Category Manager Contracts

Category Manager
UK

The median Category Manager daily rate in the UK is £450, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 1 May 2025.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 504 558 693
Rank change year-on-year +54 +135 +148
Contract jobs requiring a Category Manager 16 24 25
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.055% 0.055% 0.042%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.059% 0.059% 0.044%
Number of daily rates quoted 11 15 19
10th Percentile - £450 £363
25th Percentile £425 £534 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £626 £550
Median % change year-on-year -28.06% +13.73% -
75th Percentile £500 £663 £625
90th Percentile - £700 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £619 £550
% change year-on-year -27.30% +12.55% +34.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 0 2
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - - £31.17
Median hourly rate - - £31.92
75th Percentile - - £32.67
90th Percentile - - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate - - -

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 27,084 40,415 56,464
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.52% 92.78% 94.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,692 26,309 39,470
10th Percentile £300 £275 £313
25th Percentile £406 £410 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £525 £540
Median % change year-on-year -1.90% -2.78% +2.86%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £492 £500
% change year-on-year -3.46% -1.60% +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,035 2,664 1,570
10th Percentile £14.07 £12.86 £14.29
25th Percentile £18.50 £16.30 £19.50
Median hourly rate £29.00 £36.42 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -20.37% -19.07% +91.49%
75th Percentile £62.50 £60.75 £65.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £75.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £39.55 £42.50
% change year-on-year -29.20% -6.94% +117.95%

Category Manager
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings that featured Category Manager in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Category Manager in the UK

Category Manager
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Category Manager.

Daily rate trend for Category Manager in the UK

Category Manager
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Category Manager over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Category Manager in the UK

Category Manager
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Category Manager.

Hourly rate trend for Category Manager in the UK

Category Manager
Top 9 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Category Manager within the UK over the 6 months to 1 May 2025. 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
England +52 9 £450 -25.00% 43
Work from Home +39 7 £450 -28.06% 28
UK excluding London +53 6 £450 -27.30% 27
London +36 3 £388 -44.64% 20
South West +47 2 £450 - 1
South East +42 2 - - 8
East of England +29 1 - - 1
East Midlands - 1 - - 2
Midlands - 1 - - 6

Category Manager Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities

For the 6 months to 1 May 2025, Category Manager contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Category Manager in the job title.

1 6 (37.50%) Stakeholder Management
2 5 (31.25%) Public Sector
3 4 (25.00%) Microsoft
3 4 (25.00%) Oracle
3 4 (25.00%) AWS
4 3 (18.75%) Data Analysis
4 3 (18.75%) Risk Management
4 3 (18.75%) Organisational Skills
4 3 (18.75%) Supplier Relationship Management
4 3 (18.75%) Contract Management
4 3 (18.75%) IT Strategy
4 3 (18.75%) Budget Management
5 2 (12.50%) Business Strategy
5 2 (12.50%) Roadmaps
5 2 (12.50%) Continuous Improvement
5 2 (12.50%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 2 (12.50%) Retail
5 2 (12.50%) Analytical Skills
5 2 (12.50%) Cost Reduction
5 2 (12.50%) Contract Negotiation
5 2 (12.50%) Telecoms
5 2 (12.50%) Finance
5 2 (12.50%) Supplier Management
5 2 (12.50%) Marketing
6 1 (6.25%) Degree
6 1 (6.25%) Digital Marketing
6 1 (6.25%) Product Marketing
6 1 (6.25%) Performance Management
6 1 (6.25%) SC Cleared
6 1 (6.25%) Security Cleared

Category Manager Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Cloud Services
1 4 (25.00%) AWS
2 1 (6.25%) SaaS
General
1 5 (31.25%) Public Sector
2 3 (18.75%) Organisational Skills
3 2 (12.50%) Analytical Skills
3 2 (12.50%) Finance
3 2 (12.50%) Marketing
3 2 (12.50%) Retail
3 2 (12.50%) Telecoms
4 1 (6.25%) Advertising
4 1 (6.25%) Inclusion and Diversity
4 1 (6.25%) Influencing Skills
4 1 (6.25%) Legal
4 1 (6.25%) Local Government
4 1 (6.25%) Social Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (6.25%) ATL
Miscellaneous
1 1 (6.25%) Analytical Mindset
Processes & Methodologies
1 6 (37.50%) Stakeholder Management
2 3 (18.75%) Budget Management
2 3 (18.75%) Contract Management
2 3 (18.75%) Data Analysis
2 3 (18.75%) IT Strategy
2 3 (18.75%) Risk Management
2 3 (18.75%) Supplier Relationship Management
3 2 (12.50%) Business Strategy
3 2 (12.50%) Continuous Improvement
3 2 (12.50%) Contract Negotiation
3 2 (12.50%) Cost Reduction
3 2 (12.50%) Roadmaps
3 2 (12.50%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 2 (12.50%) Supplier Management
4 1 (6.25%) Benchmarking
4 1 (6.25%) Digital Marketing
4 1 (6.25%) E-Procurement
4 1 (6.25%) ITIL
4 1 (6.25%) Service Delivery
4 1 (6.25%) Supply Chain Management
Qualifications
1 1 (6.25%) Degree
1 1 (6.25%) SC Cleared
1 1 (6.25%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (6.25%) SLA
Vendors
1 4 (25.00%) Microsoft
1 4 (25.00%) Oracle