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 3 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 119 79 83
Rank change year-on-year -40 +4 0
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,056 869 1,101
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.16% 3.02% 2.55%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.55% 3.32% 2.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 685 522 749
10th Percentile £220 £221 £265
25th Percentile £400 £377 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% +2.94%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £608
90th Percentile £688 £695 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £512 £525
% change year-on-year -2.32% -2.50% +10.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 66 44 18
10th Percentile £16.13 - £12.53
25th Percentile £22.38 £12.62 £15.24
Median hourly rate £60.00 £21.71 £18.36
Median % change year-on-year +176.37% +18.25% -47.91%
75th Percentile £83.75 £30.93 £25.06
90th Percentile £102.75 £33.75 £28.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £21.28 £17.50
% change year-on-year +181.95% +21.58% -25.52%

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 41,363 26,184 36,825
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.68% 91.01% 85.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,810 16,717 23,641
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -2.38% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £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 2,496 1,118 2,535
10th Percentile £14.64 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.98 £17.87 £16.00
Median hourly rate £42.69 £27.85 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +53.27% -23.70% +1.39%
75th Percentile £67.84 £57.19 £60.75
90th Percentile £81.14 £73.75 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +78.93% -34.02% +8.91%

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 3 June 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 3 June 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 3 June 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 -30 925 £513 +0.24% 445
UK excluding London -26 654 £500 -2.32% 343
London -42 297 £540 +8.00% 133
Work from Home -9 281 £500 +2.56% 205
North of England -23 191 £495 +4.21% 82
South East +20 178 £520 +16.20% 119
South West -33 113 £500 -11.11% 38
North West -4 106 £550 +7.71% 38
Yorkshire -29 79 £468 +10.12% 40
Midlands -38 75 £450 -18.18% 54
West Midlands -45 59 £462 -16.08% 43
East of England -17 45 £475 -13.64% 35
Scotland -22 41 £475 -7.32% 9
East Midlands -20 16 £200 -54.13% 11
Wales -11 7 £340 +22.52% 4
North East -27 6 £440 +125.64% 5
Northern Ireland - 4 - - 15

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 51 (4.83%) Confluence
2 42 (3.98%) SharePoint
3 34 (3.22%) Microsoft Exchange
4 11 (1.04%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.57%) Mattermost
6 3 (0.28%) IIS
7 2 (0.19%) nginx
7 2 (0.19%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.095%) Apache
8 1 (0.095%) CICS
8 1 (0.095%) CMS
8 1 (0.095%) JBoss
8 1 (0.095%) LiveCycle
8 1 (0.095%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.095%) Palantir Foundry
8 1 (0.095%) WebSphere
Applications
1 59 (5.59%) Microsoft Office
2 28 (2.65%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (1.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (0.95%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (0.76%) MS Visio
6 7 (0.66%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.38%) PTC Creo
8 2 (0.19%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.095%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 48 (4.55%) Remedy ITSM
2 13 (1.23%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.85%) Teamcenter
4 4 (0.38%) Primavera
5 3 (0.28%) Oracle ERP
6 2 (0.19%) Oracle Applications
6 2 (0.19%) SAP PS
7 1 (0.095%) Dynamics NAV
7 1 (0.095%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.095%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.095%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.095%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 1 (0.095%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.095%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 1 (0.095%) SAP HR
7 1 (0.095%) SAP Payroll
7 1 (0.095%) SAP PM
7 1 (0.095%) SAP SM
Cloud Services
1 157 (14.87%) Azure
2 102 (9.66%) Microsoft 365
3 58 (5.49%) AWS
4 50 (4.73%) Power Platform
5 43 (4.07%) Entra ID
6 37 (3.50%) SaaS
7 29 (2.75%) Azure DevOps
8 24 (2.27%) OneDrive
9 22 (2.08%) GCP
10 19 (1.80%) GitHub
11 18 (1.70%) PaaS
12 14 (1.33%) OCI
13 10 (0.95%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 10 (0.95%) AWS Lambda
13 10 (0.95%) IaaS
13 10 (0.95%) Microsoft Copilot
13 10 (0.95%) Serverless
14 6 (0.57%) Google Workspace
14 6 (0.57%) OpenShift
14 6 (0.57%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 57 (5.40%) Firewall
2 45 (4.26%) DNS
3 36 (3.41%) WAN
4 33 (3.13%) LAN
5 30 (2.84%) VPN
6 27 (2.56%) Network Security
7 22 (2.08%) DHCP
8 17 (1.61%) TCP/IP
9 15 (1.42%) BGP
10 13 (1.23%) OSPF
10 13 (1.23%) Wi-Fi
11 12 (1.14%) BIG-IP
11 12 (1.14%) SD-WAN
11 12 (1.14%) VLAN
12 11 (1.04%) Cisco ISE
12 11 (1.04%) Skype
12 11 (1.04%) Wireless
13 9 (0.85%) VXLAN
14 8 (0.76%) Ethernet VPN
14 8 (0.76%) Junos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (3.79%) Power BI
2 15 (1.42%) SQL Server
3 7 (0.66%) Oracle Reports
3 7 (0.66%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (0.57%) Oracle Database
4 6 (0.57%) Relational Database
5 5 (0.47%) Oracle Database 11g
6 4 (0.38%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 4 (0.38%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 3 (0.28%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.28%) Elasticsearch
7 3 (0.28%) MySQL
7 3 (0.28%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 2 (0.19%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.19%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.19%) InfluxDB
8 2 (0.19%) MariaDB
8 2 (0.19%) Microsoft Analysis Services
9 1 (0.095%) DTS
9 1 (0.095%) GIS
Development Applications
1 118 (11.17%) JIRA
2 18 (1.70%) Git
3 17 (1.61%) Jenkins
4 16 (1.52%) GitLab
5 13 (1.23%) Bitbucket
6 7 (0.66%) ScriptRunner
7 6 (0.57%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 5 (0.47%) Browser DevTools
9 4 (0.38%) MLflow
10 3 (0.28%) Fiddler
10 3 (0.28%) Hudson
10 3 (0.28%) IntelliJ
11 2 (0.19%) Firebug
11 2 (0.19%) Selenium
11 2 (0.19%) TestRail
12 1 (0.095%) Artifactory
12 1 (0.095%) Claude Code
12 1 (0.095%) Gemini Tracker
12 1 (0.095%) IBM UrbanCode
12 1 (0.095%) Postman
General
1 350 (33.14%) Social Skills
2 174 (16.48%) Finance
3 136 (12.88%) Analytical Skills
4 110 (10.42%) Public Sector
5 56 (5.30%) Legal
6 38 (3.60%) Banking
7 37 (3.50%) Telecoms
8 30 (2.84%) Documentation Skills
9 27 (2.56%) Organisational Skills
10 22 (2.08%) Influencing Skills
11 19 (1.80%) Military
12 16 (1.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 15 (1.42%) Retail
14 12 (1.14%) Aerospace
15 11 (1.04%) Local Government
16 9 (0.85%) Police
17 8 (0.76%) Financial Institution
17 8 (0.76%) Presentation Skills
18 7 (0.66%) Manufacturing
19 6 (0.57%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 120 (11.36%) Analyst
2 106 (10.04%) Service Manager
3 104 (9.85%) Architect
4 95 (9.00%) Lead
5 84 (7.95%) Senior
6 69 (6.53%) IT Manager
7 61 (5.78%) Consultant
8 49 (4.64%) Project Manager
9 43 (4.07%) Service Analyst
10 35 (3.31%) Delivery Manager
11 32 (3.03%) Developer
12 31 (2.94%) Support Engineer
13 30 (2.84%) ServiceNow Architect
14 29 (2.75%) Hardware Engineer
14 29 (2.75%) IT Analyst
15 28 (2.65%) IT Services Manager
16 26 (2.46%) Network Engineer
16 26 (2.46%) Service Architect
16 26 (2.46%) Transition Manager
17 25 (2.37%) IT Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 47 (4.45%) REST
2 28 (2.65%) SOAP
3 12 (1.14%) HTML
4 11 (1.04%) CSS
5 9 (0.85%) 802.1X
5 9 (0.85%) Middleware
5 9 (0.85%) OAuth
6 7 (0.66%) Oracle Fusion
7 6 (0.57%) Web Services
7 6 (0.57%) XML
8 5 (0.47%) Elastic Stack
8 5 (0.47%) JSON
8 5 (0.47%) Lightning Web Components
8 5 (0.47%) OpenID
8 5 (0.47%) SAML
9 4 (0.38%) LDAP
9 4 (0.38%) Microsoft Graph
9 4 (0.38%) OAuth2
9 4 (0.38%) XMPP
10 3 (0.28%) Flash
Miscellaneous
1 76 (7.20%) Onboarding
2 73 (6.91%) CMDB
3 59 (5.59%) Product Ownership
4 48 (4.55%) Data Centre
5 28 (2.65%) Management Information System
5 28 (2.65%) Virtual Team
6 26 (2.46%) PKI
7 24 (2.27%) Enterprise Software
8 21 (1.99%) Clustering
9 17 (1.61%) Driving Licence
10 15 (1.42%) Data Protection Act
11 14 (1.33%) Operational Technology
12 12 (1.14%) PMI
13 10 (0.95%) Algorithms
14 9 (0.85%) Analytical Mindset
14 9 (0.85%) Cloud Native
15 8 (0.76%) Legacy Systems
15 8 (0.76%) Replication
16 6 (0.57%) Security Posture
16 6 (0.57%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 190 (17.99%) Windows
2 53 (5.02%) Linux
3 43 (4.07%) Windows 10
4 41 (3.88%) Windows Server
5 16 (1.52%) Unix
6 14 (1.33%) Windows 7
7 13 (1.23%) Mac OS
8 10 (0.95%) Android
9 9 (0.85%) Apple iOS
10 8 (0.76%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 4 (0.38%) VMS
12 3 (0.28%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.28%) Windows Server 2019
13 2 (0.19%) Solaris
13 2 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
13 2 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.19%) Windows XP
13 2 (0.19%) zOS
14 1 (0.095%) Rocky
14 1 (0.095%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 538 (50.95%) ITIL
2 451 (42.71%) ITSM
3 235 (22.25%) Stakeholder Management
4 231 (21.88%) Continuous Improvement
5 211 (19.98%) Agile
6 207 (19.60%) Problem-Solving
7 177 (16.76%) Service Delivery
8 147 (13.92%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 136 (12.88%) Change Management
10 114 (10.80%) DevOps
11 110 (10.42%) Customer Service
12 89 (8.43%) Roadmaps
13 87 (8.24%) Incident Management
14 85 (8.05%) Problem Management
15 74 (7.01%) Project Management
16 73 (6.91%) Configuration Management
16 73 (6.91%) Service Design
17 70 (6.63%) Decision-Making
17 70 (6.63%) Migration
18 69 (6.53%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 67 (6.34%) PowerShell
2 54 (5.11%) SQL
3 47 (4.45%) JavaScript
4 41 (3.88%) Python
5 16 (1.52%) Bash
6 14 (1.33%) Java
7 11 (1.04%) VB
7 11 (1.04%) VBScript
8 10 (0.95%) PL/SQL
9 6 (0.57%) Apex Code
9 6 (0.57%) Groovy
10 5 (0.47%) C#
10 5 (0.47%) Kotlin
11 4 (0.38%) C
12 3 (0.28%) Shell Script
12 3 (0.28%) SOQL
12 3 (0.28%) T-SQL
13 2 (0.19%) ActionScript
13 2 (0.19%) Go
13 2 (0.19%) PHP
Qualifications
1 391 (37.03%) Security Cleared
2 273 (25.85%) SC Cleared
3 121 (11.46%) DV Cleared
4 91 (8.62%) Degree
5 50 (4.73%) ITIL Certification
6 30 (2.84%) PMI Certification
7 27 (2.56%) Cisco Certification
8 26 (2.46%) PMP
9 22 (2.08%) BPSS Clearance
10 21 (1.99%) Computer Science Degree
11 16 (1.52%) Microsoft Certification
12 15 (1.42%) CCNA
13 13 (1.23%) Master's Degree
14 12 (1.14%) A+ Certification
15 11 (1.04%) CISM
15 11 (1.04%) CISSP
16 10 (0.95%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
17 9 (0.85%) JNCIA
17 9 (0.85%) JNCIS
17 9 (0.85%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 69 (6.53%) SLA
2 35 (3.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 34 (3.22%) Data Quality
4 26 (2.46%) PMO
5 25 (2.37%) GDPR
6 23 (2.18%) QA
7 18 (1.70%) COBIT
8 16 (1.52%) GRC
8 16 (1.52%) NCSC
9 14 (1.33%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 11 (1.04%) Cyber Essentials
10 11 (1.04%) NIST
11 10 (0.95%) Accessibility
12 9 (0.85%) PCI DSS
13 7 (0.66%) Government Security Classifications
14 6 (0.57%) ISO 31000
14 6 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 6 (0.57%) Sarbanes-Oxley
15 5 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 5 (0.47%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 106 (10.04%) Active Directory
2 38 (3.60%) VMware Infrastructure
3 15 (1.42%) Docker
3 15 (1.42%) VMware ESXi
4 12 (1.14%) BitLocker
5 8 (0.76%) VMware NSX
6 6 (0.57%) vCloud
6 6 (0.57%) vSphere
7 5 (0.47%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.47%) NFS
8 4 (0.38%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.38%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (0.28%) Firmware
10 2 (0.19%) GPFS
10 2 (0.19%) IAG
10 2 (0.19%) KVM
10 2 (0.19%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.095%) iptables
11 1 (0.095%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 1 (0.095%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 31 (2.94%) SCCM
2 28 (2.65%) Microsoft Intune
3 25 (2.37%) Ansible
4 19 (1.80%) Terraform
5 16 (1.52%) Kubernetes
6 12 (1.14%) Jamf Pro
7 10 (0.95%) FortiGate
8 9 (0.85%) Grafana
8 9 (0.85%) Single Sign-On
9 8 (0.76%) vCenter Server
10 6 (0.57%) Prometheus
10 6 (0.57%) SCOM
10 6 (0.57%) WSUS
11 5 (0.47%) Data Guard
11 5 (0.47%) Oracle RMAN
11 5 (0.47%) Progress Chef
11 5 (0.47%) Puppet
11 5 (0.47%) vMotion
12 4 (0.38%) PowerCLI
13 3 (0.28%) vRealize
Vendors
1 270 (25.57%) ServiceNow
2 169 (16.00%) Microsoft
3 55 (5.21%) Remedy
3 55 (5.21%) VMware
4 45 (4.26%) Cisco
5 35 (3.31%) Oracle
6 32 (3.03%) HP
7 30 (2.84%) Atlassian
8 27 (2.56%) SAP
9 24 (2.27%) IFS
10 23 (2.18%) BMC
11 21 (1.99%) Splunk
12 20 (1.89%) Dell
13 15 (1.42%) Canon
14 13 (1.23%) F5
14 13 (1.23%) Salesforce
14 13 (1.23%) SolarWinds
15 12 (1.14%) Dynatrace
15 12 (1.14%) Zscaler
16 11 (1.04%) Google