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 23 June 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 251 238 198
Rank change year-on-year -13 -40 -15
Contract jobs requiring an IT Manager 501 343 512
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.99% 1.14% 1.17%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.07% 1.24% 1.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 309 233 349
10th Percentile £400 £363 £363
25th Percentile £456 £435 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £519 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.16% -1.14% -
75th Percentile £638 £613 £625
90th Percentile £725 £675 £676
UK excluding London median daily rate £511 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.20% -4.76% +5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 8 14
10th Percentile £28.75 £53.47 £21.19
25th Percentile £35.00 £62.50 £22.78
Median hourly rate £62.50 £72.50 £27.70
Median % change year-on-year -13.79% +161.76% -56.07%
75th Percentile £84.38 £77.81 £43.22
90th Percentile £95.00 £79.13 £58.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £72.78 £75.00 £25.28
% change year-on-year -2.97% +196.74% -51.21%

All Contract IT Job Roles
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 46,904 27,610 40,551
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.36% 92.14% 92.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,521 17,729 25,983
10th Percentile £325 £288 £281
25th Percentile £414 £402 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.50% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £493
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.60% -1.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,134 1,203 2,979
10th Percentile £15.38 £13.85 £12.86
25th Percentile £21.00 £17.44 £16.37
Median hourly rate £43.25 £27.38 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +57.99% -27.00% -14.77%
75th Percentile £67.50 £57.50 £62.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% -1.23%

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 23 June 2026.

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 23 June 2026.

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 23 June 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
England -37 421 £531 +1.19% 229
UK excluding London -10 287 £511 +2.20% 213
London -46 171 £600 +9.09% 61
Work from Home +1 165 £525 +1.74% 118
South East 0 94 £475 -9.52% 82
North of England -75 55 £525 +5.00% 50
Midlands -39 49 £575 +19.48% 35
West Midlands -49 41 £563 +18.42% 24
South West -15 34 £550 +5.77% 10
Scotland +7 31 £515 +3.00% 5
North West -39 29 £552 +10.30% 20
East of England -24 16 £500 -3.66% 17
Yorkshire -62 15 £414 -19.27% 25
North East -28 11 £775 +67.57% 6
Wales -7 8 £375 -23.08% 12
East Midlands -13 8 £638 +30.77% 11
Northern Ireland 0 2 £775 +82.35% 5

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

For the 6 months to 23 June 2026, 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.

1 174 (34.73%) Stakeholder Management
2 104 (20.76%) Project Management
3 98 (19.56%) ITIL
4 95 (18.96%) Agile
5 81 (16.17%) Continuous Improvement
6 75 (14.97%) Project Delivery
7 73 (14.57%) Service Management
8 70 (13.97%) Security Cleared
9 66 (13.17%) ITSM
10 61 (12.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 52 (10.38%) Azure
11 52 (10.38%) Service Delivery
12 50 (9.98%) Problem-Solving
13 48 (9.58%) Microsoft
14 47 (9.38%) Degree
15 46 (9.18%) Change Management
15 46 (9.18%) SC Cleared
15 46 (9.18%) ServiceNow
16 45 (8.98%) Decision-Making
17 43 (8.58%) PRINCE2
18 42 (8.38%) Risk Management
19 40 (7.98%) Migration
20 39 (7.78%) Roadmaps
21 35 (6.99%) JIRA
22 34 (6.79%) SAP
23 33 (6.59%) Budget Management
23 33 (6.59%) Cybersecurity
24 32 (6.39%) Microsoft 365
25 30 (5.99%) Supplier Management
26 28 (5.59%) Business Case

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 23 (4.59%) SharePoint
2 8 (1.60%) Confluence
3 6 (1.20%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 17 (3.39%) Microsoft Project
2 14 (2.79%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.80%) Microsoft Office
4 4 (0.80%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.60%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.40%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.20%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 6 (1.20%) NetSuite
2 4 (0.80%) NEC Housing
3 3 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.40%) Maximo
4 2 (0.40%) Primavera
5 1 (0.20%) assyst
5 1 (0.20%) Dynamics NAV
5 1 (0.20%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.20%) Oracle Retail
5 1 (0.20%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.20%) SAP Retail
5 1 (0.20%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.20%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 52 (10.38%) Azure
2 32 (6.39%) Microsoft 365
3 20 (3.99%) SaaS
4 15 (2.99%) AWS
5 12 (2.40%) Entra ID
6 11 (2.20%) Azure DevOps
7 10 (2.00%) Power Platform
8 7 (1.40%) Dynamics 365
9 5 (1.00%) GCP
10 3 (0.60%) Google Workspace
10 3 (0.60%) OneDrive
11 2 (0.40%) Azure API Management
11 2 (0.40%) Microsoft Copilot
11 2 (0.40%) WhatsApp
12 1 (0.20%) Azure Sentinel
12 1 (0.20%) ClickUp
12 1 (0.20%) GitHub
12 1 (0.20%) Nutanix
12 1 (0.20%) Rubrik
12 1 (0.20%) Smartsheet
Communications & Networking
1 8 (1.60%) Network Security
2 6 (1.20%) WAN
3 4 (0.80%) Firewall
3 4 (0.80%) LAN
4 3 (0.60%) DNS
4 3 (0.60%) SD-WAN
5 2 (0.40%) Wi-Fi
6 1 (0.20%) Broadband
6 1 (0.20%) BT 21CN
6 1 (0.20%) DHCP
6 1 (0.20%) Internet
6 1 (0.20%) Intranet
6 1 (0.20%) NaaS
6 1 (0.20%) RFID
6 1 (0.20%) Structured Cabling
6 1 (0.20%) Unified Communications
6 1 (0.20%) Wireless
6 1 (0.20%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (2.00%) Power BI
2 2 (0.40%) BusinessObjects
2 2 (0.40%) Data Warehouse
2 2 (0.40%) Electronic Patient Records
3 1 (0.20%) Data Lake
3 1 (0.20%) EDRMS
3 1 (0.20%) Metadata
3 1 (0.20%) Oracle Database
3 1 (0.20%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 35 (6.99%) JIRA
General
1 169 (33.73%) Social Skills
2 166 (33.13%) Finance
3 54 (10.78%) Public Sector
4 40 (7.98%) Analytical Skills
5 33 (6.59%) Legal
6 23 (4.59%) Manufacturing
7 20 (3.99%) Organisational Skills
8 19 (3.79%) Banking
9 18 (3.59%) Retail
10 13 (2.59%) Influencing Skills
11 12 (2.40%) Telecoms
12 11 (2.20%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 9 (1.80%) Aerospace
14 8 (1.60%) Law
15 7 (1.40%) Marketing
15 7 (1.40%) Pharmaceutical
16 6 (1.20%) Financial Institution
17 4 (0.80%) German Language
17 4 (0.80%) Japanese Language
17 4 (0.80%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (2.99%) Oracle Fusion
2 3 (0.60%) Middleware
3 2 (0.40%) ADO
4 1 (0.20%) JSON
4 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Graph
4 1 (0.20%) OpenID
4 1 (0.20%) SailPoint
4 1 (0.20%) SAML
4 1 (0.20%) SAP Fiori
4 1 (0.20%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 16 (3.19%) Data Centre
1 16 (3.19%) Onboarding
2 15 (2.99%) FMCG
3 12 (2.40%) Management Information System
4 11 (2.20%) Legacy Systems
5 10 (2.00%) Operational Technology
5 10 (2.00%) Product Ownership
6 8 (1.60%) Enterprise Software
7 7 (1.40%) CMDB
7 7 (1.40%) Virtual Team
8 5 (1.00%) PMI
9 4 (0.80%) Credit Risk
9 4 (0.80%) Mobile App
9 4 (0.80%) NHS
9 4 (0.80%) Reinsurance
9 4 (0.80%) Robotics
9 4 (0.80%) Self-Motivation
10 3 (0.60%) Analytical Mindset
10 3 (0.60%) Greenfield Project
11 2 (0.40%) Manufacturing Execution System
Operating Systems
1 22 (4.39%) Windows
2 4 (0.80%) Windows Server
3 1 (0.20%) Mac OS
3 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
3 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 174 (34.73%) Stakeholder Management
2 104 (20.76%) Project Management
3 98 (19.56%) ITIL
4 95 (18.96%) Agile
5 81 (16.17%) Continuous Improvement
6 75 (14.97%) Project Delivery
7 73 (14.57%) Service Management
8 66 (13.17%) ITSM
9 61 (12.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 52 (10.38%) Service Delivery
11 50 (9.98%) Problem-Solving
12 46 (9.18%) Change Management
13 45 (8.98%) Decision-Making
14 43 (8.58%) PRINCE2
15 42 (8.38%) Risk Management
16 40 (7.98%) Migration
17 39 (7.78%) Roadmaps
18 33 (6.59%) Budget Management
18 33 (6.59%) Cybersecurity
19 30 (5.99%) Supplier Management
Programming Languages
1 6 (1.20%) SQL
2 2 (0.40%) PowerShell
3 1 (0.20%) Python
Qualifications
1 70 (13.97%) Security Cleared
2 47 (9.38%) Degree
3 46 (9.18%) SC Cleared
4 27 (5.39%) PMP
5 26 (5.19%) ITIL Certification
6 23 (4.59%) PMI Certification
7 11 (2.20%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
8 10 (2.00%) CISSP
9 9 (1.80%) CISA
10 8 (1.60%) DV Cleared
11 5 (1.00%) PRINCE2 Certification
12 4 (0.80%) BPSS Clearance
12 4 (0.80%) CISM
12 4 (0.80%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
13 3 (0.60%) APMG
14 1 (0.20%) APMP
14 1 (0.20%) Azure Certification
14 1 (0.20%) CGEIT
14 1 (0.20%) Master's Degree
14 1 (0.20%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 20 (3.99%) PMO
2 14 (2.79%) COBIT
3 12 (2.40%) GRC
4 11 (2.20%) QA
4 11 (2.20%) SLA
5 9 (1.80%) GDPR
6 6 (1.20%) NIST
7 5 (1.00%) Cyber Essentials
8 4 (0.80%) GxP
8 4 (0.80%) PCI DSS
8 4 (0.80%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 3 (0.60%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 3 (0.60%) Data Quality
9 3 (0.60%) GMP
9 3 (0.60%) ISO 31000
9 3 (0.60%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 3 (0.60%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 3 (0.60%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.20%) SOC 1
System Software
1 14 (2.79%) Active Directory
2 4 (0.80%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (0.60%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.20%) KVM
4 1 (0.20%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.20%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 4 (0.80%) Microsoft Intune
2 2 (0.40%) RSA Archer
2 2 (0.40%) Terraform
2 2 (0.40%) vRealize
3 1 (0.20%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.20%) Single Sign-On
3 1 (0.20%) VxRail
Vendors
1 48 (9.58%) Microsoft
2 46 (9.18%) ServiceNow
3 34 (6.79%) SAP
4 26 (5.19%) Oracle
5 21 (4.19%) Ariba
6 13 (2.59%) Salesforce
7 6 (1.20%) VMware
8 3 (0.60%) Bloomberg
8 3 (0.60%) Cisco
8 3 (0.60%) Computacenter
8 3 (0.60%) Google
8 3 (0.60%) Refinitiv
8 3 (0.60%) Snow
8 3 (0.60%) SolarWinds
8 3 (0.60%) Workday
9 2 (0.40%) Autodesk
9 2 (0.40%) Kronos
9 2 (0.40%) Meraki
9 2 (0.40%) NEC
9 2 (0.40%) Northgate