Service Management Contract Job Trends

Service Management
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Service Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 16 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 101 82 87
Rank change year-on-year -19 +5 -4
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,297 947 1,051
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.46% 2.91% 2.47%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.90% 3.22% 2.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 842 573 724
10th Percentile £230 £211 £256
25th Percentile £401 £350 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £495 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.05% -5.71% -
75th Percentile £600 £588 £608
90th Percentile £699 £688 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £510 £492 £525
% change year-on-year +3.61% -6.29% +7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 65 20
10th Percentile £15.00 - £15.07
25th Percentile £20.06 £12.62 £18.31
Median hourly rate £60.00 £20.83 £26.50
Median % change year-on-year +188.05% -21.40% -36.72%
75th Percentile £85.00 £28.00 £48.75
90th Percentile £94.26 £56.10 £53.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £20.83 £26.50
% change year-on-year +188.05% -21.40% +24.35%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Service 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 44,779 29,366 36,386
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.09% 90.39% 85.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,858 18,449 23,259
10th Percentile £325 £300 £304
25th Percentile £419 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,648 1,547 2,431
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.22 £12.79
25th Percentile £20.21 £17.45 £16.25
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -34.02% -5.29%
75th Percentile £68.50 £52.00 £61.30
90th Percentile £82.65 £70.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £24.34 £38.12
% change year-on-year +84.88% -36.15% -3.74%

Service Management
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Service Management job vacancy trend in the UK

Service Management
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

Service Management
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Management over the 6 months to 16 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Service Management in the UK

Service Management
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

Service Management
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Management over the 6 months to 16 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Management in the UK

Service 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 Service Management within the UK over the 6 months to 16 July 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 -18 1,130 £520 +4.00% 422
UK excluding London -18 789 £510 +3.61% 359
London +5 386 £533 +6.50% 118
Work from Home -1 375 £518 +3.60% 173
South East +34 258 £538 +33.54% 113
North of England -30 203 £470 +3.64% 98
South West -25 127 £500 -9.09% 46
North West -35 111 £500 +7.53% 53
Midlands -47 90 £477 -1.65% 48
Yorkshire -22 86 £448 +19.53% 35
West Midlands -43 79 £498 -3.40% 27
Scotland -24 58 £500 - 12
East of England -22 40 £525 -4.55% 28
Wales -1 13 £800 +188.29% 12
East Midlands -13 11 £250 -32.07% 20
Northern Ireland +7 7 - - 12
North East -38 6 £440 +125.64% 13

Service 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 83 (6.40%) SharePoint
2 56 (4.32%) Confluence
3 38 (2.93%) Microsoft Exchange
4 9 (0.69%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.46%) Mattermost
6 5 (0.39%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.23%) CMS
7 3 (0.23%) IIS
8 2 (0.15%) Apache
9 1 (0.077%) CICS
9 1 (0.077%) JBoss
9 1 (0.077%) LiveCycle
9 1 (0.077%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
9 1 (0.077%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 60 (4.63%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (2.08%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (1.08%) MS Visio
4 13 (1.00%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 10 (0.77%) Microsoft Project
6 7 (0.54%) Chatbot
7 3 (0.23%) PTC Creo
8 2 (0.15%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.077%) Camtasia
9 1 (0.077%) Maple
Business Applications
1 55 (4.24%) Remedy ITSM
2 15 (1.16%) SAP S/4HANA
3 8 (0.62%) Teamcenter
4 7 (0.54%) Primavera
5 5 (0.39%) ContrOCC
6 4 (0.31%) SAP SM
7 3 (0.23%) Oracle ERP
7 3 (0.23%) SAP CO
7 3 (0.23%) SAP FI
7 3 (0.23%) SAP FI/CO
8 2 (0.15%) Oracle Applications
8 2 (0.15%) SAP PS
9 1 (0.077%) Dynamics NAV
9 1 (0.077%) Misys Equation
9 1 (0.077%) Misys Midas
9 1 (0.077%) NetSuite
9 1 (0.077%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.077%) SAP Payroll
9 1 (0.077%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 203 (15.65%) Azure
2 146 (11.26%) Microsoft 365
3 82 (6.32%) AWS
4 74 (5.71%) Entra ID
5 62 (4.78%) Power Platform
6 49 (3.78%) SaaS
7 39 (3.01%) OneDrive
8 35 (2.70%) Azure DevOps
9 27 (2.08%) GCP
10 17 (1.31%) PaaS
11 16 (1.23%) GitHub
12 14 (1.08%) OCI
13 13 (1.00%) Microsoft Copilot
14 11 (0.85%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 11 (0.85%) AWS Lambda
14 11 (0.85%) IaaS
14 11 (0.85%) Serverless
15 9 (0.69%) Amazon S3
15 9 (0.69%) Azure Monitor
16 8 (0.62%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 67 (5.17%) Firewall
2 54 (4.16%) DNS
3 38 (2.93%) LAN
3 38 (2.93%) WAN
4 37 (2.85%) VPN
5 32 (2.47%) TCP/IP
6 30 (2.31%) Network Security
7 28 (2.16%) DHCP
8 19 (1.46%) BGP
9 18 (1.39%) Wireless
10 15 (1.16%) OSPF
11 13 (1.00%) VLAN
11 13 (1.00%) Wi-Fi
12 12 (0.93%) BIG-IP
12 12 (0.93%) Cisco ISE
13 11 (0.85%) SD-WAN
13 11 (0.85%) VXLAN
14 10 (0.77%) Junos
15 9 (0.69%) Skype
16 8 (0.62%) Ethernet VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (3.86%) Power BI
2 19 (1.46%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.62%) Oracle Database
3 8 (0.62%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (0.46%) Oracle Database 11g
4 6 (0.46%) Oracle Reports
4 6 (0.46%) Relational Database
5 5 (0.39%) MySQL
5 5 (0.39%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (0.31%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 4 (0.31%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 3 (0.23%) Amazon RDS
7 3 (0.23%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.23%) MariaDB
8 2 (0.15%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.15%) Elasticsearch
8 2 (0.15%) Microsoft Analysis Services
8 2 (0.15%) SQLite
9 1 (0.077%) DTS
9 1 (0.077%) GIS
Development Applications
1 147 (11.33%) JIRA
2 24 (1.85%) Git
3 23 (1.77%) Jenkins
4 13 (1.00%) Bitbucket
5 11 (0.85%) GitLab
6 5 (0.39%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 5 (0.39%) Browser DevTools
7 4 (0.31%) MLflow
7 4 (0.31%) ScriptRunner
8 3 (0.23%) Fiddler
8 3 (0.23%) Hudson
8 3 (0.23%) IntelliJ
8 3 (0.23%) Rational DOORS
9 2 (0.15%) Firebug
9 2 (0.15%) Maven
9 2 (0.15%) Selenium
9 2 (0.15%) webpack
10 1 (0.077%) Protractor
10 1 (0.077%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.077%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 462 (35.62%) Social Skills
2 200 (15.42%) Finance
3 189 (14.57%) Analytical Skills
4 139 (10.72%) Public Sector
5 57 (4.39%) Telecoms
6 54 (4.16%) Legal
7 39 (3.01%) Banking
7 39 (3.01%) Influencing Skills
8 36 (2.78%) Documentation Skills
9 35 (2.70%) Organisational Skills
10 25 (1.93%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 24 (1.85%) Military
12 19 (1.46%) Local Government
13 16 (1.23%) Aerospace
14 15 (1.16%) Retail
15 14 (1.08%) Presentation Skills
16 13 (1.00%) Financial Institution
17 11 (0.85%) Police
18 9 (0.69%) Manufacturing
19 7 (0.54%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 155 (11.95%) Analyst
2 120 (9.25%) Lead
3 119 (9.18%) Service Manager
4 114 (8.79%) Architect
5 112 (8.64%) Senior
6 91 (7.02%) Consultant
7 79 (6.09%) IT Manager
8 61 (4.70%) Project Manager
8 61 (4.70%) Service Analyst
9 48 (3.70%) Developer
10 47 (3.62%) Delivery Manager
11 42 (3.24%) Support Engineer
12 35 (2.70%) IT Analyst
13 33 (2.54%) Network Engineer
14 32 (2.47%) Solutions Architect
15 30 (2.31%) Administrator
15 30 (2.31%) Business Analyst
15 30 (2.31%) IT Services Manager
15 30 (2.31%) ServiceNow Architect
16 29 (2.24%) Transition Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (4.63%) REST
2 30 (2.31%) SOAP
3 15 (1.16%) HTML
4 14 (1.08%) CSS
5 10 (0.77%) Middleware
6 9 (0.69%) 802.1X
6 9 (0.69%) JSON
6 9 (0.69%) OAuth
6 9 (0.69%) Web Services
7 8 (0.62%) XML
8 7 (0.54%) Elastic Stack
9 6 (0.46%) AngularJS
9 6 (0.46%) Oracle Fusion
10 5 (0.39%) Lightning Web Components
10 5 (0.39%) Microsoft Graph
10 5 (0.39%) OpenID
10 5 (0.39%) SAML
11 4 (0.31%) Bootstrap
11 4 (0.31%) Node.js
11 4 (0.31%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 120 (9.25%) Onboarding
2 107 (8.25%) CMDB
3 63 (4.86%) Product Ownership
4 46 (3.55%) Management Information System
5 44 (3.39%) Data Centre
6 33 (2.54%) Enterprise Software
7 32 (2.47%) PKI
8 31 (2.39%) Virtual Team
9 24 (1.85%) Clustering
9 24 (1.85%) Operational Technology
10 20 (1.54%) Data Protection Act
11 13 (1.00%) Analytical Mindset
11 13 (1.00%) Self-Motivation
12 12 (0.93%) Cloud Native
12 12 (0.93%) Driving Licence
13 11 (0.85%) Video Conferencing
14 10 (0.77%) AI Agents
14 10 (0.77%) Algorithms
14 10 (0.77%) Linux Command Line
14 10 (0.77%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 229 (17.66%) Windows
2 58 (4.47%) Linux
3 43 (3.32%) Windows 10
4 39 (3.01%) Windows Server
5 23 (1.77%) Mac OS
6 17 (1.31%) Unix
7 15 (1.16%) Apple iOS
8 12 (0.93%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 12 (0.93%) Windows 7
9 9 (0.69%) Android
10 5 (0.39%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.31%) VMS
12 3 (0.23%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
13 2 (0.15%) Solaris
13 2 (0.15%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.15%) Windows XP
13 2 (0.15%) zOS
14 1 (0.077%) Rocky
14 1 (0.077%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 695 (53.59%) ITIL
2 582 (44.87%) ITSM
3 330 (25.44%) Stakeholder Management
4 328 (25.29%) Continuous Improvement
5 275 (21.20%) Service Delivery
6 265 (20.43%) Agile
7 254 (19.58%) Problem-Solving
8 195 (15.03%) Change Management
9 194 (14.96%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 143 (11.03%) Customer Service
10 143 (11.03%) DevOps
11 127 (9.79%) Incident Management
12 121 (9.33%) Roadmaps
13 103 (7.94%) Problem Management
13 103 (7.94%) Project Delivery
14 92 (7.09%) Migration
15 90 (6.94%) Cybersecurity
15 90 (6.94%) Project Management
16 87 (6.71%) Decision-Making
17 86 (6.63%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 99 (7.63%) PowerShell
2 76 (5.86%) Python
3 64 (4.93%) SQL
4 53 (4.09%) JavaScript
5 31 (2.39%) Bash
6 18 (1.39%) Java
7 11 (0.85%) PL/SQL
8 9 (0.69%) VB
8 9 (0.69%) VBScript
9 7 (0.54%) Groovy
10 6 (0.46%) Apex Code
10 6 (0.46%) C
10 6 (0.46%) Perl
11 5 (0.39%) C#
11 5 (0.39%) Kotlin
11 5 (0.39%) Shell Script
11 5 (0.39%) T-SQL
12 3 (0.23%) SOQL
13 2 (0.15%) Bicep
13 2 (0.15%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 466 (35.93%) Security Cleared
2 309 (23.82%) SC Cleared
3 150 (11.57%) DV Cleared
4 113 (8.71%) Degree
5 66 (5.09%) ITIL Certification
6 44 (3.39%) PMP
7 41 (3.16%) PMI Certification
8 32 (2.47%) BPSS Clearance
9 28 (2.16%) Cisco Certification
10 23 (1.77%) Computer Science Degree
11 22 (1.70%) Microsoft Certification
12 18 (1.39%) A+ Certification
12 18 (1.39%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 15 (1.16%) CCNA
13 15 (1.16%) CISM
13 15 (1.16%) CISSP
14 14 (1.08%) Master's Degree
15 12 (0.93%) DBS Check
16 10 (0.77%) CCNP
17 9 (0.69%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 96 (7.40%) SLA
2 44 (3.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 39 (3.01%) QA
4 34 (2.62%) Data Quality
5 30 (2.31%) PMO
6 26 (2.00%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 24 (1.85%) GDPR
8 23 (1.77%) GRC
8 23 (1.77%) NCSC
9 20 (1.54%) COBIT
10 15 (1.16%) ISO 9001
10 15 (1.16%) NIST
11 9 (0.69%) Cyber Essentials
12 8 (0.62%) Accessibility
12 8 (0.62%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 8 (0.62%) Disclosure Scotland
13 7 (0.54%) Government Security Classifications
13 7 (0.54%) PCI DSS
14 6 (0.46%) ISO 31000
14 6 (0.46%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 134 (10.33%) Active Directory
2 49 (3.78%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (1.39%) VMware ESXi
4 14 (1.08%) Docker
5 12 (0.93%) VMware NSX
6 11 (0.85%) Virtual Desktop
7 10 (0.77%) BitLocker
8 9 (0.69%) Hyper-V
8 9 (0.69%) vSphere
9 8 (0.62%) vCloud
10 5 (0.39%) IAG
10 5 (0.39%) NFS
10 5 (0.39%) Virtual Machines
11 4 (0.31%) Oracle RAC
12 3 (0.23%) Firmware
13 2 (0.15%) GPFS
13 2 (0.15%) KVM
14 1 (0.077%) iptables
14 1 (0.077%) Slurm Workload Manager
14 1 (0.077%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 55 (4.24%) Microsoft Intune
2 51 (3.93%) SCCM
3 33 (2.54%) Ansible
3 33 (2.54%) Terraform
4 17 (1.31%) Kubernetes
5 15 (1.16%) Jamf Pro
6 13 (1.00%) SCOM
6 13 (1.00%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (0.77%) vCenter Server
8 8 (0.62%) FortiGate
9 7 (0.54%) Data Guard
9 7 (0.54%) Oracle RMAN
10 6 (0.46%) Grafana
10 6 (0.46%) Puppet
10 6 (0.46%) WSUS
11 5 (0.39%) vMotion
12 4 (0.31%) PowerCLI
12 4 (0.31%) Progress Chef
12 4 (0.31%) Prometheus
13 3 (0.23%) Dell DRAC
Vendors
1 376 (28.99%) ServiceNow
2 241 (18.58%) Microsoft
3 68 (5.24%) VMware
4 59 (4.55%) Remedy
5 46 (3.55%) Cisco
6 36 (2.78%) Oracle
7 32 (2.47%) BMC
8 30 (2.31%) SAP
9 27 (2.08%) Atlassian
10 24 (1.85%) Splunk
11 22 (1.70%) IFS
12 19 (1.46%) SolarWinds
13 16 (1.23%) Citrix
13 16 (1.23%) Juniper
13 16 (1.23%) Salesforce
14 15 (1.16%) Dynatrace
14 15 (1.16%) Zscaler
15 14 (1.08%) Apple
15 14 (1.08%) IBM
16 13 (1.00%) F5