IT Manager Contract Job Trends

IT Manager
UK

The median IT Manager daily rate in the UK is £525, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 26 December 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 289 195 192
Rank change year-on-year -94 -3 +11
Contract jobs requiring an IT Manager 333 456 556
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.90% 1.35% 1.27%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.98% 1.46% 1.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 212 284 398
10th Percentile £326 £350 £362
25th Percentile £420 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £505 £540
Median % change year-on-year +3.96% -6.48% +2.86%
75th Percentile £628 £600 £625
90th Percentile £688 £700 £716
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% +5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 11 5
10th Percentile - £23.80 £34.20
25th Percentile - - £45.00
Median hourly rate £60.00 £35.00 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +71.43% -36.36% -12.00%
75th Percentile £70.00 £55.63 £57.00
90th Percentile £92.28 £68.75 £76.80
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £66.25 £45.00
% change year-on-year -9.43% +47.22% -30.77%

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 33,882 31,304 40,866
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.12% 92.76% 93.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,416 19,227 27,402
10th Percentile £294 £300 £285
25th Percentile £405 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £615 £638 £640
90th Percentile £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £488 £500
% change year-on-year -2.56% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,989 974 1,553
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.50 £14.51
25th Percentile £18.25 £21.05 £19.12
Median hourly rate £26.00 £33.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -21.21% -26.67% +46.39%
75th Percentile £57.50 £62.65 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.46 £73.75 £76.95
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £45.88
% change year-on-year -22.62% -29.16% +83.52%

IT Manager
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'IT Manager' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

IT Manager job vacancy trend in the UK

IT Manager
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for IT Manager job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for IT Manager job vacancies in the UK

IT Manager
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing IT Manager over the 6 months to 26 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for IT Manager in the UK

IT Manager
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for IT Manager job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for IT Manager job vacancies in the UK

IT Manager
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing IT Manager over the 6 months to 26 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for IT Manager in the UK

IT Manager
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing IT Manager within the UK over the 6 months to 26 December 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 -90 290 £525 - 377
UK excluding London -109 179 £500 - 353
London -11 122 £575 +4.55% 76
Work from Home -54 113 £525 -4.55% 93
Midlands -73 41 £525 - 84
North of England -86 41 £500 +11.11% 80
South East -31 37 £525 -2.33% 103
South West -12 28 £450 -10.89% 28
West Midlands -58 28 £513 -10.87% 50
North West -50 20 £525 +61.54% 44
Yorkshire -40 19 £500 +11.11% 26
East of England -18 17 £500 -16.67% 40
East Midlands -21 13 £525 +23.53% 32
Scotland -19 12 £425 -5.03% 10
Northern Ireland -4 2 - - 2
North East -12 2 £370 -26.00% 12
Wales +1 1 - - 12

IT Manager Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 26 December 2025, IT Manager contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring IT Manager in the job title.

1 106 (31.83%) Project Management
1 106 (31.83%) Stakeholder Management
2 64 (19.22%) Agile
3 60 (18.02%) Project Delivery
4 48 (14.41%) PRINCE2
5 43 (12.91%) Change Management
5 43 (12.91%) ITIL
6 42 (12.61%) Degree
7 41 (12.31%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 37 (11.11%) Cybersecurity
9 33 (9.91%) PMP
10 32 (9.61%) Security Cleared
11 31 (9.31%) Migration
11 31 (9.31%) PMI Certification
11 31 (9.31%) Problem-Solving
11 31 (9.31%) Waterfall
12 30 (9.01%) Microsoft
13 27 (8.11%) Continuous Improvement
14 26 (7.81%) Risk Management
15 25 (7.51%) SC Cleared
15 25 (7.51%) Service Delivery
16 24 (7.21%) SAP
16 24 (7.21%) ServiceNow
17 23 (6.91%) Budget Management
18 22 (6.61%) JIRA
19 21 (6.31%) Service Management
20 18 (5.41%) ITSM
21 17 (5.11%) Decision-Making
21 17 (5.11%) ERP
21 17 (5.11%) Logistics

IT Manager Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 9 (2.70%) SharePoint
2 6 (1.80%) Confluence
3 2 (0.60%) IIS
4 1 (0.30%) Documentum
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.30%) Mule
Applications
1 17 (5.11%) Microsoft Excel
1 17 (5.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 16 (4.80%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (4.20%) Microsoft Project
4 11 (3.30%) MS Visio
5 4 (1.20%) Trello
6 1 (0.30%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 4 (1.20%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.60%) Oracle ERP
2 2 (0.60%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.60%) SAP MDG
2 2 (0.60%) SAP MM
2 2 (0.60%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.60%) Teamcenter
2 2 (0.60%) TrackWise
3 1 (0.30%) Loan IQ
3 1 (0.30%) Maximo
3 1 (0.30%) NEC Housing
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Financials
3 1 (0.30%) PRMS
3 1 (0.30%) Salesforce CRM
3 1 (0.30%) SAP HCM
3 1 (0.30%) SAP PLM
3 1 (0.30%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 15 (4.50%) Azure
2 14 (4.20%) SaaS
3 13 (3.90%) IaaS
4 10 (3.00%) Microsoft 365
5 8 (2.40%) AWS
6 7 (2.10%) GCP
7 5 (1.50%) Power Platform
8 4 (1.20%) Entra ID
9 3 (0.90%) Google Workspace
9 3 (0.90%) Smartsheet
9 3 (0.90%) SuccessFactors
10 2 (0.60%) Dynamics 365
10 2 (0.60%) OneDrive
10 2 (0.60%) Rubrik
11 1 (0.30%) Azure API Management
11 1 (0.30%) Azure DevOps
11 1 (0.30%) GitHub
11 1 (0.30%) Google Drive
11 1 (0.30%) Veeva
11 1 (0.30%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 7 (2.10%) LAN
2 6 (1.80%) WAN
3 5 (1.50%) Structured Cabling
4 4 (1.20%) Network Security
4 4 (1.20%) Wi-Fi
5 3 (0.90%) Firewall
6 2 (0.60%) SD-WAN
7 1 (0.30%) DHCP
7 1 (0.30%) DNS
7 1 (0.30%) Intranet
7 1 (0.30%) TCP/IP
7 1 (0.30%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (1.20%) Electronic Patient Records
1 4 (1.20%) Power BI
2 3 (0.90%) Oracle Reports
2 3 (0.90%) SQL Server
3 2 (0.60%) Tableau
4 1 (0.30%) EDRMS
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle Database
4 1 (0.30%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 22 (6.61%) JIRA
2 2 (0.60%) Jenkins
2 2 (0.60%) LSMW
3 1 (0.30%) GitLab
3 1 (0.30%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 115 (34.53%) Finance
2 97 (29.13%) Social Skills
3 28 (8.41%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (7.51%) Banking
5 20 (6.01%) Manufacturing
6 18 (5.41%) Legal
6 18 (5.41%) Public Sector
7 11 (3.30%) Telecoms
8 10 (3.00%) Pharmaceutical
9 9 (2.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 8 (2.40%) Organisational Skills
11 7 (2.10%) Retail
12 6 (1.80%) Influencing Skills
13 5 (1.50%) Aviation
13 5 (1.50%) Marketing
14 4 (1.20%) Documentation Skills
14 4 (1.20%) Financial Institution
14 4 (1.20%) Japanese Language
14 4 (1.20%) Military
15 3 (0.90%) Automotive
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (0.90%) SAP Fiori
2 2 (0.60%) WF
3 1 (0.30%) ADO
3 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Graph
3 1 (0.30%) OpenID
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Fusion
3 1 (0.30%) SAML
3 1 (0.30%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 14 (4.20%) Onboarding
2 12 (3.60%) Management Information System
3 11 (3.30%) Data Centre
4 8 (2.40%) CMDB
4 8 (2.40%) NHS
4 8 (2.40%) Virtual Team
5 7 (2.10%) Life Science
6 6 (1.80%) Analytical Mindset
7 5 (1.50%) Data Protection Act
8 4 (1.20%) Legacy Systems
8 4 (1.20%) LIMS
9 3 (0.90%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (0.90%) EPoS
9 3 (0.90%) FMCG
9 3 (0.90%) Operational Technology
9 3 (0.90%) PMI
10 2 (0.60%) Product Ownership
10 2 (0.60%) Replication
10 2 (0.60%) Security Operations Centre
10 2 (0.60%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 15 (4.50%) Windows
2 3 (0.90%) Linux
2 3 (0.90%) Windows 10
3 2 (0.60%) Mac OS
3 2 (0.60%) OpenVMS
3 2 (0.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.30%) Unix
4 1 (0.30%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 106 (31.83%) Project Management
1 106 (31.83%) Stakeholder Management
2 64 (19.22%) Agile
3 60 (18.02%) Project Delivery
4 48 (14.41%) PRINCE2
5 43 (12.91%) Change Management
5 43 (12.91%) ITIL
6 41 (12.31%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 37 (11.11%) Cybersecurity
8 31 (9.31%) Migration
8 31 (9.31%) Problem-Solving
8 31 (9.31%) Waterfall
9 27 (8.11%) Continuous Improvement
10 26 (7.81%) Risk Management
11 25 (7.51%) Service Delivery
12 23 (6.91%) Budget Management
13 21 (6.31%) Service Management
14 18 (5.41%) ITSM
15 17 (5.11%) ERP
15 17 (5.11%) Logistics
Programming Languages
1 3 (0.90%) SQL
2 2 (0.60%) Python
3 1 (0.30%) ABAP
3 1 (0.30%) Java
3 1 (0.30%) PowerShell
3 1 (0.30%) VB
Qualifications
1 42 (12.61%) Degree
2 33 (9.91%) PMP
3 32 (9.61%) Security Cleared
4 31 (9.31%) PMI Certification
5 25 (7.51%) SC Cleared
6 7 (2.10%) PRINCE2 Certification
7 4 (1.20%) Computer Science Degree
7 4 (1.20%) DV Cleared
8 3 (0.90%) CISSP
8 3 (0.90%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 3 (0.90%) Master's Degree
8 3 (0.90%) MBA
9 2 (0.60%) ACSP
9 2 (0.60%) ACTC
9 2 (0.60%) CISM
10 1 (0.30%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 1 (0.30%) Azure Certification
10 1 (0.30%) CISMP
10 1 (0.30%) PgMP
10 1 (0.30%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (4.80%) PMO
2 14 (4.20%) SLA
3 9 (2.70%) GDPR
3 9 (2.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 6 (1.80%) QA
5 4 (1.20%) GxP
5 4 (1.20%) NIST
6 3 (0.90%) Data Quality
6 3 (0.90%) ISO/IEC 19770
6 3 (0.90%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 2 (0.60%) Accessibility
7 2 (0.60%) COBIT
7 2 (0.60%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.60%) GMP
7 2 (0.60%) MiFID
8 1 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 1 (0.30%) HL7
8 1 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.30%) ITGC
8 1 (0.30%) NIST 800
System Software
1 13 (3.90%) Active Directory
2 1 (0.30%) Virtual Desktop
2 1 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 3 (0.90%) Microsoft Intune
2 2 (0.60%) Jamf Pro
2 2 (0.60%) RSA Archer
3 1 (0.30%) Ansible
3 1 (0.30%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.30%) Single Sign-On
3 1 (0.30%) Terraform
Vendors
1 30 (9.01%) Microsoft
2 24 (7.21%) SAP
2 24 (7.21%) ServiceNow
3 14 (4.20%) Oracle
4 10 (3.00%) Ariba
5 6 (1.80%) Google
6 4 (1.20%) Cisco
6 4 (1.20%) Workday
7 3 (0.90%) Arista
7 3 (0.90%) Salesforce
7 3 (0.90%) Snow
8 2 (0.60%) Apple
8 2 (0.60%) Guidewire
8 2 (0.60%) IBM
8 2 (0.60%) IFS
8 2 (0.60%) Red Hat
8 2 (0.60%) Remedy
8 2 (0.60%) Siemens
9 1 (0.30%) BMC
9 1 (0.30%) JD Edwards