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 7 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 107 89 80
Rank change year-on-year -18 -9 +11
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,035 863 1,181
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.42% 2.82% 2.63%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.81% 3.12% 3.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 699 539 807
10th Percentile £200 £220 £285
25th Percentile £353 £406 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £545
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -3.67% +9.00%
75th Percentile £600 £615 £615
90th Percentile £709 £700 £734
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £523 £545
% change year-on-year -4.31% -4.13% +14.74%
Number of hourly rates quoted 81 32 17
10th Percentile £15.75 £12.94 £12.53
25th Percentile £16.72 £22.14 £15.46
Median hourly rate £29.60 £27.75 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year +6.67% +56.60% -31.34%
75th Percentile £73.75 £33.46 £20.00
90th Percentile £84.00 £68.63 £59.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.60 £24.18 £17.50
% change year-on-year +22.42% +38.15% -50.07%

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 36,884 27,639 38,956
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.36% 90.19% 86.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,378 17,377 25,379
10th Percentile £313 £306 £300
25th Percentile £413 £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 £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £494 £500
% change year-on-year -2.58% -1.20% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,184 915 2,310
10th Percentile £14.72 £15.62 £13.16
25th Percentile £18.32 £21.03 £16.06
Median hourly rate £28.00 £32.81 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -14.66% +0.95% -7.14%
75th Percentile £63.75 £64.50 £58.64
90th Percentile £74.00 £75.95 £71.87
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.38 £32.25 £32.50
% change year-on-year -21.30% -0.77% -7.14%

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 7 March 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 7 March 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 7 March 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 -9 942 £507 -3.43% 343
UK excluding London -10 701 £500 -4.31% 309
Work from Home -22 251 £469 -10.71% 146
London -51 251 £500 -4.76% 68
South East +33 200 £500 +8.11% 108
North of England -12 169 £500 +17.65% 74
South West -11 161 £575 +1.77% 36
Midlands -19 102 £425 -22.87% 54
North West -5 93 £550 +16.53% 47
West Midlands -31 78 £425 -23.94% 31
Yorkshire -28 64 £468 +103.48% 15
East of England -8 47 £452 -17.82% 36
Scotland -26 25 £500 - 9
East Midlands -10 24 £419 -9.95% 21
North East -6 15 £280 -51.30% 12
Wales -5 2 £245 -36.77% 7
Northern Ireland - 1 £500 - 1

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 91 (8.79%) Confluence
2 58 (5.60%) Microsoft Exchange
3 52 (5.02%) SharePoint
4 12 (1.16%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.48%) Mattermost
6 4 (0.39%) SharePoint Server
7 3 (0.29%) IIS
7 3 (0.29%) nginx
8 2 (0.19%) Apache
8 2 (0.19%) JBoss
9 1 (0.097%) HCL Notes
9 1 (0.097%) LiveCycle
9 1 (0.097%) OpenStack
9 1 (0.097%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 1 (0.097%) WebLogic
9 1 (0.097%) WebSphere
Applications
1 89 (8.60%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (3.48%) Microsoft Project
3 29 (2.80%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (0.97%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.48%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.39%) Autodesk Inventor
6 4 (0.39%) PTC Creo
7 3 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.097%) Camtasia
8 1 (0.097%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 30 (2.90%) Remedy ITSM
2 14 (1.35%) SAP S/4HANA
3 13 (1.26%) Oracle EBS
4 7 (0.68%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.19%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.097%) assyst
6 1 (0.097%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.097%) Dynamics NAV
6 1 (0.097%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.097%) Oracle Payables
6 1 (0.097%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.097%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.097%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 1 (0.097%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.097%) SAP PM
6 1 (0.097%) SAP SM
6 1 (0.097%) SystmOne
6 1 (0.097%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 165 (15.94%) Azure
2 101 (9.76%) Microsoft 365
3 90 (8.70%) AWS
4 49 (4.73%) GCP
5 47 (4.54%) Entra ID
6 36 (3.48%) Power Platform
6 36 (3.48%) SaaS
7 28 (2.71%) Azure DevOps
8 24 (2.32%) OneDrive
9 14 (1.35%) IaaS
9 14 (1.35%) PaaS
10 11 (1.06%) GitHub
10 11 (1.06%) Serverless
11 10 (0.97%) AWS Lambda
12 8 (0.77%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 8 (0.77%) Dynamics 365
12 8 (0.77%) OpenShift
12 8 (0.77%) PowerApps
13 7 (0.68%) Salesforce Service Cloud
14 6 (0.58%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 67 (6.47%) DNS
2 63 (6.09%) Firewall
3 36 (3.48%) DHCP
4 33 (3.19%) VPN
5 32 (3.09%) LAN
6 31 (3.00%) WAN
7 24 (2.32%) Network Security
8 22 (2.13%) VLAN
9 20 (1.93%) TCP/IP
10 19 (1.84%) Skype
11 16 (1.55%) Junos
12 15 (1.45%) BGP
12 15 (1.45%) Cisco ISE
12 15 (1.45%) Wi-Fi
13 11 (1.06%) WebEx
14 10 (0.97%) Cisco IOS
15 9 (0.87%) Cisco Firepower
15 9 (0.87%) OSPF
16 8 (0.77%) BIG-IP
16 8 (0.77%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (2.51%) Power BI
2 14 (1.35%) SQL Server
3 11 (1.06%) Relational Database
4 7 (0.68%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (0.48%) Metadata
6 4 (0.39%) Amazon RDS
6 4 (0.39%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (0.39%) InfluxDB
6 4 (0.39%) Tableau
7 2 (0.19%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.19%) Big Data
7 2 (0.19%) GIS
7 2 (0.19%) MongoDB
8 1 (0.097%) Data Mining
8 1 (0.097%) Electronic Patient Records
8 1 (0.097%) KNIME
8 1 (0.097%) OpenStack Swift
8 1 (0.097%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.097%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.097%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 144 (13.91%) JIRA
2 18 (1.74%) Git
3 16 (1.55%) Jenkins
4 13 (1.26%) Bitbucket
4 13 (1.26%) GitLab
5 6 (0.58%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 3 (0.29%) ScriptRunner
6 3 (0.29%) Selenium
6 3 (0.29%) TestRail
7 2 (0.19%) Cypress.io
7 2 (0.19%) MLflow
8 1 (0.097%) Artifactory
8 1 (0.097%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.097%) IntelliJ
8 1 (0.097%) JUnit
8 1 (0.097%) Postman
8 1 (0.097%) Protractor
8 1 (0.097%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.097%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.097%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 395 (38.16%) Social Skills
2 166 (16.04%) Analytical Skills
3 141 (13.62%) Finance
4 128 (12.37%) Public Sector
5 56 (5.41%) Legal
6 46 (4.44%) Military
7 36 (3.48%) Influencing Skills
8 35 (3.38%) Banking
9 34 (3.29%) Organisational Skills
10 31 (3.00%) Documentation Skills
11 22 (2.13%) Retail
12 19 (1.84%) Telecoms
13 12 (1.16%) Manufacturing
14 11 (1.06%) Aerospace
15 10 (0.97%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 10 (0.97%) Presentation Skills
16 8 (0.77%) Investment Banking
16 8 (0.77%) Law
17 7 (0.68%) Local Government
18 6 (0.58%) Police
Job Titles
1 138 (13.33%) Analyst
2 123 (11.88%) Lead
3 116 (11.21%) Architect
4 93 (8.99%) Service Manager
5 56 (5.41%) Consultant
5 56 (5.41%) Service Analyst
6 55 (5.31%) Senior
7 53 (5.12%) Service Architect
8 42 (4.06%) Support Engineer
9 40 (3.86%) IT Manager
10 38 (3.67%) IT Support
11 34 (3.29%) Hardware Engineer
12 30 (2.90%) Business Analyst
13 28 (2.71%) Delivery Manager
14 27 (2.61%) IT Analyst
15 26 (2.51%) 2nd Line Support
15 26 (2.51%) Network Engineer
15 26 (2.51%) Platform Engineer
16 25 (2.42%) Administrator
16 25 (2.42%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (4.25%) REST
2 20 (1.93%) SOAP
3 11 (1.06%) XMPP
4 9 (0.87%) Web Services
5 8 (0.77%) 802.1X
5 8 (0.77%) LDAP
6 7 (0.68%) Elastic Stack
7 4 (0.39%) .NET
7 4 (0.39%) ARM Templates
7 4 (0.39%) JSON
7 4 (0.39%) Middleware
7 4 (0.39%) RabbitMQ
7 4 (0.39%) RFC 2544
8 3 (0.29%) CSS
8 3 (0.29%) EDI
8 3 (0.29%) Lightning Web Components
8 3 (0.29%) Microsoft Graph
8 3 (0.29%) OAuth
8 3 (0.29%) Oracle Fusion
9 2 (0.19%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 90 (8.70%) Product Ownership
2 60 (5.80%) CMDB
3 47 (4.54%) Onboarding
4 42 (4.06%) Data Centre
5 39 (3.77%) Management Information System
6 28 (2.71%) Virtual Team
7 26 (2.51%) PKI
8 18 (1.74%) Analytical Mindset
8 18 (1.74%) Driving Licence
9 16 (1.55%) Self-Motivation
10 14 (1.35%) PMI
11 12 (1.16%) Data Protection Act
12 11 (1.06%) Enterprise Software
13 10 (0.97%) Clustering
14 8 (0.77%) Hybrid Cloud
15 7 (0.68%) Algorithms
15 7 (0.68%) NHS
16 6 (0.58%) Smartphone
17 5 (0.48%) Replication
17 5 (0.48%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 209 (20.19%) Windows
2 63 (6.09%) Linux
3 56 (5.41%) Windows Server
4 53 (5.12%) Windows 10
5 15 (1.45%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 13 (1.26%) Android
6 13 (1.26%) Mac OS
7 11 (1.06%) Apple iOS
7 11 (1.06%) Windows 7
8 8 (0.77%) Windows Server 2012
9 6 (0.58%) Ubuntu
9 6 (0.58%) Unix
10 4 (0.39%) VMS
10 4 (0.39%) Windows Server 2003
10 4 (0.39%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.29%) CentOS
11 3 (0.29%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.097%) Rocky
12 1 (0.097%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.097%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 594 (57.39%) ITIL
2 460 (44.44%) ITSM
3 227 (21.93%) Agile
4 215 (20.77%) Problem-Solving
5 205 (19.81%) Continuous Improvement
6 190 (18.36%) Stakeholder Management
7 155 (14.98%) Change Management
8 154 (14.88%) Service Delivery
9 143 (13.82%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 114 (11.01%) Customer Service
10 114 (11.01%) DevOps
11 108 (10.43%) Service Design
12 86 (8.31%) Incident Management
13 85 (8.21%) Problem Management
14 78 (7.54%) Project Management
15 76 (7.34%) Configuration Management
16 72 (6.96%) Acceptance Criteria
17 71 (6.86%) Knowledge Transfer
18 65 (6.28%) Performance Metrics
19 64 (6.18%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 93 (8.99%) PowerShell
2 61 (5.89%) Python
3 44 (4.25%) SQL
4 24 (2.32%) JavaScript
5 20 (1.93%) Java
6 18 (1.74%) Bash
7 13 (1.26%) Perl
8 11 (1.06%) Shell Script
9 9 (0.87%) VB
9 9 (0.87%) VBScript
10 6 (0.58%) Kotlin
11 4 (0.39%) C#
11 4 (0.39%) Go
12 2 (0.19%) ActionScript
12 2 (0.19%) ActionScript 2.0
12 2 (0.19%) Apex Code
12 2 (0.19%) Bicep
12 2 (0.19%) PHP
12 2 (0.19%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.097%) VBA
Qualifications
1 424 (40.97%) Security Cleared
2 315 (30.43%) SC Cleared
3 127 (12.27%) Degree
4 117 (11.30%) DV Cleared
5 54 (5.22%) ITIL Certification
6 30 (2.90%) BPSS Clearance
6 30 (2.90%) TOGAF Certification
7 28 (2.71%) Microsoft Certification
8 27 (2.61%) PMI Certification
9 24 (2.32%) Cisco Certification
9 24 (2.32%) PMP
10 16 (1.55%) CCNP
11 15 (1.45%) Computer Science Degree
12 14 (1.35%) CCNA
12 14 (1.35%) MCSE
13 13 (1.26%) A+ Certification
14 11 (1.06%) Azure Certification
15 8 (0.77%) JNCIA
15 8 (0.77%) JNCIP
15 8 (0.77%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (4.15%) SLA
2 30 (2.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 25 (2.42%) Data Quality
4 23 (2.22%) GDPR
4 23 (2.22%) QA
5 15 (1.45%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 13 (1.26%) PMO
7 11 (1.06%) Accessibility
8 10 (0.97%) COBIT
8 10 (0.97%) NIST
8 10 (0.97%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 9 (0.87%) NCSC
10 7 (0.68%) GRC
11 6 (0.58%) PCI DSS
12 5 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials
12 5 (0.48%) Government Security Classifications
13 4 (0.39%) HIPAA
13 4 (0.39%) ISO 9001
14 3 (0.29%) Disclosure Scotland
14 3 (0.29%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 128 (12.37%) Active Directory
2 36 (3.48%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (1.74%) Docker
4 13 (1.26%) VMware NSX
5 9 (0.87%) BitLocker
6 8 (0.77%) Hyper-V
7 7 (0.68%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.39%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 4 (0.39%) NDS
8 4 (0.39%) NetIQ eDirectory
8 4 (0.39%) Virtual Machines
8 4 (0.39%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.19%) NFS
9 2 (0.19%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.097%) iptables
10 1 (0.097%) Samba
10 1 (0.097%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 38 (3.67%) SCCM
2 31 (3.00%) Microsoft Intune
3 30 (2.90%) OPNET
4 28 (2.71%) Ansible
5 25 (2.42%) Kubernetes
5 25 (2.42%) Terraform
6 15 (1.45%) WSUS
7 14 (1.35%) vCenter Server
8 11 (1.06%) FortiGate
9 9 (0.87%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 9 (0.87%) Grafana
10 8 (0.77%) Jamf Pro
11 7 (0.68%) Progress Chef
11 7 (0.68%) Single Sign-On
12 6 (0.58%) Prometheus
13 5 (0.48%) Puppet
13 5 (0.48%) SCOM
14 4 (0.39%) Nessus
14 4 (0.39%) Packer
15 3 (0.29%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 272 (26.28%) ServiceNow
2 167 (16.14%) Microsoft
3 69 (6.67%) Atlassian
4 64 (6.18%) Remedy
5 59 (5.70%) Cisco
6 53 (5.12%) VMware
7 38 (3.67%) Google
8 37 (3.57%) HP
9 34 (3.29%) Oracle
10 30 (2.90%) Splunk
11 28 (2.71%) SAP
11 28 (2.71%) SolarWinds
12 18 (1.74%) Citrix
12 18 (1.74%) Juniper
13 17 (1.64%) Salesforce
14 16 (1.55%) Dell
14 16 (1.55%) Red Hat
15 13 (1.26%) Canon
16 12 (1.16%) BMC
16 12 (1.16%) IFS