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

6 months to
27 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 36 36
Rank change year-on-year +22 0 +26
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 588 187 232
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 8.90% 5.40% 4.48%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.00% 5.99% 5.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 349 114 128
10th Percentile £357 £325 £363
25th Percentile £431 £443 £459
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £531 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.13% +1.14% -
75th Percentile £600 £600 £650
90th Percentile £690 £650 £688
England median daily rate £513 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 67 13 17
10th Percentile £47.50 - £18.35
25th Percentile £80.75 £15.13 £25.99
Median hourly rate £85.40 £19.91 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +328.93% -46.91% -25.00%
75th Percentile £88.00 £67.50 £53.75
90th Percentile £91.80 £70.16 £58.75
England median hourly rate £51.58 £30.81 £48.48
% change year-on-year +67.42% -36.45% -15.70%

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 5,346 3,122 4,284
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.95% 90.21% 82.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,357 1,957 2,574
10th Percentile £280 £250 £263
25th Percentile £413 £400 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -3.85% +0.97%
75th Percentile £613 £600 £638
90th Percentile £700 £675 £700
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 539 274 362
10th Percentile £16.00 £13.50 £14.50
25th Percentile £26.13 £15.13 £20.56
Median hourly rate £57.50 £21.99 £55.04
Median % change year-on-year +161.54% -60.05% +10.08%
75th Percentile £82.25 £51.10 £70.00
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £76.98
England median hourly rate £47.00 £25.15 £40.33
% change year-on-year +86.88% -37.63% -5.12%

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 July 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 July 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 July 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 +14 283 £525 +3.70% 169
Berkshire +23 212 £519 +3.80% 90
Hampshire +17 170 £550 -8.33% 129
Surrey +13 58 £475 -5.00% 55
Buckinghamshire -13 58 £569 +3.45% 41
West Sussex -11 35 £495 +18.21% 16
Oxfordshire -15 13 £650 +44.44% 40
Middlesex - 13 - - 6
East Sussex +2 5 £615 +11.82% 8
Kent +3 4 £468 -17.54% 43
Sussex - 1 £600 - 6
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 25 (4.25%) SharePoint
2 17 (2.89%) Confluence
3 4 (0.68%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.17%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.17%) SharePoint 2010
4 1 (0.17%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 51 (8.67%) Microsoft Excel
2 19 (3.23%) Microsoft Project
3 16 (2.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 13 (2.21%) Microsoft Office
5 2 (0.34%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.17%) CINEMA 4D
6 1 (0.17%) Houdini
6 1 (0.17%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.17%) NUKE
6 1 (0.17%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 15 (2.55%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.85%) Primavera
3 4 (0.68%) Oracle ERP
4 3 (0.51%) iTrent
4 3 (0.51%) Maximo
4 3 (0.51%) Remedy ITSM
4 3 (0.51%) Salesforce CRM
5 2 (0.34%) SAP SD
5 2 (0.34%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.34%) Workday HCM
6 1 (0.17%) NEC Housing
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle EBS R12
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.17%) SAP BPC
6 1 (0.17%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.17%) SAP Convergent Charging
6 1 (0.17%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.17%) SAP PLM
6 1 (0.17%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 98 (16.67%) Azure
2 68 (11.56%) AWS
3 35 (5.95%) Power Platform
4 26 (4.42%) GCP
5 17 (2.89%) Entra ID
5 17 (2.89%) SaaS
6 15 (2.55%) Azure DevOps
6 15 (2.55%) GitHub
7 11 (1.87%) Microsoft 365
7 11 (1.87%) Serverless
8 10 (1.70%) GitHub Actions
9 8 (1.36%) Azure Monitor
10 6 (1.02%) AWS CloudFormation
10 6 (1.02%) Azure AKS
10 6 (1.02%) Microsoft Purview
10 6 (1.02%) OCI
10 6 (1.02%) OpenShift
11 5 (0.85%) Datadog
12 4 (0.68%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 4 (0.68%) Route 53
Communications & Networking
1 26 (4.42%) Network Security
2 23 (3.91%) DNS
3 17 (2.89%) Firewall
4 14 (2.38%) LAN
5 9 (1.53%) DHCP
6 8 (1.36%) TCP/IP
7 7 (1.19%) WAN
8 6 (1.02%) Broadband
8 6 (1.02%) SD-WAN
8 6 (1.02%) VPN
8 6 (1.02%) Wi-Fi
9 5 (0.85%) Wireless
10 4 (0.68%) DNSSEC
11 3 (0.51%) Intrusion Detection
11 3 (0.51%) MQTT
11 3 (0.51%) Radio Access Network
12 2 (0.34%) BGP
12 2 (0.34%) Cisco Nexus
12 2 (0.34%) OSPF
12 2 (0.34%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (5.61%) Power BI
2 11 (1.87%) Data Warehouse
3 8 (1.36%) Metadata
3 8 (1.36%) Tableau
4 7 (1.19%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (0.85%) Oracle Reports
6 4 (0.68%) Geospatial Data
6 4 (0.68%) GIS
6 4 (0.68%) Redis
6 4 (0.68%) Spark SQL
7 3 (0.51%) Big Data
7 3 (0.51%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.51%) DynamoDB
7 3 (0.51%) Elasticsearch
7 3 (0.51%) SQL Server
8 2 (0.34%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.34%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 29 (4.93%) JIRA
2 27 (4.59%) Rational DOORS
3 11 (1.87%) GitLab
4 10 (1.70%) Jenkins
5 9 (1.53%) Git
6 5 (0.85%) SonarQube
7 3 (0.51%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.51%) Hudson
8 2 (0.34%) Selenium
8 2 (0.34%) Sonatype Nexus
8 2 (0.34%) SpecFlow
9 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.17%) ERwin
9 1 (0.17%) JUnit
9 1 (0.17%) Mockito
9 1 (0.17%) MSI
9 1 (0.17%) Postman
9 1 (0.17%) SoapUI
9 1 (0.17%) Subversion
9 1 (0.17%) TestRail
General
1 265 (45.07%) Social Skills
2 158 (26.87%) Analytical Skills
3 113 (19.22%) Finance
4 61 (10.37%) Public Sector
5 56 (9.52%) Aerospace
6 32 (5.44%) Organisational Skills
7 22 (3.74%) Influencing Skills
8 21 (3.57%) Retail
9 18 (3.06%) Telecoms
10 17 (2.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 16 (2.72%) French Language
11 16 (2.72%) Spanish Language
12 15 (2.55%) Documentation Skills
13 14 (2.38%) Legal
14 8 (1.36%) Law
14 8 (1.36%) Presentation Skills
15 7 (1.19%) Games
16 6 (1.02%) Aviation
16 6 (1.02%) Military
17 5 (0.85%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 84 (14.29%) Analyst
2 72 (12.24%) Lead
3 55 (9.35%) Senior
4 50 (8.50%) Architect
5 41 (6.97%) Delivery Manager
6 39 (6.63%) Product Manager
7 28 (4.76%) Product Delivery Manager
8 26 (4.42%) IT Manager
9 22 (3.74%) Systems Delivery Manager
9 22 (3.74%) Systems Manager
10 20 (3.40%) Data Analyst
11 16 (2.72%) 2nd Line Support
11 16 (2.72%) 2nd Line Technical Support
11 16 (2.72%) Consultant
11 16 (2.72%) Technical Support
12 15 (2.55%) Senior Analyst
13 14 (2.38%) Project Manager
13 14 (2.38%) Solutions Architect
14 13 (2.21%) Change Manager
14 13 (2.21%) Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.87%) OAuth
1 11 (1.87%) REST
2 10 (1.70%) RESTful
2 10 (1.70%) SOAP
3 9 (1.53%) .NET
4 8 (1.36%) Kafka
4 8 (1.36%) SAML
5 7 (1.19%) EDI
5 7 (1.19%) OpenID
6 6 (1.02%) ARM Templates
6 6 (1.02%) GraphQL
6 6 (1.02%) LDAP
6 6 (1.02%) OAuth2
6 6 (1.02%) PySpark
6 6 (1.02%) React
7 5 (0.85%) JSON
7 5 (0.85%) Keycloak
7 5 (0.85%) Middleware
7 5 (0.85%) YAML
8 4 (0.68%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 77 (13.10%) Product Ownership
2 34 (5.78%) Onboarding
3 30 (5.10%) Cloud Native
4 28 (4.76%) Management Information System
5 25 (4.25%) Data Structures
6 21 (3.57%) Operational Technology
6 21 (3.57%) Security Posture
7 15 (2.55%) Data Centre
8 14 (2.38%) Analytical Mindset
9 12 (2.04%) Data Protection Act
9 12 (2.04%) Legacy Systems
10 11 (1.87%) CMDB
10 11 (1.87%) Hybrid Cloud
10 11 (1.87%) PMI
10 11 (1.87%) Self-Motivation
11 10 (1.70%) Cyber Threat
11 10 (1.70%) Enterprise Software
12 8 (1.36%) Security Operations Centre
13 7 (1.19%) Animation
13 7 (1.19%) Graphic Design
Operating Systems
1 57 (9.69%) Windows
2 26 (4.42%) Linux
3 14 (2.38%) Windows Server
4 6 (1.02%) Windows Server 2019
5 4 (0.68%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.17%) Android
6 1 (0.17%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.17%) Embedded Linux
6 1 (0.17%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.17%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 199 (33.84%) Agile
2 155 (26.36%) Stakeholder Management
3 143 (24.32%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 142 (24.15%) Problem-Solving
5 103 (17.52%) ITIL
6 90 (15.31%) Decision-Making
7 79 (13.44%) Service Delivery
8 78 (13.27%) Roadmaps
9 76 (12.93%) Service Management
10 70 (11.90%) Cybersecurity
11 68 (11.56%) ITSM
12 62 (10.54%) CI/CD
13 60 (10.20%) Change Management
13 60 (10.20%) DevOps
14 57 (9.69%) PRINCE2
15 55 (9.35%) Project Delivery
16 54 (9.18%) Computer Science
16 54 (9.18%) Project Management
17 51 (8.67%) Risk Management
18 49 (8.33%) Scaled Agile Framework
Programming Languages
1 54 (9.18%) SQL
2 48 (8.16%) Python
3 32 (5.44%) PowerShell
4 22 (3.74%) Bash
5 17 (2.89%) Java
6 8 (1.36%) C#
7 6 (1.02%) Bicep
8 5 (0.85%) JavaScript
9 4 (0.68%) Apex Code
9 4 (0.68%) Shell Script
9 4 (0.68%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.51%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.51%) Go
10 3 (0.51%) Rust
11 2 (0.34%) ABAP
11 2 (0.34%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.34%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.34%) T-SQL
12 1 (0.17%) Objective-C
12 1 (0.17%) VB
Qualifications
1 294 (50.00%) Security Cleared
2 149 (25.34%) SC Cleared
3 109 (18.54%) Degree
4 93 (15.82%) DV Cleared
5 32 (5.44%) PMI Certification
6 23 (3.91%) PMP
7 17 (2.89%) ACCA
7 17 (2.89%) CIMA
8 15 (2.55%) Azure Certification
9 14 (2.38%) BPSS Clearance
10 13 (2.21%) CISSP
11 11 (1.87%) Cisco Certification
12 10 (1.70%) AWS Certification
12 10 (1.70%) Computer Science Degree
13 8 (1.36%) CCNP
13 8 (1.36%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
14 6 (1.02%) ITIL Certification
14 6 (1.02%) Master's Degree
15 5 (0.85%) CCNA
15 5 (0.85%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (7.31%) Data Quality
1 43 (7.31%) QA
2 40 (6.80%) PMO
3 31 (5.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 21 (3.57%) NIST
5 18 (3.06%) GDPR
6 17 (2.89%) NCSC
6 17 (2.89%) SLA
7 7 (1.19%) Accessibility
7 7 (1.19%) Cyber Essentials
7 7 (1.19%) GRC
8 6 (1.02%) ISO 9001
9 4 (0.68%) ISO 31000
10 3 (0.51%) Def Stans
10 3 (0.51%) ISO 22301
10 3 (0.51%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.34%) Disclosure Scotland
11 2 (0.34%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 2 (0.34%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.17%) COBIT
System Software
1 24 (4.08%) Active Directory
2 23 (3.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 20 (3.40%) Docker
4 5 (0.85%) Virtual Desktop
4 5 (0.85%) Virtual Machines
4 5 (0.85%) vSphere
5 4 (0.68%) IAG
5 4 (0.68%) VMware NSX
6 3 (0.51%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.34%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 33 (5.61%) Terraform
2 32 (5.44%) Kubernetes
3 23 (3.91%) Ansible
4 9 (1.53%) Grafana
5 8 (1.36%) Prometheus
5 8 (1.36%) Puppet
6 6 (1.02%) Microsoft Intune
6 6 (1.02%) SCCM
7 5 (0.85%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.68%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 4 (0.68%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (0.51%) Podman
10 2 (0.34%) Argo
10 2 (0.34%) CASB
10 2 (0.34%) CSIRT
10 2 (0.34%) Nessus
10 2 (0.34%) Rancher
10 2 (0.34%) vCenter Server
10 2 (0.34%) WMI
11 1 (0.17%) Nmap
Vendors
1 83 (14.12%) Microsoft
2 49 (8.33%) ServiceNow
3 44 (7.48%) SAP
4 31 (5.27%) VMware
5 25 (4.25%) IBM
6 22 (3.74%) Oracle
7 11 (1.87%) Databricks
7 11 (1.87%) Juniper
8 10 (1.70%) Cisco
8 10 (1.70%) Google
8 10 (1.70%) Salesforce
9 7 (1.19%) SolarWinds
9 7 (1.19%) Workday
10 6 (1.02%) Baan
10 6 (1.02%) Virgin Media
11 5 (0.85%) Aruba
11 5 (0.85%) Dynatrace
11 5 (0.85%) Palo Alto
11 5 (0.85%) Red Hat
12 4 (0.68%) Splunk