Project Management Contract Job Trends

Project Management
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Project Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 26 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 42 23 19
Rank change year-on-year -19 -4 +5
Contract jobs citing Project Management 2,050 2,530 3,553
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 4.95% 8.25% 8.10%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 5.70% 9.17% 9.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,275 1,463 2,257
10th Percentile £322 £275 £325
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.50% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £610 £600 £625
90th Percentile £711 £706 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.28% -4.10% +0.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 124 112 219
10th Percentile £14.64 £22.39 £18.67
25th Percentile £20.65 £30.19 £26.66
Median hourly rate £39.25 £38.56 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +1.80% +1.14% -23.76%
75th Percentile £63.49 £60.00 £58.13
90th Percentile £80.00 £66.00 £63.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.75 £40.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +4.38% - -20.02%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Project 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 35,955 27,589 38,137
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.76% 89.91% 86.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,818 17,125 24,933
10th Percentile £313 £306 £300
25th Percentile £411 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £721 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £482 £493 £500
% change year-on-year -2.18% -1.45% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,143 864 2,185
10th Percentile £14.61 £15.62 £13.29
25th Percentile £17.99 £21.25 £16.25
Median hourly rate £26.61 £32.66 £33.07
Median % change year-on-year -18.53% -1.24% -5.53%
75th Percentile £61.50 £63.75 £59.50
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.18 £71.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £31.76 £35.00
% change year-on-year -20.81% -9.26% -

Project Management
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Project Management job vacancy trend in the UK

Project Management
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

Project Management
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Project Management over the 6 months to 26 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Project Management in the UK

Project Management
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

Project Management
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Project Management over the 6 months to 26 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Project Management in the UK

Project 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 Project Management within the UK over the 6 months to 26 February 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 -17 1,795 £525 +2.54% 992
UK excluding London -22 1,046 £500 +4.28% 915
London -18 839 £550 +4.76% 285
Work from Home -18 589 £525 +5.00% 302
North of England -21 277 £480 +4.07% 186
South East -13 275 £525 - 281
Midlands -20 203 £500 - 159
North West -14 159 £492 +9.33% 93
West Midlands -28 141 £500 -4.76% 89
South West -28 111 £450 -10.00% 100
Yorkshire -31 109 £484 +6.03% 77
Scotland -15 88 £450 - 43
East of England -31 65 £450 -10.00% 118
East Midlands -16 64 £398 -3.43% 70
Wales +5 31 £325 -38.68% 38
Northern Ireland -6 16 £425 +9.68% 17
North East -23 13 £410 -21.90% 21

Project 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
1 175 (8.54%) Confluence
2 93 (4.54%) SharePoint
3 24 (1.17%) CMS
4 8 (0.39%) Microsoft Exchange
5 6 (0.29%) Apache
5 6 (0.29%) Oracle Workflow
6 5 (0.24%) nginx
6 5 (0.24%) WordPress
7 4 (0.20%) Exchange Server 2013
7 4 (0.20%) Skype for Business
8 3 (0.15%) Anypoint
8 3 (0.15%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.15%) MS Project Server
9 2 (0.098%) Oracle Self-Service HR
9 2 (0.098%) SAS
10 1 (0.049%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.049%) Apache Superset
10 1 (0.049%) IIS
10 1 (0.049%) Umbraco
10 1 (0.049%) WebSphere
Applications
1 217 (10.59%) Microsoft Project
2 214 (10.44%) Microsoft Excel
3 153 (7.46%) Microsoft Office
4 118 (5.76%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 47 (2.29%) MS Visio
6 23 (1.12%) Trello
7 21 (1.02%) Spreadsheet
8 6 (0.29%) Chatbot
9 4 (0.20%) Adobe After Effects
9 4 (0.20%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 4 (0.20%) Adobe XD
9 4 (0.20%) Revit
10 3 (0.15%) InVision
10 3 (0.15%) Navisworks
10 3 (0.15%) Sketch
11 2 (0.098%) Adobe Illustrator
11 2 (0.098%) AutoCAD
11 2 (0.098%) InDesign
11 2 (0.098%) Photoshop
11 2 (0.098%) ProjectWise
Business Applications
1 68 (3.32%) SAP S/4HANA
2 18 (0.88%) Primavera
3 15 (0.73%) Oracle Payables
4 13 (0.63%) Loan IQ
5 12 (0.59%) Oracle EBS
6 11 (0.54%) Dynamics CRM
6 11 (0.54%) SAP Payroll
7 10 (0.49%) Oracle ERP
7 10 (0.49%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
8 7 (0.34%) NetSuite
8 7 (0.34%) Oracle Assets
8 7 (0.34%) Oracle General Ledger
8 7 (0.34%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
8 7 (0.34%) Oracle Receivables
8 7 (0.34%) SAP HCM
8 7 (0.34%) Shopify
9 6 (0.29%) SAP CO
9 6 (0.29%) SAP ERP
9 6 (0.29%) SAP FI
9 6 (0.29%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 172 (8.39%) Azure
2 105 (5.12%) AWS
3 96 (4.68%) Power Platform
4 61 (2.98%) Microsoft 365
5 56 (2.73%) SaaS
6 47 (2.29%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (1.51%) GCP
8 23 (1.12%) Dynamics 365
9 22 (1.07%) Asana
10 20 (0.98%) OpenShift
11 18 (0.88%) Smartsheet
12 17 (0.83%) Google Workspace
13 15 (0.73%) GitHub
14 14 (0.68%) Serverless
15 13 (0.63%) Cloud Computing
15 13 (0.63%) Microsoft Copilot
16 12 (0.59%) Azure Synapse Analytics
16 12 (0.59%) IaaS
17 11 (0.54%) Figma
17 11 (0.54%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 37 (1.80%) Firewall
2 29 (1.41%) WAN
3 20 (0.98%) LAN
4 19 (0.93%) Network Security
5 17 (0.83%) DNS
6 16 (0.78%) Structured Cabling
7 14 (0.68%) Wi-Fi
8 13 (0.63%) SD-WAN
9 12 (0.59%) VPN
10 11 (0.54%) SSH
11 10 (0.49%) TCP/IP
12 9 (0.44%) Internet
12 9 (0.44%) MPLS
12 9 (0.44%) SSL
13 8 (0.39%) HTTP
14 7 (0.34%) BGP
14 7 (0.34%) DHCP
15 6 (0.29%) IPsec
16 5 (0.24%) Kerberos
16 5 (0.24%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 89 (4.34%) Power BI
2 29 (1.41%) Tableau
3 22 (1.07%) SQL Server
4 19 (0.93%) Metadata
5 18 (0.88%) Data Warehouse
6 15 (0.73%) Data Lake
7 11 (0.54%) SAP HANA
8 9 (0.44%) Oracle Reports
9 7 (0.34%) Electronic Patient Records
9 7 (0.34%) Relational Database
10 6 (0.29%) Elasticsearch
11 5 (0.24%) Amazon RDS
12 4 (0.20%) BigQuery
12 4 (0.20%) GIS
12 4 (0.20%) Oracle Database
12 4 (0.20%) Power Query
12 4 (0.20%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 3 (0.15%) Amazon Redshift
13 3 (0.15%) Oracle BI Publisher
13 3 (0.15%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 328 (16.00%) JIRA
2 23 (1.12%) Git
3 10 (0.49%) Jenkins
4 9 (0.44%) GitLab
5 4 (0.20%) SonarQube
6 3 (0.15%) Axure RP
6 3 (0.15%) Selenium
7 1 (0.049%) Ant
7 1 (0.049%) Artifactory
7 1 (0.049%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.049%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.049%) ERwin
7 1 (0.049%) JUnit
7 1 (0.049%) LSMW
7 1 (0.049%) Oracle Forms
7 1 (0.049%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.049%) SpecFlow
7 1 (0.049%) TestDirector
7 1 (0.049%) Toad
7 1 (0.049%) Visual Studio
General
1 1,021 (49.80%) Social Skills
2 759 (37.02%) Finance
3 341 (16.63%) Analytical Skills
4 210 (10.24%) Public Sector
5 200 (9.76%) Organisational Skills
6 176 (8.59%) Banking
7 105 (5.12%) Retail
8 89 (4.34%) Marketing
9 85 (4.15%) Legal
10 81 (3.95%) Influencing Skills
11 80 (3.90%) Manufacturing
12 58 (2.83%) Presentation Skills
13 46 (2.24%) Investment Banking
14 45 (2.20%) Telecoms
15 32 (1.56%) Local Government
16 30 (1.46%) Financial Institution
16 30 (1.46%) Front Office
17 29 (1.41%) Documentation Skills
18 27 (1.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
19 20 (0.98%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 798 (38.93%) Project Manager
2 248 (12.10%) Analyst
3 174 (8.49%) Senior
4 170 (8.29%) Lead
5 130 (6.34%) Business Analyst
6 120 (5.85%) Senior Manager
7 100 (4.88%) Senior Project Manager
8 99 (4.83%) IT Manager
9 91 (4.44%) IT Project Manager
10 85 (4.15%) Consultant
11 66 (3.22%) Technical Manager
12 63 (3.07%) Delivery Manager
13 59 (2.88%) Infrastructure Manager
14 57 (2.78%) Programme Manager
15 51 (2.49%) Infrastructure Project Manager
16 48 (2.34%) Project Officer
16 48 (2.34%) SAP Manager
17 45 (2.20%) Architect
18 44 (2.15%) Coordinator
18 44 (2.15%) Technical Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (1.07%) Middleware
1 22 (1.07%) Oracle Fusion
2 15 (0.73%) Web Services
3 14 (0.68%) REST
3 14 (0.68%) SOAP
4 12 (0.59%) EDI
5 11 (0.54%) XML
6 10 (0.49%) .NET
7 9 (0.44%) CSS
8 8 (0.39%) HTML
8 8 (0.39%) LDAP
9 7 (0.34%) AngularJS
9 7 (0.34%) SailPoint
10 6 (0.29%) ADO
10 6 (0.29%) Elastic Stack
10 6 (0.29%) OAuth
10 6 (0.29%) OpenID
10 6 (0.29%) React
11 5 (0.24%) SAML
11 5 (0.24%) XACML
Miscellaneous
1 119 (5.80%) Onboarding
2 105 (5.12%) Management Information System
3 71 (3.46%) Data Centre
3 71 (3.46%) Data Protection Act
4 66 (3.22%) PMI
5 50 (2.44%) Virtual Team
6 49 (2.39%) Product Ownership
7 41 (2.00%) Self-Motivation
8 38 (1.85%) Legacy Systems
9 31 (1.51%) NHS
10 25 (1.22%) CMDB
10 25 (1.22%) Operational Technology
11 21 (1.02%) Analytical Mindset
12 18 (0.88%) Enterprise Software
13 17 (0.83%) SCADA
13 17 (0.83%) Social Media
14 15 (0.73%) Cloud Native
14 15 (0.73%) Web Conferencing
15 13 (0.63%) Derivative
16 12 (0.59%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 58 (2.83%) Windows
2 17 (0.83%) Linux
3 12 (0.59%) Unix
3 12 (0.59%) Windows Server
4 8 (0.39%) Windows 10
5 2 (0.098%) AIX
5 2 (0.098%) Ubuntu
5 2 (0.098%) Windows Server 2019
6 1 (0.049%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.049%) Solaris
6 1 (0.049%) VMS
6 1 (0.049%) Windows Server 2016
6 1 (0.049%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 756 (36.88%) Agile
2 674 (32.88%) Stakeholder Management
3 486 (23.71%) Project Delivery
4 471 (22.98%) Problem-Solving
5 424 (20.68%) PRINCE2
6 357 (17.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 322 (15.71%) Change Management
8 307 (14.98%) Migration
9 276 (13.46%) Continuous Improvement
10 224 (10.93%) Decision-Making
11 222 (10.83%) Waterfall
12 216 (10.54%) Risk Management
13 203 (9.90%) Scrum
14 184 (8.98%) Budget Management
15 165 (8.05%) ERP
16 158 (7.71%) DevOps
17 148 (7.22%) ITIL
18 145 (7.07%) Cybersecurity
19 142 (6.93%) Project Governance
20 141 (6.88%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 90 (4.39%) SQL
2 43 (2.10%) Python
3 14 (0.68%) Java
4 13 (0.63%) ABAP
4 13 (0.63%) C#
4 13 (0.63%) JavaScript
5 7 (0.34%) PowerShell
6 6 (0.29%) VBA
7 5 (0.24%) Perl
7 5 (0.24%) PL/SQL
7 5 (0.24%) R
7 5 (0.24%) T-SQL
8 4 (0.20%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 4 (0.20%) Go
8 4 (0.20%) Ruby
9 3 (0.15%) C++
9 3 (0.15%) SOQL
9 3 (0.15%) VB
10 2 (0.098%) C
10 2 (0.098%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 338 (16.49%) Degree
2 293 (14.29%) PMP
2 293 (14.29%) Security Cleared
3 275 (13.41%) PMI Certification
4 212 (10.34%) SC Cleared
5 62 (3.02%) DV Cleared
6 48 (2.34%) Master's Degree
7 44 (2.15%) BPSS Clearance
8 40 (1.95%) APMP
9 32 (1.56%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
10 26 (1.27%) Computer Science Degree
11 25 (1.22%) CISSP
11 25 (1.22%) PRINCE2 Certification
12 21 (1.02%) CISM
13 20 (0.98%) MBA
14 16 (0.78%) CBAP
15 15 (0.73%) IIBA
16 14 (0.68%) ACCA
16 14 (0.68%) CIMA
17 8 (0.39%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 227 (11.07%) PMO
2 130 (6.34%) QA
3 62 (3.02%) Data Quality
4 57 (2.78%) GDPR
5 50 (2.44%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 35 (1.71%) NIST
7 20 (0.98%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 20 (0.98%) SLA
8 19 (0.93%) PCI DSS
9 17 (0.83%) GRC
10 14 (0.68%) Accessibility
11 10 (0.49%) Basel III
11 10 (0.49%) Disclosure Scotland
12 8 (0.39%) MiFID
13 7 (0.34%) ISO 19650
13 7 (0.34%) ISO 9001
13 7 (0.34%) WCAG
14 6 (0.29%) Cyber Essentials
14 6 (0.29%) EMIR
14 6 (0.29%) P3O
System Software
1 34 (1.66%) Active Directory
2 13 (0.63%) Docker
2 13 (0.63%) VMware Infrastructure
3 5 (0.24%) RACF
3 5 (0.24%) VMware ESXi
4 3 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.098%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.049%) PowerHA
6 1 (0.049%) VMware NSX
6 1 (0.049%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 16 (0.78%) Single Sign-On
2 15 (0.73%) Kubernetes
3 13 (0.63%) Terraform
4 11 (0.54%) Ansible
5 6 (0.29%) Kibana
5 6 (0.29%) logstash
5 6 (0.29%) SCCM
6 5 (0.24%) Microsoft Intune
7 4 (0.20%) Consul
7 4 (0.20%) FortiGate
7 4 (0.20%) Packer
8 3 (0.15%) Grafana
8 3 (0.15%) Puppet
8 3 (0.15%) RSA Archer
8 3 (0.15%) vCenter Server
9 1 (0.049%) Cisco UCCE
9 1 (0.049%) Cisco UCCX
9 1 (0.049%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.049%) SCOM
9 1 (0.049%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 316 (15.41%) Microsoft
2 197 (9.61%) SAP
3 108 (5.27%) ServiceNow
4 76 (3.71%) Oracle
5 68 (3.32%) Salesforce
6 34 (1.66%) Cisco
7 32 (1.56%) Google
8 27 (1.32%) Adobe
9 23 (1.12%) Workday
10 21 (1.02%) Databricks
10 21 (1.02%) VMware
11 19 (0.93%) Atlassian
12 16 (0.78%) Ariba
12 16 (0.78%) CyberArk
12 16 (0.78%) Planview
12 16 (0.78%) Sage
13 15 (0.73%) IBM
14 13 (0.63%) Palo Alto
15 10 (0.49%) Juniper
16 9 (0.44%) Splunk