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

6 months to
17 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 42 38
Rank change year-on-year +28 -4 +33
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 660 166 206
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 9.91% 4.77% 4.49%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.29% 5.35% 5.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 378 92 108
10th Percentile £337 £353 £360
25th Percentile £446 £449 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +7.50% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £600 £638
90th Percentile £700 £650 £670
England median daily rate £520 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 14 9
10th Percentile £14.39 £13.29 £21.85
25th Percentile £43.13 £15.13 £25.99
Median hourly rate £67.50 £15.25 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year +342.62% -70.95% -2.78%
75th Percentile £85.00 £58.00 £58.75
90th Percentile £89.35 £66.51 £60.73
England median hourly rate £33.94 £25.15 £47.50
% change year-on-year +34.95% -47.05% -26.36%

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 5,371 3,105 3,793
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.62% 89.17% 82.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,234 1,936 2,272
10th Percentile £281 £220 £255
25th Percentile £425 £379 £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 £709 £650 £688
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 627 305 254
10th Percentile £13.45 £13.35 £16.08
25th Percentile £17.23 £15.50 £31.44
Median hourly rate £52.43 £21.25 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +146.71% -62.95% +9.24%
75th Percentile £70.00 £50.00 £71.86
90th Percentile £87.43 £69.65 £78.75
England median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% -1.91%

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 17 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 17 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 17 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 +22 299 £551 +8.80% 571
Berkshire +28 208 £550 +10.00% 296
Hampshire +20 202 £575 +6.48% 285
Buckinghamshire +1 72 £572 +11.61% 142
Surrey +25 68 £450 -10.00% 158
West Sussex +8 41 £475 +23.38% 97
Middlesex - 24 - - 5
Oxfordshire -13 19 £650 -1.89% 135
Kent +4 8 £405 - 54
East Sussex 0 3 £575 +17.95% 56
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 (5.15%) SharePoint
2 15 (2.27%) Confluence
3 4 (0.61%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.30%) Oracle Application Server
4 2 (0.30%) 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 (10.00%) Microsoft Excel
2 31 (4.70%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 26 (3.94%) Microsoft Project
4 15 (2.27%) Microsoft Office
5 2 (0.30%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.30%) 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 17 (2.58%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.76%) Primavera
3 4 (0.61%) Oracle ERP
4 3 (0.45%) iTrent
4 3 (0.45%) Maximo
4 3 (0.45%) NEC Housing
4 3 (0.45%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.30%) Dynamics CRM
5 2 (0.30%) Salesforce CRM
5 2 (0.30%) SAP SD
6 1 (0.15%) Cloudability
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
Cloud Services
1 125 (18.94%) Azure
2 97 (14.70%) AWS
3 35 (5.30%) Power Platform
4 31 (4.70%) GCP
5 25 (3.79%) SaaS
6 24 (3.64%) GitHub
7 23 (3.48%) Entra ID
8 21 (3.18%) Azure DevOps
9 17 (2.58%) Microsoft 365
10 15 (2.27%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 15 (2.27%) Azure Monitor
10 15 (2.27%) Serverless
11 14 (2.12%) GitHub Actions
12 13 (1.97%) OpenShift
13 11 (1.67%) Datadog
14 8 (1.21%) AWS CloudFormation
14 8 (1.21%) AWS Lambda
14 8 (1.21%) OCI
15 7 (1.06%) Azure AKS
16 6 (0.91%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 27 (4.09%) DNS
2 23 (3.48%) Network Security
3 17 (2.58%) Firewall
4 13 (1.97%) LAN
5 11 (1.67%) DHCP
6 10 (1.52%) Broadband
7 9 (1.36%) TCP/IP
8 8 (1.21%) WAN
9 7 (1.06%) SD-WAN
9 7 (1.06%) VPN
9 7 (1.06%) Wi-Fi
10 6 (0.91%) Wireless
11 5 (0.76%) Intranet
11 5 (0.76%) Software-Defined Networking
12 4 (0.61%) DNSSEC
12 4 (0.61%) Radio Access Network
13 3 (0.45%) Intrusion Detection
13 3 (0.45%) MQTT
13 3 (0.45%) VLAN
14 2 (0.30%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (4.85%) Power BI
2 17 (2.58%) Metadata
3 16 (2.42%) Relational Database
4 13 (1.97%) Data Warehouse
5 11 (1.67%) PostgreSQL
6 7 (1.06%) Oracle Reports
6 7 (1.06%) Spark SQL
7 6 (0.91%) DynamoDB
7 6 (0.91%) Tableau
8 4 (0.61%) Amazon RDS
9 3 (0.45%) Big Data
9 3 (0.45%) Elasticsearch
9 3 (0.45%) Geospatial Data
9 3 (0.45%) GIS
9 3 (0.45%) NoSQL
9 3 (0.45%) Redis
10 2 (0.30%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.30%) Oracle ODI
10 2 (0.30%) SAP HANA
10 2 (0.30%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 31 (4.70%) Git
2 29 (4.39%) JIRA
3 20 (3.03%) GitLab
3 20 (3.03%) Jenkins
4 15 (2.27%) Selenium
5 6 (0.91%) MSI
6 5 (0.76%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.30%) Cucumber
7 2 (0.30%) Hudson
7 2 (0.30%) REST Assured
7 2 (0.30%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.15%) JUnit
8 1 (0.15%) Mockito
8 1 (0.15%) Octopus Deploy
8 1 (0.15%) Postman
8 1 (0.15%) RStudio
8 1 (0.15%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.15%) SpecFlow
8 1 (0.15%) Subversion
8 1 (0.15%) TestRail
General
1 317 (48.03%) Social Skills
2 194 (29.39%) Analytical Skills
3 115 (17.42%) Finance
4 70 (10.61%) Public Sector
5 50 (7.58%) Aerospace
6 46 (6.97%) Organisational Skills
7 32 (4.85%) Influencing Skills
8 21 (3.18%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 21 (3.18%) Manufacturing
8 21 (3.18%) Retail
9 20 (3.03%) Telecoms
10 18 (2.73%) Legal
11 16 (2.42%) Documentation Skills
11 16 (2.42%) French Language
11 16 (2.42%) Spanish Language
12 14 (2.12%) Military
13 13 (1.97%) Presentation Skills
14 8 (1.21%) Games
14 8 (1.21%) Local Government
15 7 (1.06%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 84 (12.73%) Analyst
1 84 (12.73%) Lead
2 62 (9.39%) Architect
2 62 (9.39%) Senior
3 38 (5.76%) Delivery Manager
4 25 (3.79%) Product Manager
5 24 (3.64%) Consultant
6 23 (3.48%) Data Analyst
7 18 (2.73%) Project Manager
8 16 (2.42%) 2nd Line Support
8 16 (2.42%) 2nd Line Technical Support
8 16 (2.42%) Product Delivery Manager
8 16 (2.42%) Security Analyst
8 16 (2.42%) Technical Support
9 15 (2.27%) IT Manager
9 15 (2.27%) Senior Manager
9 15 (2.27%) Service Manager
9 15 (2.27%) Solutions Architect
10 13 (1.97%) Senior Analyst
10 13 (1.97%) Service Owner
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (8.18%) Terraform
2 14 (2.12%) REST
3 11 (1.67%) .NET
3 11 (1.67%) ARM Templates
4 10 (1.52%) Kafka
4 10 (1.52%) OAuth
4 10 (1.52%) PySpark
4 10 (1.52%) RESTful
4 10 (1.52%) SOAP
5 8 (1.21%) SAML
6 7 (1.06%) EDI
6 7 (1.06%) Middleware
6 7 (1.06%) OpenID
7 6 (0.91%) JSON
7 6 (0.91%) LDAP
8 5 (0.76%) GraphQL
8 5 (0.76%) HTML
8 5 (0.76%) OAuth2
8 5 (0.76%) React
9 4 (0.61%) gRPC
Miscellaneous
1 55 (8.33%) Product Ownership
2 37 (5.61%) Cloud Native
2 37 (5.61%) Onboarding
3 33 (5.00%) Management Information System
4 24 (3.64%) Operational Technology
5 18 (2.73%) Hybrid Cloud
5 18 (2.73%) Security Posture
6 15 (2.27%) CMDB
6 15 (2.27%) Data Centre
7 14 (2.12%) Cyber Threat
8 13 (1.97%) PMI
9 12 (1.82%) Enterprise Software
10 11 (1.67%) Analytical Mindset
10 11 (1.67%) Data Protection Act
10 11 (1.67%) Security Operations Centre
10 11 (1.67%) Self-Motivation
10 11 (1.67%) Virtual Team
11 10 (1.52%) Social Media
12 8 (1.21%) Graphic Design
12 8 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 76 (11.52%) Windows
2 35 (5.30%) Linux
3 23 (3.48%) Windows Server
4 7 (1.06%) Windows Server 2019
5 5 (0.76%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 2 (0.30%) Windows 10
7 1 (0.15%) Embedded Linux
7 1 (0.15%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.15%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 240 (36.36%) Agile
2 197 (29.85%) Problem-Solving
3 185 (28.03%) Stakeholder Management
4 147 (22.27%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 122 (18.48%) ITIL
6 102 (15.45%) Decision-Making
6 102 (15.45%) Roadmaps
7 92 (13.94%) Service Delivery
8 91 (13.79%) CI/CD
9 90 (13.64%) Service Management
10 89 (13.48%) DevOps
11 79 (11.97%) Cybersecurity
12 74 (11.21%) Change Management
13 73 (11.06%) ITSM
13 73 (11.06%) Project Delivery
14 69 (10.45%) Validation
15 65 (9.85%) Infrastructure as Code
16 60 (9.09%) Project Management
17 59 (8.94%) AI
17 59 (8.94%) PRINCE2
Programming Languages
1 84 (12.73%) Python
2 76 (11.52%) SQL
3 50 (7.58%) PowerShell
4 28 (4.24%) Bash
5 17 (2.58%) Java
6 9 (1.36%) Bicep
7 7 (1.06%) C#
7 7 (1.06%) JavaScript
8 6 (0.91%) Apex Code
9 5 (0.76%) Go
9 5 (0.76%) TypeScript
10 4 (0.61%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.45%) PL/SQL
11 3 (0.45%) Rust
12 2 (0.30%) Kusto Query Language
12 2 (0.30%) Magik
13 1 (0.15%) ABAP
13 1 (0.15%) Groovy
13 1 (0.15%) R
13 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 326 (49.39%) Security Cleared
2 174 (26.36%) SC Cleared
3 125 (18.94%) DV Cleared
4 108 (16.36%) Degree
5 35 (5.30%) PMI Certification
6 24 (3.64%) PMP
7 21 (3.18%) Computer Science Degree
8 19 (2.88%) Azure Certification
9 16 (2.42%) BPSS Clearance
9 16 (2.42%) CISSP
10 15 (2.27%) ACCA
10 15 (2.27%) CIMA
11 14 (2.12%) AWS Certification
11 14 (2.12%) ITIL Certification
12 11 (1.67%) Cisco Certification
13 9 (1.36%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
14 7 (1.06%) PRINCE2 Certification
15 6 (0.91%) CCNP
15 6 (0.91%) Microsoft Certification
15 6 (0.91%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (8.18%) QA
2 53 (8.03%) PMO
3 50 (7.58%) Data Quality
4 32 (4.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 23 (3.48%) NIST
6 19 (2.88%) GDPR
7 17 (2.58%) SLA
8 13 (1.97%) NCSC
9 10 (1.52%) ISO 9001
10 8 (1.21%) Cyber Essentials
11 7 (1.06%) GRC
12 5 (0.76%) Def Stans
12 5 (0.76%) ISO 22301
12 5 (0.76%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.30%) Accessibility
13 2 (0.30%) Disclosure Scotland
13 2 (0.30%) ISO 31000
13 2 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 2 (0.30%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 1 (0.15%) California Consumer Privacy Act
System Software
1 31 (4.70%) Active Directory
2 26 (3.94%) Docker
2 26 (3.94%) VMware Infrastructure
3 8 (1.21%) IAG
4 7 (1.06%) vSphere
5 6 (0.91%) VMware NSX
6 5 (0.76%) Virtual Desktop
6 5 (0.76%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (0.61%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.45%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 50 (7.58%) Kubernetes
2 36 (5.45%) Ansible
3 11 (1.67%) Grafana
4 10 (1.52%) Microsoft Intune
5 9 (1.36%) WMI
6 8 (1.21%) Puppet
7 7 (1.06%) Prometheus
7 7 (1.06%) SCCM
8 5 (0.76%) Progress Chef
9 4 (0.61%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 3 (0.45%) MOM
10 3 (0.45%) Podman
10 3 (0.45%) Single Sign-On
11 2 (0.30%) Argo
11 2 (0.30%) CASB
11 2 (0.30%) CSIRT
11 2 (0.30%) Istio
11 2 (0.30%) vCenter Server
11 2 (0.30%) vRealize
11 2 (0.30%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 135 (20.45%) Microsoft
2 46 (6.97%) SAP
3 44 (6.67%) ServiceNow
4 33 (5.00%) VMware
5 25 (3.79%) Oracle
6 17 (2.58%) Databricks
6 17 (2.58%) Salesforce
7 14 (2.12%) Google
8 11 (1.67%) Dynatrace
8 11 (1.67%) Juniper
9 8 (1.21%) Cisco
9 8 (1.21%) Nexthink
9 8 (1.21%) Workday
10 6 (0.91%) Baan
10 6 (0.91%) Red Hat
10 6 (0.91%) Splunk
10 6 (0.91%) Virgin Media
11 5 (0.76%) SolarWinds
12 4 (0.61%) Aruba
12 4 (0.61%) Infoblox