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 24 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 99 83 88
Rank change year-on-year -16 +5 -6
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,342 951 1,009
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.54% 2.91% 2.47%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.99% 3.22% 2.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 872 574 698
10th Percentile £250 £209 £255
25th Percentile £404 £351 £424
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £519 £495 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.80% -5.71% +0.96%
75th Percentile £600 £588 £608
90th Percentile £699 £688 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £503 £492 £525
% change year-on-year +2.29% -6.29% +5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 87 70 20
10th Percentile £14.50 - £16.63
25th Percentile £17.75 £12.62 £18.88
Median hourly rate £60.00 £19.65 £27.25
Median % change year-on-year +205.34% -27.89% -34.93%
75th Percentile £85.13 £22.46 £48.75
90th Percentile £96.00 £54.35 £53.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £18.73 £27.25
% change year-on-year +220.34% -31.27% +27.87%

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 44,871 29,543 34,928
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.02% 90.39% 85.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,803 18,563 22,435
10th Percentile £325 £300 £306
25th Percentile £419 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -4.46%
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 2,660 1,589 2,131
10th Percentile £14.85 £14.20 £13.46
25th Percentile £20.09 £17.44 £17.25
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -37.13% -6.98%
75th Percentile £68.13 £50.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £83.00 £69.00 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.50 £24.34 £40.00
% change year-on-year +82.83% -39.15% -1.95%

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 24 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 24 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 24 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 -17 1,169 £518 +3.50% 465
UK excluding London -20 801 £503 +2.29% 367
London +6 413 £525 +5.00% 145
Work from Home +8 394 £500 - 200
South East +32 272 £538 +19.44% 124
North of England -34 200 £464 +0.27% 100
South West -29 124 £500 -9.09% 41
North West -33 110 £492 - 50
Midlands -39 93 £476 +1.28% 51
Yorkshire -19 84 £443 +18.13% 39
West Midlands -42 83 £486 -1.32% 34
Scotland -18 60 £494 -0.85% 15
East of England -21 38 £525 -4.55% 32
Wales -8 13 £800 +188.29% 8
East Midlands -16 10 £350 -4.89% 17
Northern Ireland +11 8 - - 6
North East -35 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 90 (6.71%) SharePoint
2 60 (4.47%) Confluence
3 38 (2.83%) Microsoft Exchange
4 8 (0.60%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.45%) Mattermost
6 5 (0.37%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.22%) CMS
7 3 (0.22%) IIS
8 2 (0.15%) Apache
9 1 (0.075%) CICS
9 1 (0.075%) JBoss
9 1 (0.075%) LiveCycle
9 1 (0.075%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
9 1 (0.075%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 63 (4.69%) Microsoft Office
2 29 (2.16%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 14 (1.04%) MS Visio
5 10 (0.75%) Microsoft Project
6 7 (0.52%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.15%) PTC Creo
7 2 (0.15%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.075%) Camtasia
8 1 (0.075%) Maple
Business Applications
1 56 (4.17%) Remedy ITSM
2 16 (1.19%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.52%) Primavera
4 6 (0.45%) Teamcenter
5 5 (0.37%) ContrOCC
6 4 (0.30%) SAP SM
7 3 (0.22%) NEC Housing
7 3 (0.22%) Oracle ERP
7 3 (0.22%) SAP CO
7 3 (0.22%) SAP FI
7 3 (0.22%) SAP FI/CO
8 2 (0.15%) Oracle Applications
8 2 (0.15%) SAP PS
9 1 (0.075%) Dynamics CRM
9 1 (0.075%) Misys Equation
9 1 (0.075%) Misys Midas
9 1 (0.075%) NetSuite
9 1 (0.075%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.075%) SAP Payroll
9 1 (0.075%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 219 (16.32%) Azure
2 148 (11.03%) Microsoft 365
3 90 (6.71%) AWS
4 84 (6.26%) Entra ID
5 64 (4.77%) Power Platform
6 54 (4.02%) SaaS
7 44 (3.28%) OneDrive
8 37 (2.76%) Azure DevOps
9 28 (2.09%) GCP
10 18 (1.34%) GitHub
11 17 (1.27%) PaaS
12 15 (1.12%) OCI
13 14 (1.04%) Azure Monitor
13 14 (1.04%) Microsoft Copilot
14 11 (0.82%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 11 (0.82%) AWS Lambda
14 11 (0.82%) IaaS
14 11 (0.82%) Serverless
15 9 (0.67%) Amazon S3
16 8 (0.60%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 76 (5.66%) Firewall
2 64 (4.77%) DNS
3 42 (3.13%) TCP/IP
3 42 (3.13%) VPN
4 39 (2.91%) WAN
5 38 (2.83%) LAN
6 37 (2.76%) DHCP
7 36 (2.68%) Network Security
8 20 (1.49%) BGP
9 19 (1.42%) Wireless
10 16 (1.19%) OSPF
11 14 (1.04%) Wi-Fi
12 12 (0.89%) BIG-IP
12 12 (0.89%) Cisco ISE
12 12 (0.89%) SD-WAN
12 12 (0.89%) VXLAN
13 11 (0.82%) VLAN
14 10 (0.75%) Junos
15 9 (0.67%) Ethernet VPN
15 9 (0.67%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 51 (3.80%) Power BI
2 24 (1.79%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.60%) Oracle Database
3 8 (0.60%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (0.45%) Oracle Database 11g
4 6 (0.45%) Oracle Reports
4 6 (0.45%) Relational Database
4 6 (0.45%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 6 (0.45%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 5 (0.37%) MySQL
5 5 (0.37%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 3 (0.22%) Amazon RDS
6 3 (0.22%) Azure SQL Database
6 3 (0.22%) MariaDB
7 2 (0.15%) Amazon Redshift
7 2 (0.15%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.15%) Microsoft Analysis Services
7 2 (0.15%) SQLite
8 1 (0.075%) Db2
8 1 (0.075%) InfluxDB
Development Applications
1 152 (11.33%) JIRA
2 25 (1.86%) Git
3 24 (1.79%) Jenkins
4 19 (1.42%) Bitbucket
5 12 (0.89%) GitLab
6 11 (0.82%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 5 (0.37%) Browser DevTools
8 4 (0.30%) MLflow
8 4 (0.30%) Rational DOORS
8 4 (0.30%) ScriptRunner
9 3 (0.22%) Fiddler
9 3 (0.22%) Hudson
9 3 (0.22%) IntelliJ
10 2 (0.15%) Firebug
10 2 (0.15%) Maven
10 2 (0.15%) Selenium
10 2 (0.15%) Sonatype Nexus
10 2 (0.15%) webpack
11 1 (0.075%) IBM UrbanCode
11 1 (0.075%) TestRail
General
1 483 (35.99%) Social Skills
2 208 (15.50%) Finance
3 201 (14.98%) Analytical Skills
4 151 (11.25%) Public Sector
5 61 (4.55%) Telecoms
6 53 (3.95%) Legal
7 44 (3.28%) Banking
8 42 (3.13%) Influencing Skills
9 38 (2.83%) Organisational Skills
10 37 (2.76%) Documentation Skills
11 28 (2.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 28 (2.09%) Military
12 22 (1.64%) Local Government
13 18 (1.34%) Presentation Skills
14 17 (1.27%) Aerospace
15 13 (0.97%) Financial Institution
15 13 (0.97%) Retail
16 12 (0.89%) Police
17 8 (0.60%) Manufacturing
18 7 (0.52%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 155 (11.55%) Analyst
2 122 (9.09%) Senior
3 121 (9.02%) Lead
4 115 (8.57%) Service Manager
5 114 (8.49%) Architect
6 92 (6.86%) Consultant
7 80 (5.96%) IT Manager
8 65 (4.84%) Project Manager
9 59 (4.40%) Service Analyst
10 54 (4.02%) Developer
11 46 (3.43%) Delivery Manager
12 41 (3.06%) Support Engineer
13 35 (2.61%) IT Analyst
13 35 (2.61%) Network Engineer
14 34 (2.53%) ServiceNow Developer
15 33 (2.46%) Solutions Architect
16 32 (2.38%) Business Analyst
17 31 (2.31%) Administrator
17 31 (2.31%) Transition Manager
18 30 (2.24%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 70 (5.22%) REST
2 32 (2.38%) SOAP
3 17 (1.27%) HTML
4 16 (1.19%) CSS
5 11 (0.82%) Middleware
5 11 (0.82%) Web Services
6 10 (0.75%) JSON
6 10 (0.75%) XML
7 9 (0.67%) 802.1X
7 9 (0.67%) OAuth
8 7 (0.52%) SAML
9 6 (0.45%) AngularJS
9 6 (0.45%) ARM Templates
9 6 (0.45%) Elastic Stack
10 5 (0.37%) Lightning Web Components
10 5 (0.37%) Microsoft Graph
10 5 (0.37%) OpenID
10 5 (0.37%) Oracle Fusion
11 4 (0.30%) Bootstrap
11 4 (0.30%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 131 (9.76%) Onboarding
2 108 (8.05%) CMDB
3 66 (4.92%) Product Ownership
4 51 (3.80%) Management Information System
5 45 (3.35%) Data Centre
6 34 (2.53%) Enterprise Software
7 33 (2.46%) PKI
8 32 (2.38%) Virtual Team
9 25 (1.86%) Clustering
10 24 (1.79%) Operational Technology
11 20 (1.49%) Data Protection Act
12 16 (1.19%) Self-Motivation
13 14 (1.04%) Analytical Mindset
13 14 (1.04%) Cloud Native
14 13 (0.97%) Hybrid Cloud
15 12 (0.89%) AI Agents
15 12 (0.89%) Driving Licence
16 11 (0.82%) Greenfield Project
16 11 (0.82%) Video Conferencing
17 10 (0.75%) Algorithms
Operating Systems
1 240 (17.88%) Windows
2 64 (4.77%) Linux
3 52 (3.87%) Windows Server
4 40 (2.98%) Windows 10
5 24 (1.79%) Mac OS
6 18 (1.34%) Unix
7 16 (1.19%) Apple iOS
8 12 (0.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 11 (0.82%) Windows 7
10 10 (0.75%) Android
11 5 (0.37%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.30%) VMS
13 3 (0.22%) Ubuntu
14 2 (0.15%) Solaris
14 2 (0.15%) Windows Server 2012
14 2 (0.15%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.15%) Windows XP
14 2 (0.15%) zOS
15 1 (0.075%) Rocky
15 1 (0.075%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 721 (53.73%) ITIL
2 603 (44.93%) ITSM
3 353 (26.30%) Stakeholder Management
4 343 (25.56%) Continuous Improvement
5 290 (21.61%) Service Delivery
6 285 (21.24%) Agile
7 270 (20.12%) Problem-Solving
8 210 (15.65%) Change Management
9 194 (14.46%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 160 (11.92%) DevOps
11 147 (10.95%) Customer Service
12 136 (10.13%) Incident Management
13 129 (9.61%) Roadmaps
14 113 (8.42%) Project Delivery
15 104 (7.75%) Problem Management
16 103 (7.68%) Cybersecurity
16 103 (7.68%) Migration
17 101 (7.53%) Project Management
18 93 (6.93%) Decision-Making
18 93 (6.93%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 104 (7.75%) PowerShell
2 78 (5.81%) Python
3 67 (4.99%) SQL
4 56 (4.17%) JavaScript
5 36 (2.68%) Bash
6 19 (1.42%) Java
7 11 (0.82%) PL/SQL
8 8 (0.60%) VB
8 8 (0.60%) VBScript
9 7 (0.52%) Bicep
9 7 (0.52%) Groovy
10 6 (0.45%) Apex Code
10 6 (0.45%) C
10 6 (0.45%) Perl
11 5 (0.37%) C#
11 5 (0.37%) Kotlin
11 5 (0.37%) Shell Script
11 5 (0.37%) T-SQL
12 3 (0.22%) Lua
12 3 (0.22%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 486 (36.21%) Security Cleared
2 317 (23.62%) SC Cleared
3 154 (11.48%) DV Cleared
4 122 (9.09%) Degree
5 65 (4.84%) ITIL Certification
6 47 (3.50%) PMP
7 44 (3.28%) PMI Certification
8 37 (2.76%) BPSS Clearance
9 30 (2.24%) Cisco Certification
10 24 (1.79%) Computer Science Degree
11 21 (1.56%) Microsoft Certification
12 18 (1.34%) A+ Certification
12 18 (1.34%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 17 (1.27%) CISM
13 17 (1.27%) CISSP
14 15 (1.12%) CCNA
15 14 (1.04%) Master's Degree
16 13 (0.97%) DBS Check
17 11 (0.82%) CCNP
18 9 (0.67%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 103 (7.68%) SLA
2 45 (3.35%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 40 (2.98%) QA
4 36 (2.68%) Data Quality
5 30 (2.24%) PMO
6 28 (2.09%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 26 (1.94%) GRC
8 25 (1.86%) GDPR
9 24 (1.79%) NCSC
10 20 (1.49%) COBIT
11 16 (1.19%) ISO 9001
12 15 (1.12%) NIST
13 10 (0.75%) Cyber Essentials
14 8 (0.60%) Accessibility
14 8 (0.60%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 8 (0.60%) Disclosure Scotland
15 7 (0.52%) Government Security Classifications
15 7 (0.52%) PCI DSS
16 6 (0.45%) ISO 31000
16 6 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 145 (10.80%) Active Directory
2 53 (3.95%) VMware Infrastructure
3 20 (1.49%) VMware ESXi
4 16 (1.19%) Docker
5 13 (0.97%) VMware NSX
6 12 (0.89%) Virtual Desktop
7 10 (0.75%) Hyper-V
7 10 (0.75%) vSphere
8 9 (0.67%) BitLocker
9 8 (0.60%) vCloud
10 6 (0.45%) IAG
11 5 (0.37%) NFS
11 5 (0.37%) Virtual Machines
12 4 (0.30%) Oracle RAC
13 3 (0.22%) Firmware
14 2 (0.15%) GPFS
14 2 (0.15%) KVM
15 1 (0.075%) iptables
15 1 (0.075%) Samba
15 1 (0.075%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 65 (4.84%) Microsoft Intune
2 56 (4.17%) SCCM
3 40 (2.98%) Terraform
4 39 (2.91%) Ansible
5 18 (1.34%) Kubernetes
6 15 (1.12%) Jamf Pro
6 15 (1.12%) Single Sign-On
7 13 (0.97%) SCOM
8 12 (0.89%) vCenter Server
9 8 (0.60%) FortiGate
10 7 (0.52%) Data Guard
10 7 (0.52%) Oracle RMAN
10 7 (0.52%) Puppet
11 6 (0.45%) Grafana
11 6 (0.45%) WSUS
12 5 (0.37%) Progress Chef
12 5 (0.37%) vMotion
13 4 (0.30%) PowerCLI
13 4 (0.30%) Prometheus
14 3 (0.22%) Dell DRAC
Vendors
1 392 (29.21%) ServiceNow
2 256 (19.08%) Microsoft
3 75 (5.59%) VMware
4 60 (4.47%) Remedy
5 50 (3.73%) Cisco
6 36 (2.68%) Oracle
7 33 (2.46%) Atlassian
7 33 (2.46%) SAP
8 32 (2.38%) BMC
9 25 (1.86%) Splunk
10 22 (1.64%) IFS
11 21 (1.56%) Salesforce
12 19 (1.42%) SolarWinds
13 18 (1.34%) Zscaler
14 17 (1.27%) Citrix
15 16 (1.19%) Juniper
16 15 (1.12%) Dynatrace
16 15 (1.12%) IBM
17 14 (1.04%) HP
18 13 (0.97%) Apple