Programme Management Contract Job Trends

Programme Management (Program Management)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Programme Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 28 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 264 182 138
Rank change year-on-year -82 -44 +11
Contract jobs citing Programme Management 536 505 687
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.99% 1.54% 1.80%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.17% 1.70% 2.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 318 304 375
10th Percentile £400 £173 £278
25th Percentile £463 £439 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £575 £550
Median % change year-on-year - +4.55% -6.78%
75th Percentile £700 £700 £700
90th Percentile £850 £825 £823
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £550 £525
% change year-on-year -4.55% +4.76% -7.41%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 35 18
10th Percentile £22.38 £18.34 £14.84
25th Percentile £31.44 £25.18 £22.50
Median hourly rate £45.00 £37.02 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +21.56% +5.77% -15.66%
75th Percentile £88.13 £65.25 £47.58
90th Percentile £103.55 £82.75 £81.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £72.50 £28.05 £23.99
% change year-on-year +158.51% +16.90% -46.69%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Programme 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.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 45,850 29,737 32,777
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.30% 90.62% 85.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,722 18,491 19,844
10th Percentile £325 £294 £308
25th Percentile £425 £403 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.78%
75th Percentile £630 £625 £638
90th Percentile £730 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,198 1,854 1,372
10th Percentile £13.69 £14.25 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.23 £17.30 £20.12
Median hourly rate £39.00 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +55.07% -40.82% -1.16%
75th Percentile £65.60 £43.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.72 £65.00 £74.49
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £22.32 £43.00
% change year-on-year +79.25% -48.10% +1.18%

Programme Management
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Programme Management relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Programme Management job vacancy trend in the UK

Programme Management
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Programme Management.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Programme Management

Programme Management
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Programme Management over the 6 months to 28 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Programme Management in the UK

Programme Management
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Programme Management.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Programme Management

Programme Management
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Programme Management over the 6 months to 28 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Programme Management in the UK

Programme Management
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 Programme Management within the UK over the 6 months to 28 September 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 -76 454 £585 -2.09% 726
London -30 263 £638 +2.82% 434
UK excluding London -109 222 £525 -4.55% 343
Work from Home -35 188 £550 -12.00% 276
South East -33 63 £575 -3.77% 86
North of England -63 56 £495 -10.09% 59
Scotland -23 35 £500 - 36
Yorkshire -20 34 £495 -12.48% 21
Midlands -61 29 £575 -4.17% 50
North West -66 21 £514 -4.81% 28
South West -86 20 £669 +21.59% 52
West Midlands -61 19 £550 -10.20% 36
East of England -18 18 £700 +12.00% 33
East Midlands -17 10 £638 +43.26% 14
Northern Ireland -3 2 £775 +369.70% 24
Wales -15 2 £425 +153.73% 8
North East -42 1 £350 -38.46% 10

Programme Management
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 26 (4.85%) Confluence
2 7 (1.31%) CMS
3 6 (1.12%) IIS
3 6 (1.12%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.37%) Apache
4 2 (0.37%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.37%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.37%) Apache Superset
4 2 (0.37%) Oracle Service Bus
4 2 (0.37%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 1 (0.19%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.19%) nginx
5 1 (0.19%) SAS
5 1 (0.19%) Tomcat
Applications
1 28 (5.22%) Microsoft Excel
2 27 (5.04%) Microsoft Project
3 26 (4.85%) Microsoft Office
4 22 (4.10%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.75%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.56%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.37%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.19%) Notion
8 1 (0.19%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 24 (4.48%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.93%) Oracle ERP
3 4 (0.75%) Magento
4 3 (0.56%) SAP MDG
4 3 (0.56%) SAP SD
5 2 (0.37%) Oracle EBS
5 2 (0.37%) SAP BRIM
5 2 (0.37%) SAP EWM
5 2 (0.37%) SAP IBP
5 2 (0.37%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.19%) Aladdin
6 1 (0.19%) Finacle
6 1 (0.19%) Primavera
6 1 (0.19%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.19%) SAP Convergent Charging
6 1 (0.19%) SAP FI
6 1 (0.19%) SAP MDG-F
6 1 (0.19%) SAP MDG-S
6 1 (0.19%) Workday HCM
6 1 (0.19%) Workfront
Cloud Services
1 44 (8.21%) Azure
2 24 (4.48%) AWS
3 20 (3.73%) Power Platform
4 19 (3.54%) SaaS
5 12 (2.24%) Google Workspace
6 11 (2.05%) Azure DevOps
7 10 (1.87%) Entra ID
7 10 (1.87%) GCP
8 8 (1.49%) OCI
8 8 (1.49%) Smartsheet
9 6 (1.12%) Microsoft 365
10 5 (0.93%) Dynamics 365
11 4 (0.75%) Snowflake
11 4 (0.75%) SuccessFactors
12 2 (0.37%) Anthropic Claude
12 2 (0.37%) Asana
12 2 (0.37%) Azure Data Factory
12 2 (0.37%) Google Drive
12 2 (0.37%) OneDrive
12 2 (0.37%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 7 (1.31%) Network Security
2 5 (0.93%) HTTPS
2 5 (0.93%) TCP/IP
3 4 (0.75%) DNS
3 4 (0.75%) Firewall
3 4 (0.75%) LAN
3 4 (0.75%) WAN
4 3 (0.56%) DHCP
4 3 (0.56%) IPv4
4 3 (0.56%) IPv6
4 3 (0.56%) VLAN
4 3 (0.56%) VPN
5 2 (0.37%) FTP
5 2 (0.37%) Software-Defined Networking
6 1 (0.19%) Ethernet VPN
6 1 (0.19%) Modbus
6 1 (0.19%) Radio Access Network
6 1 (0.19%) SD-WAN
6 1 (0.19%) Unified Communications
6 1 (0.19%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (2.80%) Power BI
2 4 (0.75%) Big Data
2 4 (0.75%) Data Warehouse
2 4 (0.75%) Qlik Sense
3 3 (0.56%) Metadata
3 3 (0.56%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.37%) SAP HANA
4 2 (0.37%) Trino
5 1 (0.19%) Data Lake
5 1 (0.19%) Db2
5 1 (0.19%) Elasticsearch
5 1 (0.19%) Electronic Patient Records
5 1 (0.19%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.19%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 1 (0.19%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 1 (0.19%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 1 (0.19%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 41 (7.65%) JIRA
2 6 (1.12%) Git
3 4 (0.75%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.75%) Subversion
4 2 (0.37%) Atlassian Bamboo
4 2 (0.37%) Bitbucket
General
1 268 (50.00%) Finance
2 216 (40.30%) Social Skills
3 84 (15.67%) Analytical Skills
4 69 (12.87%) Public Sector
5 63 (11.75%) Influencing Skills
6 47 (8.77%) Organisational Skills
7 41 (7.65%) Retail
8 40 (7.46%) Banking
9 34 (6.34%) Legal
10 29 (5.41%) Manufacturing
11 26 (4.85%) Marketing
11 26 (4.85%) Presentation Skills
12 19 (3.54%) Aerospace
13 15 (2.80%) Local Government
14 14 (2.61%) Telecoms
15 12 (2.24%) Documentation Skills
16 11 (2.05%) Pharmaceutical
17 10 (1.87%) Investment Banking
18 9 (1.68%) Front Office
19 8 (1.49%) Law
Job Titles
1 125 (23.32%) Project Manager
2 96 (17.91%) Programme Manager
3 93 (17.35%) Lead
4 62 (11.57%) Senior
5 45 (8.40%) Senior Manager
6 29 (5.41%) Technical Manager
7 28 (5.22%) Transformation Manager
8 27 (5.04%) Senior Project Manager
9 25 (4.66%) Analyst
10 24 (4.48%) Consultant
11 21 (3.92%) Delivery Manager
12 20 (3.73%) IT Manager
13 19 (3.54%) Transformation Programme Manager
14 14 (2.61%) Business Analyst
14 14 (2.61%) Digital Programme Manager
14 14 (2.61%) IT Project Manager
14 14 (2.61%) SAP Manager
15 13 (2.43%) Architect
16 12 (2.24%) Technical Project Manager
17 11 (2.05%) PMO Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (2.61%) Oracle Fusion
2 10 (1.87%) REST
3 5 (0.93%) Middleware
3 5 (0.93%) SailPoint
3 5 (0.93%) XML
4 4 (0.75%) JSON
4 4 (0.75%) VML
5 3 (0.56%) OAuth
5 3 (0.56%) RESTful
5 3 (0.56%) Web Services
6 2 (0.37%) ADO
6 2 (0.37%) ModSecurity
6 2 (0.37%) OAuth2
6 2 (0.37%) SOAP
6 2 (0.37%) Terraform
6 2 (0.37%) XSD
6 2 (0.37%) XSLT
7 1 (0.19%) Azure Blueprints
7 1 (0.19%) React
7 1 (0.19%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 29 (5.41%) Management Information System
2 25 (4.66%) Product Ownership
3 22 (4.10%) Onboarding
4 21 (3.92%) Operational Technology
5 18 (3.36%) Data Protection Act
6 13 (2.43%) Enterprise Software
7 12 (2.24%) Legacy Systems
8 9 (1.68%) Industry 4.0
8 9 (1.68%) PMI
9 8 (1.49%) NHS
9 8 (1.49%) Virtual Team
10 7 (1.31%) Data Centre
11 6 (1.12%) FMCG
11 6 (1.12%) Greenfield Project
12 5 (0.93%) AI Agents
12 5 (0.93%) Derivative
12 5 (0.93%) Distributed Systems
12 5 (0.93%) Learning Management System
12 5 (0.93%) Life Science
12 5 (0.93%) Marketing Technology
Operating Systems
1 9 (1.68%) Windows
2 3 (0.56%) Linux
2 3 (0.56%) zOS
3 2 (0.37%) Unix
4 1 (0.19%) Alpine Linux
4 1 (0.19%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.19%) Solaris
4 1 (0.19%) Ubuntu
4 1 (0.19%) Windows Server
4 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 277 (51.68%) Stakeholder Management
2 175 (32.65%) Agile
3 158 (29.48%) Project Management
4 123 (22.95%) Decision-Making
5 119 (22.20%) PRINCE2
6 110 (20.52%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 106 (19.78%) Continuous Improvement
8 103 (19.22%) Roadmaps
9 96 (17.91%) Change Management
10 91 (16.98%) Programme Governance
11 84 (15.67%) Project Delivery
11 84 (15.67%) Risk Management
12 82 (15.30%) Problem-Solving
12 82 (15.30%) Programme Delivery
13 70 (13.06%) AI
14 57 (10.63%) Cybersecurity
15 52 (9.70%) Technology Transformation
16 51 (9.51%) Business Case
16 51 (9.51%) Migration
17 50 (9.33%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 5 (0.93%) SQL
2 4 (0.75%) Java
3 3 (0.56%) PowerShell
3 3 (0.56%) Python
4 1 (0.19%) ABAP
4 1 (0.19%) Bash
4 1 (0.19%) BeanShell
4 1 (0.19%) Bicep
4 1 (0.19%) Korn
4 1 (0.19%) PL/SQL
4 1 (0.19%) VBA
Qualifications
1 90 (16.79%) Degree
2 84 (15.67%) Security Cleared
3 83 (15.49%) PMP
4 66 (12.31%) PMI Certification
5 62 (11.57%) SC Cleared
6 15 (2.80%) BPSS Clearance
7 13 (2.43%) DV Cleared
8 12 (2.24%) CISM
8 12 (2.24%) CISSP
8 12 (2.24%) Master's Degree
9 11 (2.05%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
10 7 (1.31%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (1.31%) MBA
10 7 (1.31%) TOGAF Certification
11 6 (1.12%) PgMP
12 4 (0.75%) HND
12 4 (0.75%) ITIL Certification
12 4 (0.75%) Six Sigma Green Belt
13 3 (0.56%) APMP
13 3 (0.56%) SAFe Agilist
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 100 (18.66%) PMO
2 25 (4.66%) QA
3 17 (3.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 13 (2.43%) Data Quality
4 13 (2.43%) GDPR
5 9 (1.68%) GRC
6 8 (1.49%) NIST
7 6 (1.12%) HIPAA
7 6 (1.12%) PCI DSS
8 5 (0.93%) NCSC
8 5 (0.93%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 4 (0.75%) MiFID
9 4 (0.75%) P3O
10 3 (0.56%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.56%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.56%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.56%) EMIR
10 3 (0.56%) ISO 9001
10 3 (0.56%) SLA
10 3 (0.56%) SOC 2
System Software
1 6 (1.12%) Active Directory
2 3 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
3 2 (0.37%) Docker
3 2 (0.37%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.19%) ISA Server
4 1 (0.19%) Oracle RAC
4 1 (0.19%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.19%) VMware NSX
4 1 (0.19%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 6 (1.12%) Ansible
2 3 (0.56%) Microsoft Intune
3 2 (0.37%) Kubernetes
4 1 (0.19%) Control-M
4 1 (0.19%) MOM
4 1 (0.19%) Oracle RMAN
4 1 (0.19%) SCCM
4 1 (0.19%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 78 (14.55%) Microsoft
2 48 (8.96%) SAP
3 21 (3.92%) Oracle
4 18 (3.36%) ServiceNow
5 13 (2.43%) Google
6 11 (2.05%) Salesforce
7 8 (1.49%) Atlassian
8 6 (1.12%) Databricks
8 6 (1.12%) IBM
9 5 (0.93%) Zscaler
10 4 (0.75%) Palantir
11 3 (0.56%) Bloomberg
11 3 (0.56%) Charles River
11 3 (0.56%) VMware
11 3 (0.56%) Workday
12 2 (0.37%) Ariba
12 2 (0.37%) Dell
12 2 (0.37%) FIS
12 2 (0.37%) Siebel
12 2 (0.37%) Temenos