 (2.45%) Relational Database
4 14 (2.14%) Data Warehouse
5 11 (1.68%) PostgreSQL
6 7 (1.07%) Oracle Reports
6 7 (1.07%) Spark SQL
7 6 (0.92%) DynamoDB
7 6 (0.92%) Tableau
8 4 (0.61%) Amazon RDS
9 3 (0.46%) Big Data
9 3 (0.46%) Elasticsearch
9 3 (0.46%) Geospatial Data
9 3 (0.46%) GIS
9 3 (0.46%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.46%) Redis
10 2 (0.31%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.31%) Oracle ODI
10 2 (0.31%) SAP HANA
10 2 (0.31%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 31 (4.74%) Git
2 30 (4.59%) JIRA
3 20 (3.06%) GitLab
3 20 (3.06%) Jenkins
4 15 (2.29%) Selenium
5 6 (0.92%) MSI
6 5 (0.76%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.31%) Cucumber
7 2 (0.31%) Hudson
7 2 (0.31%) REST Assured
7 2 (0.31%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.15%) ERwin
8 1 (0.15%) Mockito
8 1 (0.15%) Octopus Deploy
8 1 (0.15%) Postman
8 1 (0.15%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.15%) RStudio
8 1 (0.15%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.15%) SpecFlow
8 1 (0.15%) TestRail
General
1 313 (47.86%) Social Skills
2 193 (29.51%) Analytical Skills
3 114 (17.43%) Finance
4 70 (10.70%) Public Sector
5 50 (7.65%) Aerospace
6 45 (6.88%) Organisational Skills
7 31 (4.74%) Influencing Skills
8 21 (3.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 21 (3.21%) Retail
9 20 (3.06%) Telecoms
10 19 (2.91%) Manufacturing
11 18 (2.75%) Legal
12 16 (2.45%) Documentation Skills
12 16 (2.45%) French Language
12 16 (2.45%) Spanish Language
13 14 (2.14%) Military
14 13 (1.99%) Presentation Skills
15 8 (1.22%) Games
16 7 (1.07%) Local Government
16 7 (1.07%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 84 (12.84%) Analyst
2 82 (12.54%) Lead
3 62 (9.48%) Senior
4 61 (9.33%) Architect
5 38 (5.81%) Delivery Manager
6 26 (3.98%) Product Manager
7 24 (3.67%) Consultant
8 23 (3.52%) Data Analyst
9 18 (2.75%) Project Manager
10 17 (2.60%) Product Delivery Manager
11 16 (2.45%) 2nd Line Support
11 16 (2.45%) 2nd Line Technical Support
11 16 (2.45%) Security Analyst
11 16 (2.45%) Technical Support
12 15 (2.29%) IT Manager
12 15 (2.29%) Senior Manager
12 15 (2.29%) Service Manager
12 15 (2.29%) Solutions Architect
13 14 (2.14%) Senior Analyst
14 13 (1.99%) Service Owner
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (8.26%) Terraform
2 14 (2.14%) REST
3 11 (1.68%) .NET
3 11 (1.68%) ARM Templates
4 10 (1.53%) OAuth
4 10 (1.53%) PySpark
4 10 (1.53%) RESTful
4 10 (1.53%) SOAP
5 9 (1.38%) Kafka
6 8 (1.22%) SAML
7 7 (1.07%) EDI
7 7 (1.07%) OpenID
8 6 (0.92%) JSON
8 6 (0.92%) LDAP
8 6 (0.92%) Middleware
9 5 (0.76%) GraphQL
9 5 (0.76%) HTML
9 5 (0.76%) OAuth2
9 5 (0.76%) React
10 4 (0.61%) gRPC
Miscellaneous
1 57 (8.72%) Product Ownership
2 36 (5.50%) Cloud Native
2 36 (5.50%) Onboarding
3 35 (5.35%) Management Information System
4 24 (3.67%) Operational Technology
5 18 (2.75%) Hybrid Cloud
5 18 (2.75%) Security Posture
6 15 (2.29%) CMDB
7 14 (2.14%) Cyber Threat
7 14 (2.14%) Data Centre
8 13 (1.99%) PMI
9 12 (1.83%) Enterprise Software
10 11 (1.68%) Analytical Mindset
10 11 (1.68%) Data Protection Act
10 11 (1.68%) Security Operations Centre
10 11 (1.68%) Self-Motivation
10 11 (1.68%) Virtual Team
11 10 (1.53%) Social Media
12 8 (1.22%) Animation
12 8 (1.22%) Graphic Design
Operating Systems
1 74 (11.31%) Windows
2 35 (5.35%) Linux
3 23 (3.52%) Windows Server
4 7 (1.07%) Windows Server 2019
5 5 (0.76%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.15%) Embedded Linux
6 1 (0.15%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.15%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 237 (36.24%) Agile
2 195 (29.82%) Problem-Solving
3 182 (27.83%) Stakeholder Management
4 145 (22.17%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 121 (18.50%) ITIL
6 103 (15.75%) Decision-Making
7 101 (15.44%) Roadmaps
8 92 (14.07%) CI/CD
9 91 (13.91%) Service Delivery
10 90 (13.76%) DevOps
11 88 (13.46%) Service Management
12 77 (11.77%) Cybersecurity
13 73 (11.16%) Change Management
14 72 (11.01%) ITSM
15 71 (10.86%) Project Delivery
16 69 (10.55%) Validation
17 65 (9.94%) Infrastructure as Code
18 60 (9.17%) Project Management
19 59 (9.02%) PRINCE2
20 58 (8.87%) AI
Programming Languages
1 83 (12.69%) Python
2 76 (11.62%) SQL
3 47 (7.19%) PowerShell
4 28 (4.28%) Bash
5 16 (2.45%) Java
6 9 (1.38%) Bicep
7 7 (1.07%) C#
7 7 (1.07%) JavaScript
8 6 (0.92%) Apex Code
9 5 (0.76%) TypeScript
10 4 (0.61%) Go
10 4 (0.61%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.46%) PL/SQL
11 3 (0.46%) Rust
12 2 (0.31%) Kusto Query Language
12 2 (0.31%) Magik
13 1 (0.15%) ABAP
13 1 (0.15%) Groovy
13 1 (0.15%) Perl
13 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 325 (49.69%) Security Cleared
2 172 (26.30%) SC Cleared
3 124 (18.96%) DV Cleared
4 108 (16.51%) Degree
5 36 (5.50%) PMI Certification
6 25 (3.82%) PMP
7 20 (3.06%) Computer Science Degree
8 19 (2.91%) Azure Certification
9 16 (2.45%) ACCA
9 16 (2.45%) BPSS Clearance
9 16 (2.45%) CIMA
9 16 (2.45%) CISSP
10 14 (2.14%) AWS Certification
10 14 (2.14%) ITIL Certification
11 11 (1.68%) Cisco Certification
12 9 (1.38%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 7 (1.07%) PRINCE2 Certification
14 6 (0.92%) CCNP
14 6 (0.92%) CISM
14 6 (0.92%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (8.26%) QA
2 52 (7.95%) PMO
3 51 (7.80%) Data Quality
4 32 (4.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 23 (3.52%) NIST
6 19 (2.91%) GDPR
7 17 (2.60%) SLA
8 14 (2.14%) NCSC
9 10 (1.53%) ISO 9001
10 8 (1.22%) Cyber Essentials
11 7 (1.07%) GRC
12 5 (0.76%) Def Stans
12 5 (0.76%) ISO 22301
12 5 (0.76%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.31%) Accessibility
13 2 (0.31%) Disclosure Scotland
13 2 (0.31%) ISO 31000
13 2 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 2 (0.31%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 1 (0.15%) ITGC
System Software
1 29 (4.43%) Active Directory
2 26 (3.98%) Docker
3 25 (3.82%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (1.22%) IAG
5 6 (0.92%) vSphere
6 5 (0.76%) Virtual Desktop
6 5 (0.76%) Virtual Machines
6 5 (0.76%) VMware NSX
7 4 (0.61%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.46%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 50 (7.65%) Kubernetes
2 36 (5.50%) Ansible
3 11 (1.68%) Grafana
4 9 (1.38%) WMI
5 8 (1.22%) Microsoft Intune
5 8 (1.22%) Puppet
6 7 (1.07%) Prometheus
6 7 (1.07%) SCCM
7 5 (0.76%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.61%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 3 (0.46%) MOM
9 3 (0.46%) Podman
9 3 (0.46%) Single Sign-On
10 2 (0.31%) Argo
10 2 (0.31%) CASB
10 2 (0.31%) CSIRT
10 2 (0.31%) Istio
10 2 (0.31%) vCenter Server
11 1 (0.15%) Kubeflow
11 1 (0.15%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 133 (20.34%) Microsoft
2 46 (7.03%) SAP
3 45 (6.88%) ServiceNow
4 32 (4.89%) VMware
5 25 (3.82%) Oracle
6 18 (2.75%) Databricks
7 17 (2.60%) Salesforce
8 14 (2.14%) Google
9 11 (1.68%) Dynatrace
9 11 (1.68%) Juniper
10 8 (1.22%) Cisco
10 8 (1.22%) Nexthink
10 8 (1.22%) Workday
11 6 (0.92%) Baan
11 6 (0.92%) Red Hat
11 6 (0.92%) Splunk
11 6 (0.92%) Virgin Media
12 5 (0.76%) SolarWinds
13 4 (0.61%) EMC
13 4 (0.61%) Infoblox