Reference Data Management Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Reference Data Management
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Reference Data Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 13 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 388 341 389
Rank change year-on-year -47 +48 +85
Contract jobs citing Reference Data Management 4 3 8
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.022% 0.022% 0.041%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.026% 0.025% 0.047%
Number of daily rates quoted 4 0 7
10th Percentile £462 - £500
25th Percentile £470 - £531
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £563 - £625
Median % change year-on-year - - +8.70%
75th Percentile £663 - £738
90th Percentile £685 - £758
UK median daily rate £475 £750 £625
% change year-on-year -36.67% +20.00% -

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

Reference Data Management 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 UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 15,442 12,054 16,983
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 85.18% 87.99% 87.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,457 7,040 10,848
10th Percentile £222 £239 £250
25th Percentile £375 £380 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £575 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £685 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,678 680 1,283
10th Percentile £14.37 £15.48 £14.16
25th Percentile £17.25 £20.00 £16.96
Median hourly rate £23.83 £30.00 £43.75
Median % change year-on-year -20.58% -31.43% +51.38%
75th Percentile £55.00 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.03 £73.75 £76.53
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £31.69 £40.50
% change year-on-year -20.64% -21.75% +15.71%

Reference Data Management
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Reference Data Management relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Reference Data Management job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Reference Data Management
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Reference Data Management.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Reference Data Management

Reference Data Management
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Reference Data Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 13 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Reference Data Management in the UK excluding London

Reference Data Management
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Reference Data Management within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 13 January 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
South East -17 3 £650 - 1
West Midlands -35 1 £475 -
Midlands -44 1 £475 -
Reference Data Management
UK

Reference Data Management
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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:

General
1 2 (50.00%) Analytical Skills
2 1 (25.00%) Presentation Skills
2 1 (25.00%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 2 (50.00%) Consultant
1 2 (50.00%) Data Consultant
1 2 (50.00%) Reference Data Specialist
2 1 (25.00%) Data Management Specialist
2 1 (25.00%) Management Consultant
Miscellaneous
1 4 (100.00%) Reference Data
2 1 (25.00%) Analytical Mindset
2 1 (25.00%) Management Information System
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (100.00%) Data Governance
1 4 (100.00%) Data Management
2 3 (75.00%) Change Management
2 3 (75.00%) DAMA
3 2 (50.00%) Problem-Solving
3 2 (50.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 2 (50.00%) Stakeholder Management
4 1 (25.00%) Computer Science
4 1 (25.00%) Data Lineage
4 1 (25.00%) Data Science
4 1 (25.00%) Data-Driven Decision Making
4 1 (25.00%) Decision-Making
Qualifications
1 1 (25.00%) Computer Science Degree
1 1 (25.00%) Degree