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 8 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 266 181 138
Rank change year-on-year -85 -43 +11
Contract jobs citing Programme Management 548 528 688
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.00% 1.60% 1.82%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.19% 1.76% 2.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 323 324 377
10th Percentile £401 £170 £270
25th Percentile £464 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £564 £550
Median % change year-on-year +2.00% +2.50% -7.56%
75th Percentile £700 £693 £700
90th Percentile £825 £807 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £550 £525
% change year-on-year - +4.76% -8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 37 18
10th Percentile £20.90 £17.45 £16.56
25th Percentile £31.38 £23.50 £22.92
Median hourly rate £40.18 £35.60 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +12.87% +1.71% -20.20%
75th Percentile £76.25 £65.25 £47.58
90th Percentile £103.10 £81.00 £81.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.50 £27.54 £24.09
% change year-on-year +126.94% +14.35% -46.48%

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 46,126 29,916 32,545
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.57% 90.50% 85.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,740 18,573 19,640
10th Percentile £325 £295 £308
25th Percentile £425 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.78%
75th Percentile £638 £623 £638
90th Percentile £736 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,322 1,863 1,307
10th Percentile £13.63 £14.38 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.00 £17.30 £20.12
Median hourly rate £37.50 £25.15 £40.33
Median % change year-on-year +49.11% -37.63% -7.56%
75th Percentile £65.00 £43.21 £65.00
90th Percentile £77.95 £65.23 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £37.50 £22.32 £42.50
% change year-on-year +68.05% -47.49% -

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 8 October 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 8 October 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 8 October 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 -82 461 £586 +1.96% 892
London -33 256 £625 +1.96% 556
UK excluding London -108 239 £550 - 377
Work from Home -57 187 £550 -12.00% 312
South East -37 63 £575 -3.77% 87
North of England -56 63 £495 -9.02% 79
Yorkshire -14 40 £493 -8.19% 31
Scotland -13 38 £500 - 33
Midlands -66 34 £600 - 47
North West -52 22 £525 -4.55% 35
West Midlands -57 22 £600 -2.04% 33
East of England -29 20 £700 +12.00% 40
South West -89 20 £669 +21.59% 53
East Midlands -16 12 £650 +51.60% 14
Wales -10 3 £613 +47.77% 12
Northern Ireland +2 2 £775 +369.70% 30
North East -47 1 £350 -30.00% 13

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 28 (5.11%) Confluence
2 6 (1.09%) IIS
2 6 (1.09%) SharePoint
3 5 (0.91%) CMS
4 2 (0.36%) Apache
4 2 (0.36%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.36%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.36%) Apache Superset
4 2 (0.36%) Oracle Service Bus
4 2 (0.36%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 2 (0.36%) SAS
5 1 (0.18%) Adobe Experience Manager
Applications
1 30 (5.47%) Microsoft Excel
1 30 (5.47%) Microsoft Office
2 29 (5.29%) Microsoft Project
3 25 (4.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.73%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.55%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.36%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.18%) Adobe Premiere
7 1 (0.18%) Notion
7 1 (0.18%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 23 (4.20%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.09%) Oracle ERP
3 4 (0.73%) Magento
4 3 (0.55%) SAP MDG
4 3 (0.55%) SAP SD
5 2 (0.36%) Oracle EBS
5 2 (0.36%) SAP BRIM
5 2 (0.36%) SAP EWM
5 2 (0.36%) SAP IBP
5 2 (0.36%) SAP MM
5 2 (0.36%) Teamcenter
6 1 (0.18%) CA PPM
6 1 (0.18%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.18%) ENOVIA
6 1 (0.18%) FLEXCUBE
6 1 (0.18%) Loan IQ
6 1 (0.18%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.18%) SAP CO
6 1 (0.18%) SimCorp Dimension
6 1 (0.18%) Temenos T24
Cloud Services
1 50 (9.12%) Azure
2 27 (4.93%) AWS
3 22 (4.01%) Power Platform
4 16 (2.92%) SaaS
5 15 (2.74%) Azure DevOps
6 14 (2.55%) Google Workspace
7 12 (2.19%) GCP
8 10 (1.82%) Entra ID
9 8 (1.46%) OCI
10 7 (1.28%) Microsoft 365
11 6 (1.09%) Dynamics 365
11 6 (1.09%) Smartsheet
12 4 (0.73%) SuccessFactors
13 3 (0.55%) Microsoft Copilot
13 3 (0.55%) Snowflake
14 2 (0.36%) Anthropic Claude
14 2 (0.36%) Asana
14 2 (0.36%) Azure Data Factory
14 2 (0.36%) ChatGPT
14 2 (0.36%) Google Drive
Communications & Networking
1 7 (1.28%) Network Security
2 6 (1.09%) TCP/IP
3 5 (0.91%) HTTPS
4 4 (0.73%) DNS
4 4 (0.73%) Firewall
4 4 (0.73%) LAN
4 4 (0.73%) WAN
5 3 (0.55%) DHCP
5 3 (0.55%) IPv4
5 3 (0.55%) IPv6
5 3 (0.55%) VLAN
5 3 (0.55%) VPN
6 2 (0.36%) FTP
6 2 (0.36%) Software-Defined Networking
6 2 (0.36%) Unified Communications
7 1 (0.18%) Ethernet VPN
7 1 (0.18%) IKE
7 1 (0.18%) Radio Access Network
7 1 (0.18%) SD-WAN
7 1 (0.18%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.92%) Power BI
2 6 (1.09%) Qlik Sense
3 4 (0.73%) Big Data
3 4 (0.73%) Data Warehouse
4 3 (0.55%) Metadata
4 3 (0.55%) PostgreSQL
5 2 (0.36%) Electronic Patient Records
5 2 (0.36%) Trino
6 1 (0.18%) Data Lake
6 1 (0.18%) Db2
6 1 (0.18%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.18%) Oracle Reports
6 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 1 (0.18%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 41 (7.48%) JIRA
2 6 (1.09%) Git
3 4 (0.73%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.73%) Subversion
4 2 (0.36%) Atlassian Bamboo
4 2 (0.36%) Bitbucket
General
1 278 (50.73%) Finance
2 230 (41.97%) Social Skills
3 89 (16.24%) Analytical Skills
4 75 (13.69%) Public Sector
5 66 (12.04%) Influencing Skills
6 51 (9.31%) Organisational Skills
7 46 (8.39%) Banking
8 40 (7.30%) Retail
9 34 (6.20%) Legal
10 30 (5.47%) Manufacturing
11 27 (4.93%) Presentation Skills
12 23 (4.20%) Marketing
13 21 (3.83%) Aerospace
14 15 (2.74%) Local Government
14 15 (2.74%) Telecoms
15 12 (2.19%) Documentation Skills
16 10 (1.82%) Aviation
16 10 (1.82%) Investment Banking
16 10 (1.82%) Pharmaceutical
17 9 (1.64%) Front Office
Job Titles
1 130 (23.72%) Project Manager
2 101 (18.43%) Programme Manager
3 92 (16.79%) Lead
4 65 (11.86%) Senior
5 47 (8.58%) Senior Manager
6 32 (5.84%) Transformation Manager
7 29 (5.29%) Technical Manager
8 27 (4.93%) Senior Project Manager
9 24 (4.38%) Analyst
9 24 (4.38%) Consultant
10 23 (4.20%) IT Manager
10 23 (4.20%) Transformation Programme Manager
11 22 (4.01%) Delivery Manager
12 15 (2.74%) IT Project Manager
13 14 (2.55%) Architect
13 14 (2.55%) Digital Programme Manager
14 13 (2.37%) SAP Manager
14 13 (2.37%) Technical Project Manager
15 12 (2.19%) Business Analyst
16 11 (2.01%) PMO Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (2.74%) Oracle Fusion
2 10 (1.82%) REST
3 5 (0.91%) Middleware
3 5 (0.91%) SailPoint
4 4 (0.73%) JSON
4 4 (0.73%) VML
5 3 (0.55%) ADO
5 3 (0.55%) OAuth
5 3 (0.55%) RESTful
5 3 (0.55%) Web Services
5 3 (0.55%) XML
6 2 (0.36%) ModSecurity
6 2 (0.36%) OAuth2
6 2 (0.36%) SOAP
6 2 (0.36%) Terraform
6 2 (0.36%) XSD
6 2 (0.36%) XSLT
7 1 (0.18%) Azure Blueprints
7 1 (0.18%) LDAP
7 1 (0.18%) React
Miscellaneous
1 33 (6.02%) Management Information System
2 24 (4.38%) Operational Technology
3 23 (4.20%) Product Ownership
4 22 (4.01%) Onboarding
5 20 (3.65%) Data Protection Act
6 13 (2.37%) Enterprise Software
7 12 (2.19%) Legacy Systems
8 10 (1.82%) NHS
9 9 (1.64%) Industry 4.0
9 9 (1.64%) Virtual Team
10 7 (1.28%) Data Centre
10 7 (1.28%) Distributed Systems
10 7 (1.28%) PMI
11 6 (1.09%) AI Agents
11 6 (1.09%) FMCG
11 6 (1.09%) Greenfield Project
12 5 (0.91%) Learning Management System
12 5 (0.91%) Mainframe
12 5 (0.91%) Marketing Technology
12 5 (0.91%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 8 (1.46%) Windows
2 4 (0.73%) Linux
2 4 (0.73%) zOS
3 3 (0.55%) Unix
4 1 (0.18%) Alpine Linux
4 1 (0.18%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.18%) Ubuntu
4 1 (0.18%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 290 (52.92%) Stakeholder Management
2 183 (33.39%) Agile
3 164 (29.93%) Project Management
4 132 (24.09%) Decision-Making
5 125 (22.81%) PRINCE2
6 118 (21.53%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 110 (20.07%) Continuous Improvement
8 108 (19.71%) Roadmaps
9 97 (17.70%) Change Management
10 96 (17.52%) Programme Governance
11 92 (16.79%) Problem-Solving
12 90 (16.42%) Project Delivery
13 89 (16.24%) Risk Management
14 83 (15.15%) Programme Delivery
15 73 (13.32%) AI
16 60 (10.95%) Cybersecurity
17 56 (10.22%) Migration
17 56 (10.22%) Technology Transformation
18 54 (9.85%) Scaled Agile Framework
19 53 (9.67%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 5 (0.91%) Java
2 3 (0.55%) PowerShell
2 3 (0.55%) SQL
3 2 (0.36%) Python
4 1 (0.18%) ABAP
4 1 (0.18%) Bash
4 1 (0.18%) BeanShell
4 1 (0.18%) Bicep
4 1 (0.18%) Korn
4 1 (0.18%) VBA
Qualifications
1 94 (17.15%) Degree
2 89 (16.24%) Security Cleared
3 88 (16.06%) PMP
4 74 (13.50%) PMI Certification
5 66 (12.04%) SC Cleared
6 17 (3.10%) BPSS Clearance
7 14 (2.55%) DV Cleared
8 12 (2.19%) CISM
8 12 (2.19%) CISSP
8 12 (2.19%) Master's Degree
9 11 (2.01%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
10 9 (1.64%) PgMP
11 7 (1.28%) Computer Science Degree
11 7 (1.28%) MBA
11 7 (1.28%) TOGAF Certification
12 4 (0.73%) HND
12 4 (0.73%) ITIL Certification
12 4 (0.73%) Six Sigma Green Belt
13 3 (0.55%) APMP
13 3 (0.55%) SAFe Agilist
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 104 (18.98%) PMO
2 24 (4.38%) QA
3 17 (3.10%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 16 (2.92%) Data Quality
5 12 (2.19%) GDPR
6 10 (1.82%) GRC
7 8 (1.46%) NIST
8 6 (1.09%) HIPAA
8 6 (1.09%) P3O
8 6 (1.09%) PCI DSS
8 6 (1.09%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 5 (0.91%) NCSC
10 4 (0.73%) MiFID
11 3 (0.55%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials
11 3 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 3 (0.55%) EMIR
11 3 (0.55%) ISO 9001
11 3 (0.55%) SLA
11 3 (0.55%) SOC 2
System Software
1 6 (1.09%) Active Directory
2 3 (0.55%) Virtual Machines
3 2 (0.36%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.18%) Docker
4 1 (0.18%) ISA Server
4 1 (0.18%) VMware NSX
4 1 (0.18%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 7 (1.28%) Ansible
2 3 (0.55%) Microsoft Intune
3 2 (0.36%) Kubernetes
4 1 (0.18%) Control-M
4 1 (0.18%) MOM
4 1 (0.18%) SCCM
4 1 (0.18%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 86 (15.69%) Microsoft
2 50 (9.12%) SAP
3 23 (4.20%) Oracle
4 18 (3.28%) ServiceNow
5 13 (2.37%) Google
5 13 (2.37%) Salesforce
6 8 (1.46%) Atlassian
7 6 (1.09%) Databricks
7 6 (1.09%) IBM
7 6 (1.09%) Palantir
8 5 (0.91%) Zscaler
9 3 (0.55%) Ariba
9 3 (0.55%) Bloomberg
9 3 (0.55%) Charles River
9 3 (0.55%) Dell
10 2 (0.36%) Adobe
10 2 (0.36%) CA Agile Central
10 2 (0.36%) Siebel
10 2 (0.36%) Temenos
10 2 (0.36%) Wrike