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

6 months to
1 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 34 35
Rank change year-on-year +20 +1 +31
Contract jobs citing Continuous Improvement 622 191 229
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 9.32% 5.48% 4.54%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.49% 6.08% 5.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 368 113 124
10th Percentile £325 £325 £363
25th Percentile £425 £441 £456
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £525
75th Percentile £600 £600 £650
90th Percentile £688 £645 £688
England median daily rate £513 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 69 13 16
10th Percentile £47.75 - £18.35
25th Percentile £80.50 £15.13 £25.49
Median hourly rate £85.40 £19.91 £34.50
Median % change year-on-year +328.93% -42.29% -31.00%
75th Percentile £88.00 £67.50 £54.06
90th Percentile £89.90 £70.16 £58.75
England median hourly rate £48.00 £29.78 £50.00
% change year-on-year +61.20% -40.45% -13.04%

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 5,413 3,142 4,182
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 81.11% 90.21% 82.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,373 1,961 2,521
10th Percentile £280 £250 £262
25th Percentile £413 £400 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -3.85% +0.39%
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 565 280 338
10th Percentile £15.26 £13.50 £14.85
25th Percentile £25.72 £15.13 £23.06
Median hourly rate £55.00 £21.99 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +150.17% -61.67% +14.70%
75th Percentile £81.05 £51.02 £70.00
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £77.14
England median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £42.03
% change year-on-year +78.93% -40.16% -1.11%

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 1 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 1 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 1 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 +20 296 £525 +5.00% 255
Berkshire +26 220 £515 +2.90% 135
Hampshire +18 180 £550 -8.33% 165
Surrey +15 62 £450 -10.00% 87
Buckinghamshire -10 60 £563 +2.27% 62
West Sussex -2 38 £490 +17.01% 25
Oxfordshire -11 16 £650 +44.44% 60
Middlesex - 15 - - 5
Kent +5 6 £405 +12.63% 56
East Sussex +1 5 £615 +11.82% 16
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 26 (4.18%) SharePoint
2 17 (2.73%) Confluence
3 4 (0.64%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.32%) Oracle Application Server
5 1 (0.16%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.16%) SharePoint 2010
5 1 (0.16%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 51 (8.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 20 (3.22%) Microsoft Project
3 16 (2.57%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (1.93%) Microsoft Office
5 2 (0.32%) 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 15 (2.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.96%) Primavera
3 4 (0.64%) Oracle ERP
4 3 (0.48%) iTrent
4 3 (0.48%) Maximo
4 3 (0.48%) Remedy ITSM
4 3 (0.48%) Salesforce CRM
4 3 (0.48%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.32%) NEC Housing
5 2 (0.32%) SAP SD
5 2 (0.32%) Teamcenter
6 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS R12
6 1 (0.16%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.16%) SAP BPC
6 1 (0.16%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.16%) SAP Convergent Charging
6 1 (0.16%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.16%) SAP PLM
6 1 (0.16%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 108 (17.36%) Azure
2 75 (12.06%) AWS
3 38 (6.11%) Power Platform
4 32 (5.14%) GCP
5 19 (3.05%) Entra ID
5 19 (3.05%) GitHub
5 19 (3.05%) SaaS
6 18 (2.89%) Azure DevOps
7 16 (2.57%) Microsoft 365
8 13 (2.09%) GitHub Actions
9 11 (1.77%) Serverless
10 9 (1.45%) AWS CloudFormation
11 8 (1.29%) Azure Monitor
11 8 (1.29%) Datadog
11 8 (1.29%) OCI
12 7 (1.13%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 7 (1.13%) Amazon EKS
12 7 (1.13%) OpenShift
13 6 (0.96%) Azure AKS
13 6 (0.96%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 26 (4.18%) Network Security
2 24 (3.86%) DNS
3 17 (2.73%) Firewall
4 14 (2.25%) LAN
5 9 (1.45%) DHCP
6 8 (1.29%) Broadband
6 8 (1.29%) TCP/IP
7 7 (1.13%) WAN
7 7 (1.13%) Wireless
8 6 (0.96%) SD-WAN
8 6 (0.96%) VPN
8 6 (0.96%) Wi-Fi
9 4 (0.64%) DNSSEC
9 4 (0.64%) VLAN
10 3 (0.48%) Intranet
10 3 (0.48%) Intrusion Detection
10 3 (0.48%) MQTT
10 3 (0.48%) Radio Access Network
11 2 (0.32%) Cisco Nexus
11 2 (0.32%) Modbus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (5.63%) Power BI
2 13 (2.09%) Data Warehouse
3 8 (1.29%) Metadata
3 8 (1.29%) PostgreSQL
3 8 (1.29%) Tableau
4 7 (1.13%) Oracle Reports
5 6 (0.96%) Spark SQL
6 4 (0.64%) Geospatial Data
6 4 (0.64%) GIS
6 4 (0.64%) Redis
6 4 (0.64%) SQL Server
7 3 (0.48%) Big Data
7 3 (0.48%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.48%) DynamoDB
7 3 (0.48%) Elasticsearch
7 3 (0.48%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.32%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.32%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.32%) Oracle ODI
8 2 (0.32%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 31 (4.98%) JIRA
2 27 (4.34%) Rational DOORS
3 15 (2.41%) GitLab
4 13 (2.09%) Jenkins
5 11 (1.77%) Git
6 5 (0.80%) SonarQube
7 3 (0.48%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.48%) Hudson
8 2 (0.32%) REST Assured
8 2 (0.32%) Selenium
8 2 (0.32%) Sonatype Nexus
8 2 (0.32%) SpecFlow
9 1 (0.16%) ERwin
9 1 (0.16%) JUnit
9 1 (0.16%) Mockito
9 1 (0.16%) MSI
9 1 (0.16%) Postman
9 1 (0.16%) SoapUI
9 1 (0.16%) Subversion
9 1 (0.16%) TestRail
General
1 275 (44.21%) Social Skills
2 172 (27.65%) Analytical Skills
3 121 (19.45%) Finance
4 68 (10.93%) Public Sector
5 59 (9.49%) Aerospace
6 33 (5.31%) Organisational Skills
7 24 (3.86%) Influencing Skills
8 21 (3.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 21 (3.38%) Retail
9 17 (2.73%) Documentation Skills
9 17 (2.73%) Telecoms
10 16 (2.57%) French Language
10 16 (2.57%) Spanish Language
11 15 (2.41%) Legal
12 9 (1.45%) Law
12 9 (1.45%) Military
13 8 (1.29%) Games
13 8 (1.29%) Presentation Skills
14 6 (0.96%) Aviation
14 6 (0.96%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 91 (14.63%) Analyst
2 80 (12.86%) Lead
3 62 (9.97%) Senior
4 52 (8.36%) Architect
5 43 (6.91%) Delivery Manager
6 40 (6.43%) Product Manager
7 29 (4.66%) Product Delivery Manager
8 27 (4.34%) IT Manager
9 22 (3.54%) Data Analyst
9 22 (3.54%) Systems Delivery Manager
9 22 (3.54%) Systems Manager
10 18 (2.89%) Consultant
11 16 (2.57%) 2nd Line Support
11 16 (2.57%) 2nd Line Technical Support
11 16 (2.57%) Senior Analyst
11 16 (2.57%) Technical Support
12 15 (2.41%) Solutions Architect
13 14 (2.25%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 14 (2.25%) Project Manager
13 14 (2.25%) Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (2.09%) REST
2 11 (1.77%) OAuth
2 11 (1.77%) RESTful
2 11 (1.77%) SOAP
3 10 (1.61%) .NET
4 9 (1.45%) Kafka
5 8 (1.29%) PySpark
5 8 (1.29%) SAML
6 7 (1.13%) EDI
6 7 (1.13%) JSON
6 7 (1.13%) OpenID
7 6 (0.96%) ARM Templates
7 6 (0.96%) GraphQL
7 6 (0.96%) LDAP
7 6 (0.96%) OAuth2
7 6 (0.96%) XML
8 5 (0.80%) Keycloak
8 5 (0.80%) Middleware
8 5 (0.80%) React
8 5 (0.80%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 77 (12.38%) Product Ownership
2 35 (5.63%) Onboarding
3 30 (4.82%) Cloud Native
4 29 (4.66%) Management Information System
5 25 (4.02%) Data Structures
6 23 (3.70%) Operational Technology
7 22 (3.54%) Security Posture
8 16 (2.57%) Data Centre
9 14 (2.25%) Analytical Mindset
10 13 (2.09%) Hybrid Cloud
11 12 (1.93%) CMDB
11 12 (1.93%) Cyber Threat
11 12 (1.93%) Data Protection Act
11 12 (1.93%) Legacy Systems
11 12 (1.93%) Self-Motivation
12 11 (1.77%) PMI
13 10 (1.61%) Enterprise Software
13 10 (1.61%) Security Operations Centre
14 8 (1.29%) Animation
14 8 (1.29%) Graphic Design
Operating Systems
1 61 (9.81%) Windows
2 27 (4.34%) Linux
3 18 (2.89%) Windows Server
4 7 (1.13%) Windows Server 2019
5 4 (0.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.16%) Embedded Linux
6 1 (0.16%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.16%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 213 (34.24%) Agile
2 158 (25.40%) Stakeholder Management
3 154 (24.76%) Problem-Solving
4 150 (24.12%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 106 (17.04%) ITIL
6 92 (14.79%) Decision-Making
7 85 (13.67%) Service Delivery
8 83 (13.34%) Roadmaps
9 79 (12.70%) Service Management
10 75 (12.06%) Cybersecurity
11 74 (11.90%) ITSM
12 72 (11.58%) CI/CD
13 69 (11.09%) DevOps
14 61 (9.81%) Change Management
15 59 (9.49%) PRINCE2
16 58 (9.32%) Project Delivery
17 56 (9.00%) Project Management
18 55 (8.84%) Computer Science
19 53 (8.52%) Risk Management
20 50 (8.04%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 59 (9.49%) SQL
2 57 (9.16%) Python
3 34 (5.47%) PowerShell
4 22 (3.54%) Bash
5 19 (3.05%) Java
6 9 (1.45%) C#
7 6 (0.96%) Bicep
7 6 (0.96%) JavaScript
8 5 (0.80%) TypeScript
9 4 (0.64%) Apex Code
9 4 (0.64%) PL/SQL
9 4 (0.64%) Shell Script
10 3 (0.48%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.48%) Go
10 3 (0.48%) Rust
11 2 (0.32%) ABAP
11 2 (0.32%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.32%) T-SQL
12 1 (0.16%) VB
12 1 (0.16%) VBA
Qualifications
1 309 (49.68%) Security Cleared
2 159 (25.56%) SC Cleared
3 111 (17.85%) Degree
4 96 (15.43%) DV Cleared
5 32 (5.14%) PMI Certification
6 23 (3.70%) PMP
7 18 (2.89%) ACCA
7 18 (2.89%) CIMA
8 16 (2.57%) Azure Certification
9 15 (2.41%) BPSS Clearance
10 13 (2.09%) AWS Certification
10 13 (2.09%) CISSP
11 11 (1.77%) Cisco Certification
11 11 (1.77%) Computer Science Degree
12 8 (1.29%) CCNP
12 8 (1.29%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 6 (0.96%) ITIL Certification
13 6 (0.96%) Master's Degree
14 5 (0.80%) CCNA
14 5 (0.80%) Six Sigma Green Belt
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 49 (7.88%) QA
2 47 (7.56%) Data Quality
3 41 (6.59%) PMO
4 33 (5.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 23 (3.70%) NIST
6 19 (3.05%) SLA
7 18 (2.89%) GDPR
8 17 (2.73%) NCSC
9 9 (1.45%) Cyber Essentials
10 7 (1.13%) Accessibility
10 7 (1.13%) GRC
10 7 (1.13%) ISO 9001
11 4 (0.64%) ISO 31000
12 3 (0.48%) Def Stans
12 3 (0.48%) ISO 22301
12 3 (0.48%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.32%) Disclosure Scotland
13 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 2 (0.32%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 1 (0.16%) COBIT
System Software
1 27 (4.34%) Active Directory
2 25 (4.02%) Docker
3 24 (3.86%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.80%) Virtual Desktop
4 5 (0.80%) Virtual Machines
4 5 (0.80%) vSphere
5 4 (0.64%) IAG
5 4 (0.64%) VMware NSX
6 3 (0.48%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.32%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 40 (6.43%) Terraform
2 38 (6.11%) Kubernetes
3 27 (4.34%) Ansible
4 12 (1.93%) Grafana
5 8 (1.29%) Prometheus
5 8 (1.29%) Puppet
6 6 (0.96%) Microsoft Intune
6 6 (0.96%) SCCM
7 5 (0.80%) Progress Chef
8 4 (0.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 4 (0.64%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (0.48%) Argo
9 3 (0.48%) Podman
10 2 (0.32%) CASB
10 2 (0.32%) CSIRT
10 2 (0.32%) Nessus
10 2 (0.32%) Rancher
10 2 (0.32%) vCenter Server
10 2 (0.32%) WMI
11 1 (0.16%) Nmap
Vendors
1 95 (15.27%) Microsoft
2 53 (8.52%) ServiceNow
3 45 (7.23%) SAP
4 33 (5.31%) VMware
5 27 (4.34%) Oracle
6 25 (4.02%) IBM
7 14 (2.25%) Databricks
7 14 (2.25%) Google
8 13 (2.09%) Salesforce
9 12 (1.93%) Juniper
10 10 (1.61%) Cisco
11 8 (1.29%) Dynatrace
11 8 (1.29%) Workday
12 7 (1.13%) SolarWinds
12 7 (1.13%) Splunk
13 6 (0.96%) Baan
13 6 (0.96%) Virgin Media
14 5 (0.80%) Aruba
14 5 (0.80%) Palo Alto
14 5 (0.80%) Red Hat