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 25 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 88 85 100
Rank change year-on-year -3 +15 -15
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,644 973 893
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.00% 2.95% 2.33%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.55% 3.26% 2.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,080 584 575
10th Percentile £263 £200 £210
25th Percentile £425 £341 £372
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £486 £503
Median % change year-on-year +7.97% -3.23% -4.29%
75th Percentile £625 £575 £608
90th Percentile £725 £649 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £485 £500
% change year-on-year +8.25% -3.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 81 84 13
10th Percentile £14.50 £12.62 £15.84
25th Percentile £18.40 £13.14 £26.25
Median hourly rate £55.00 £21.06 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +161.22% -55.67% -12.84%
75th Percentile £85.00 £33.75 £50.00
90th Percentile £92.53 £60.00 £54.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £20.83 £47.50
% change year-on-year +164.04% -56.15% +116.85%

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 46,295 29,870 32,935
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.37% 90.52% 85.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,040 18,573 20,019
10th Percentile £325 £300 £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 £627 £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 3,185 1,844 1,407
10th Percentile £13.72 £14.33 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.25 £17.33 £20.00
Median hourly rate £40.00 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +59.05% -40.82% -
75th Percentile £67.25 £43.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £65.25 £74.60
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.03 £22.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year +77.91% -47.67% +1.18%

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 25 September 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 25 September 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 25 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 -4 1,418 £525 +5.00% 1,384
UK excluding London -9 960 £525 +8.25% 969
London +29 503 £525 +5.00% 539
Work from Home +10 439 £525 +8.58% 637
South East +11 310 £575 +30.02% 269
North of England -14 269 £475 +5.56% 241
North West -13 157 £480 +3.45% 137
Midlands -36 124 £525 +4.48% 134
West Midlands -13 118 £525 +1.94% 81
Yorkshire -9 104 £450 +26.76% 86
South West -35 103 £600 +9.09% 109
Scotland +15 96 £535 +15.68% 73
East of England -10 59 £525 -4.55% 108
Wales -9 12 £800 +247.83% 19
Northern Ireland +7 8 - - 34
North East -44 8 £535 +174.36% 22
East Midlands -28 6 £163 -45.83% 52

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
1 125 (7.60%) SharePoint
2 64 (3.89%) Microsoft Exchange
3 62 (3.77%) Confluence
4 15 (0.91%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.30%) OpenStack
6 4 (0.24%) IBM Transformation Extender
7 3 (0.18%) CMS
8 2 (0.12%) CICS
9 1 (0.061%) Apache
9 1 (0.061%) Exchange Server 2010
9 1 (0.061%) HCL Notes
9 1 (0.061%) IIS
9 1 (0.061%) Mattermost
9 1 (0.061%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
9 1 (0.061%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 90 (5.47%) Microsoft Office
2 38 (2.31%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (0.91%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (0.67%) MS Visio
5 9 (0.55%) Microsoft Project
6 8 (0.49%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.061%) Maple
Business Applications
1 51 (3.10%) Remedy ITSM
2 12 (0.73%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.55%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.43%) Primavera
5 5 (0.30%) ContrOCC
5 5 (0.30%) NEC Housing
5 5 (0.30%) Workday HCM
6 3 (0.18%) Oracle ERP
6 3 (0.18%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.18%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.18%) SAP FI/CO
6 3 (0.18%) SAP SM
7 2 (0.12%) Exchequer
7 2 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.12%) Remedy AR System
7 2 (0.12%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.12%) SAP CX
7 2 (0.12%) SAP PS
7 2 (0.12%) Teamcenter
8 1 (0.061%) Cloudability
Cloud Services
1 285 (17.34%) Azure
2 213 (12.96%) Microsoft 365
3 139 (8.45%) AWS
4 131 (7.97%) Entra ID
5 73 (4.44%) Power Platform
6 72 (4.38%) SaaS
7 59 (3.59%) OneDrive
8 41 (2.49%) GCP
9 35 (2.13%) Azure DevOps
10 21 (1.28%) Azure Monitor
11 19 (1.16%) Microsoft Copilot
12 15 (0.91%) GitHub
12 15 (0.91%) Google Workspace
13 14 (0.85%) Dynamics 365
13 14 (0.85%) Power Automate
14 13 (0.79%) Serverless
15 9 (0.55%) Azure Sentinel
15 9 (0.55%) IaaS
15 9 (0.55%) OCI
16 8 (0.49%) Azure Functions
Communications & Networking
1 75 (4.56%) Firewall
2 73 (4.44%) DNS
3 56 (3.41%) VPN
4 55 (3.35%) DHCP
5 45 (2.74%) Network Security
5 45 (2.74%) TCP/IP
6 38 (2.31%) WAN
7 33 (2.01%) LAN
8 24 (1.46%) Wi-Fi
9 18 (1.09%) Wireless
10 16 (0.97%) Skype
11 15 (0.91%) VLAN
12 13 (0.79%) SD-WAN
13 11 (0.67%) BGP
13 11 (0.67%) Intrusion Detection
14 10 (0.61%) SAN
14 10 (0.61%) SSH
15 9 (0.55%) Internet
16 8 (0.49%) 5G
16 8 (0.49%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 43 (2.62%) Power BI
2 32 (1.95%) SQL Server
3 24 (1.46%) Metadata
4 9 (0.55%) Oracle Database
5 7 (0.43%) Oracle Database 11g
5 7 (0.43%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 6 (0.36%) MySQL
7 5 (0.30%) Amazon RDS
7 5 (0.30%) Looker
7 5 (0.30%) MariaDB
7 5 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
7 5 (0.30%) Relational Database
7 5 (0.30%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 4 (0.24%) Oracle Reports
8 4 (0.24%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.18%) Amazon Aurora
9 3 (0.18%) BigQuery
10 2 (0.12%) Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.12%) EDRMS
10 2 (0.12%) Microsoft Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 155 (9.43%) JIRA
2 30 (1.82%) Git
3 20 (1.22%) Jenkins
4 16 (0.97%) Bitbucket
5 12 (0.73%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 5 (0.30%) Browser DevTools
6 5 (0.30%) GitLab
7 4 (0.24%) Maven
7 4 (0.24%) webpack
8 3 (0.18%) Fiddler
8 3 (0.18%) Gradle
8 3 (0.18%) Rational DOORS
8 3 (0.18%) ScriptRunner
9 2 (0.12%) Firebug
9 2 (0.12%) Hudson
9 2 (0.12%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.061%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.061%) IntelliJ
10 1 (0.061%) MSI
10 1 (0.061%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 660 (40.15%) Social Skills
2 270 (16.42%) Analytical Skills
3 268 (16.30%) Finance
4 201 (12.23%) Public Sector
5 72 (4.38%) Telecoms
6 67 (4.08%) Documentation Skills
6 67 (4.08%) Organisational Skills
7 62 (3.77%) Banking
8 58 (3.53%) Influencing Skills
9 46 (2.80%) Legal
10 41 (2.49%) Aerospace
10 41 (2.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 30 (1.82%) Military
12 28 (1.70%) Presentation Skills
13 22 (1.34%) Local Government
14 21 (1.28%) Manufacturing
15 17 (1.03%) Retail
16 16 (0.97%) Police
17 11 (0.67%) Law
18 10 (0.61%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 180 (10.95%) Architect
2 153 (9.31%) Lead
3 150 (9.12%) Analyst
4 120 (7.30%) Service Manager
5 119 (7.24%) Senior
6 116 (7.06%) Consultant
7 78 (4.74%) IT Manager
8 76 (4.62%) Support Engineer
9 73 (4.44%) Delivery Manager
10 70 (4.26%) Developer
10 70 (4.26%) Project Manager
11 57 (3.47%) Solutions Architect
12 53 (3.22%) IT Support
13 49 (2.98%) Service Analyst
14 42 (2.55%) Service Architect
14 42 (2.55%) ServiceNow Architect
15 41 (2.49%) ServiceNow Developer
16 38 (2.31%) Transition Manager
17 36 (2.19%) IT Engineer
18 35 (2.13%) Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 83 (5.05%) REST
2 53 (3.22%) Terraform
3 32 (1.95%) SOAP
4 26 (1.58%) XML
5 21 (1.28%) HTML
6 20 (1.22%) CSS
6 20 (1.22%) JSON
6 20 (1.22%) Middleware
6 20 (1.22%) Web Services
7 10 (0.61%) SAML
8 9 (0.55%) AngularJS
8 9 (0.55%) Elastic Stack
9 8 (0.49%) XSLT
10 7 (0.43%) .NET
10 7 (0.43%) ARM Templates
10 7 (0.43%) OAuth
11 6 (0.36%) Ajax
11 6 (0.36%) LDAP
12 5 (0.30%) OpenID
12 5 (0.30%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 182 (11.07%) Onboarding
2 132 (8.03%) CMDB
3 92 (5.60%) Management Information System
4 58 (3.53%) Enterprise Software
5 55 (3.35%) Data Centre
6 53 (3.22%) Product Ownership
7 38 (2.31%) PKI
8 29 (1.76%) Data Protection Act
9 28 (1.70%) Hybrid Cloud
9 28 (1.70%) Operational Technology
10 27 (1.64%) Virtual Team
11 23 (1.40%) Security Operations Centre
12 20 (1.22%) Cloud Native
13 17 (1.03%) Cyber Threat
13 17 (1.03%) Self-Motivation
14 16 (0.97%) AI Agents
14 16 (0.97%) Analytical Mindset
15 15 (0.91%) Clustering
15 15 (0.91%) Security Posture
15 15 (0.91%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 327 (19.89%) Windows
2 91 (5.54%) Windows Server
3 90 (5.47%) Linux
4 75 (4.56%) Windows 10
5 37 (2.25%) Apple iOS
6 36 (2.19%) Mac OS
7 23 (1.40%) Unix
8 21 (1.28%) Android
9 20 (1.22%) Windows 7
10 14 (0.85%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 6 (0.36%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.24%) AIX
12 4 (0.24%) Solaris
12 4 (0.24%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
13 3 (0.18%) Windows Server 2012
13 3 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.18%) zOS
14 2 (0.12%) Windows XP
15 1 (0.061%) SUSE
15 1 (0.061%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 879 (53.47%) ITIL
2 726 (44.16%) ITSM
3 533 (32.42%) Stakeholder Management
4 462 (28.10%) Continuous Improvement
5 354 (21.53%) Service Delivery
6 334 (20.32%) Problem-Solving
7 329 (20.01%) Agile
8 249 (15.15%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 248 (15.09%) Change Management
10 234 (14.23%) Roadmaps
11 192 (11.68%) Customer Service
12 179 (10.89%) Cybersecurity
12 179 (10.89%) Incident Management
13 161 (9.79%) DevOps
14 151 (9.18%) Project Delivery
15 147 (8.94%) Decision-Making
16 138 (8.39%) AI
17 135 (8.21%) Risk Management
18 130 (7.91%) Migration
19 121 (7.36%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 145 (8.82%) PowerShell
2 92 (5.60%) Python
3 64 (3.89%) SQL
4 62 (3.77%) JavaScript
5 49 (2.98%) Bash
6 19 (1.16%) VBScript
7 16 (0.97%) Java
8 15 (0.91%) VB
9 12 (0.73%) C#
10 10 (0.61%) Bicep
11 9 (0.55%) Shell Script
12 8 (0.49%) Groovy
12 8 (0.49%) PL/SQL
13 6 (0.36%) C
14 5 (0.30%) Perl
15 4 (0.24%) T-SQL
15 4 (0.24%) TypeScript
16 3 (0.18%) Apex Code
16 3 (0.18%) Google Apps Script
16 3 (0.18%) Lua
Qualifications
1 625 (38.02%) Security Cleared
2 431 (26.22%) SC Cleared
3 163 (9.91%) Degree
4 148 (9.00%) DV Cleared
5 64 (3.89%) PMP
6 62 (3.77%) ITIL Certification
7 59 (3.59%) PMI Certification
8 58 (3.53%) BPSS Clearance
9 41 (2.49%) Microsoft Certification
10 36 (2.19%) CISSP
10 36 (2.19%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 31 (1.89%) Cisco Certification
11 31 (1.89%) CISM
12 29 (1.76%) Computer Science Degree
13 27 (1.64%) A+ Certification
14 21 (1.28%) Azure Certification
15 16 (0.97%) DBS Check
16 15 (0.91%) AWS Certification
17 14 (0.85%) CCNA
18 12 (0.73%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 132 (8.03%) SLA
2 62 (3.77%) QA
3 55 (3.35%) Data Quality
4 50 (3.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 43 (2.62%) GRC
6 35 (2.13%) NCSC
7 33 (2.01%) GDPR
8 32 (1.95%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 31 (1.89%) NIST
10 25 (1.52%) PMO
11 17 (1.03%) ISO 9001
12 16 (0.97%) COBIT
13 14 (0.85%) Accessibility
14 13 (0.79%) Cyber Essentials
15 9 (0.55%) PCI DSS
16 8 (0.49%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
16 8 (0.49%) Disclosure Scotland
16 8 (0.49%) WCAG
17 7 (0.43%) ISO 31000
17 7 (0.43%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 187 (11.37%) Active Directory
2 88 (5.35%) VMware Infrastructure
3 38 (2.31%) Hyper-V
4 28 (1.70%) VMware ESXi
5 22 (1.34%) vSphere
6 21 (1.28%) Virtual Desktop
7 18 (1.09%) Docker
8 17 (1.03%) VMware NSX
9 16 (0.97%) BitLocker
10 13 (0.79%) vCloud
11 7 (0.43%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 7 (0.43%) Firmware
11 7 (0.43%) XenApp
11 7 (0.43%) XenDesktop
12 6 (0.36%) IAG
12 6 (0.36%) Virtual Servers
13 5 (0.30%) Oracle RAC
14 4 (0.24%) Virtual Machines
15 3 (0.18%) Microsoft Virtual Server
15 3 (0.18%) NFS
Systems Management
1 101 (6.14%) Microsoft Intune
2 83 (5.05%) SCCM
3 52 (3.16%) Ansible
4 25 (1.52%) Single Sign-On
5 24 (1.46%) Kubernetes
5 24 (1.46%) SCOM
6 18 (1.09%) vCenter Server
7 15 (0.91%) Jamf Pro
8 11 (0.67%) WSUS
9 8 (0.49%) Data Guard
9 8 (0.49%) NetBackup
9 8 (0.49%) Oracle RMAN
10 6 (0.36%) Grafana
10 6 (0.36%) Progress Chef
11 5 (0.30%) Tivoli
11 5 (0.30%) Tivoli Monitoring
12 4 (0.24%) PowerCLI
12 4 (0.24%) Puppet
12 4 (0.24%) vMotion
13 3 (0.18%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 472 (28.71%) ServiceNow
2 404 (24.57%) Microsoft
3 116 (7.06%) VMware
4 54 (3.28%) Remedy
5 52 (3.16%) Cisco
6 50 (3.04%) BMC
7 39 (2.37%) Atlassian
7 39 (2.37%) Oracle
8 36 (2.19%) SAP
9 32 (1.95%) Dynatrace
10 27 (1.64%) Apple
10 27 (1.64%) Google
10 27 (1.64%) IBM
10 27 (1.64%) Splunk
11 23 (1.40%) CyberArk
12 20 (1.22%) Citrix
12 20 (1.22%) Salesforce
12 20 (1.22%) SolarWinds
13 16 (0.97%) Zscaler
14 14 (0.85%) IFS