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 17 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 104 94 78
Rank change year-on-year -10 -16 +15
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,015 804 1,185
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.52% 2.64% 2.65%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.90% 2.95% 3.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 693 479 805
10th Percentile £200 £220 £285
25th Percentile £331 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £530 £535
Median % change year-on-year -5.66% -0.93% +7.00%
75th Percentile £594 £623 £608
90th Percentile £722 £700 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £535
% change year-on-year -4.76% -1.87% +13.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 77 23 16
10th Percentile £14.75 £21.05 £12.53
25th Percentile £17.30 £24.97 £15.46
Median hourly rate £29.60 £30.40 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year -2.63% +71.56% -31.34%
75th Percentile £60.00 £37.00 £50.31
90th Percentile £76.56 £69.75 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.60 £30.43 £17.11
% change year-on-year -2.71% +77.82% -65.80%

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 34,951 27,281 38,890
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.91% 89.56% 87.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,148 16,723 25,428
10th Percentile £310 £306 £300
25th Percentile £410 £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 £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £493 £500
% change year-on-year -2.59% -1.45% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,114 833 2,148
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.62 £13.25
25th Percentile £17.87 £21.05 £16.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £34.00
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -4.41% -2.86%
75th Percentile £60.00 £63.75 £60.75
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £73.12
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £30.78 £35.00
% change year-on-year -18.29% -12.06% +7.63%

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 17 February 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 17 February 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 17 February 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 -6 916 £500 -6.54% 351
UK excluding London -3 682 £500 -4.76% 321
London -51 247 £500 -4.76% 83
Work from Home -28 235 £450 -14.29% 162
South East +32 183 £488 +8.33% 107
North of England -6 167 £500 +17.65% 74
South West -7 151 £575 - 48
Midlands -5 106 £438 -23.91% 44
North West -1 92 £550 +25.71% 47
West Midlands -22 79 £475 -17.75% 29
Yorkshire -17 60 £475 +106.52% 23
East of England -7 46 £452 -16.87% 39
Scotland -18 30 £488 -2.11% 11
East Midlands 0 27 £419 -9.95% 14
North East -5 18 £280 -53.04% 4
Wales -6 3 £160 -58.71% 10
Northern Ireland - 2 £325 - 2

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 80 (7.88%) Confluence
2 69 (6.80%) Microsoft Exchange
3 62 (6.11%) SharePoint
4 14 (1.38%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.49%) SharePoint Server
6 4 (0.39%) Apache
6 4 (0.39%) WebLogic
7 3 (0.30%) nginx
8 2 (0.20%) JBoss
9 1 (0.099%) CMS
9 1 (0.099%) HCL Notes
9 1 (0.099%) LiveCycle
9 1 (0.099%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 1 (0.099%) WebSphere
Applications
1 95 (9.36%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (3.55%) Microsoft Project
3 30 (2.96%) Microsoft Excel
4 11 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.39%) Autodesk Inventor
5 4 (0.39%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.39%) PTC Creo
6 3 (0.30%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 25 (2.46%) Remedy ITSM
2 14 (1.38%) SAP S/4HANA
3 13 (1.28%) Oracle EBS
4 6 (0.59%) Teamcenter
5 3 (0.30%) Dynamics CRM
6 2 (0.20%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.099%) assyst
7 1 (0.099%) Dynamics NAV
7 1 (0.099%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.099%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.099%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 1 (0.099%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.099%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 1 (0.099%) SAP ERP
7 1 (0.099%) SAP PM
7 1 (0.099%) SAP SM
7 1 (0.099%) SystmOne
7 1 (0.099%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 170 (16.75%) Azure
2 111 (10.94%) Microsoft 365
3 100 (9.85%) AWS
4 45 (4.43%) Entra ID
4 45 (4.43%) GCP
5 33 (3.25%) Power Platform
6 30 (2.96%) OneDrive
6 30 (2.96%) SaaS
7 24 (2.36%) Azure DevOps
8 12 (1.18%) IaaS
9 11 (1.08%) GitHub
9 11 (1.08%) PaaS
10 10 (0.99%) Serverless
11 9 (0.89%) AWS Lambda
11 9 (0.89%) Dynamics 365
11 9 (0.89%) PowerApps
12 8 (0.79%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 8 (0.79%) Azure Monitor
13 7 (0.69%) Nutanix
13 7 (0.69%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 73 (7.19%) DNS
2 55 (5.42%) Firewall
3 44 (4.33%) DHCP
4 34 (3.35%) VPN
5 29 (2.86%) LAN
6 28 (2.76%) VLAN
6 28 (2.76%) WAN
7 27 (2.66%) TCP/IP
8 22 (2.17%) Skype
9 20 (1.97%) Junos
10 19 (1.87%) Cisco ISE
10 19 (1.87%) Network Security
11 18 (1.77%) Wi-Fi
12 16 (1.58%) Cisco IOS
13 15 (1.48%) Cisco Firepower
14 13 (1.28%) BGP
15 10 (0.99%) HTTP
16 9 (0.89%) SSH
16 9 (0.89%) WebEx
17 7 (0.69%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (2.17%) Power BI
2 14 (1.38%) Relational Database
2 14 (1.38%) SQL Server
3 7 (0.69%) PostgreSQL
4 5 (0.49%) Amazon RDS
4 5 (0.49%) Metadata
5 4 (0.39%) Elasticsearch
5 4 (0.39%) InfluxDB
5 4 (0.39%) Tableau
6 2 (0.20%) Azure SQL Database
6 2 (0.20%) Big Data
6 2 (0.20%) GIS
6 2 (0.20%) MongoDB
6 2 (0.20%) Oracle Reports
7 1 (0.099%) BusinessObjects
7 1 (0.099%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.099%) Oracle Discoverer
7 1 (0.099%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.099%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 1 (0.099%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 129 (12.71%) JIRA
2 15 (1.48%) Jenkins
3 13 (1.28%) Git
4 10 (0.99%) GitLab
5 7 (0.69%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.30%) ScriptRunner
6 3 (0.30%) TestRail
7 2 (0.20%) Cypress.io
7 2 (0.20%) Selenium
8 1 (0.099%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 1 (0.099%) MLflow
8 1 (0.099%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 398 (39.21%) Social Skills
2 176 (17.34%) Analytical Skills
3 145 (14.29%) Finance
4 139 (13.69%) Public Sector
5 52 (5.12%) Legal
6 47 (4.63%) Military
7 35 (3.45%) Organisational Skills
8 33 (3.25%) Banking
9 32 (3.15%) Documentation Skills
9 32 (3.15%) Influencing Skills
10 27 (2.66%) Telecoms
11 25 (2.46%) Retail
12 18 (1.77%) Manufacturing
13 11 (1.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 10 (0.99%) Investment Banking
15 8 (0.79%) Law
16 7 (0.69%) Police
16 7 (0.69%) Presentation Skills
17 6 (0.59%) Aerospace
18 5 (0.49%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 138 (13.60%) Analyst
2 123 (12.12%) Lead
3 111 (10.94%) Architect
4 83 (8.18%) Service Manager
5 62 (6.11%) Support Engineer
6 50 (4.93%) Consultant
7 48 (4.73%) Service Architect
8 47 (4.63%) Senior
9 46 (4.53%) Service Analyst
10 41 (4.04%) IT Support
11 34 (3.35%) IT Manager
12 33 (3.25%) Desktop Support
13 32 (3.15%) Hardware Engineer
14 30 (2.96%) Support Analyst
15 29 (2.86%) 2nd Line Support
15 29 (2.86%) Business Analyst
16 28 (2.76%) IT Analyst
17 27 (2.66%) Network Engineer
18 25 (2.46%) Infrastructure Engineer
18 25 (2.46%) Platform Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (3.74%) REST
2 17 (1.67%) SOAP
3 10 (0.99%) LDAP
4 9 (0.89%) XMPP
5 8 (0.79%) Elastic Stack
6 7 (0.69%) Web Services
7 6 (0.59%) .NET
8 5 (0.49%) 802.1X
8 5 (0.49%) RFC 2544
9 4 (0.39%) ARM Templates
9 4 (0.39%) RabbitMQ
10 3 (0.30%) CSS
10 3 (0.30%) EDI
10 3 (0.30%) JSON
10 3 (0.30%) Lightning Web Components
10 3 (0.30%) Microsoft Graph
11 2 (0.20%) HTML
11 2 (0.20%) Middleware
11 2 (0.20%) Oracle Fusion
11 2 (0.20%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 76 (7.49%) Product Ownership
2 61 (6.01%) CMDB
3 46 (4.53%) Onboarding
4 39 (3.84%) Management Information System
5 38 (3.74%) Data Centre
6 27 (2.66%) PKI
7 26 (2.56%) Virtual Team
8 25 (2.46%) Analytical Mindset
9 19 (1.87%) Driving Licence
9 19 (1.87%) Self-Motivation
10 14 (1.38%) PMI
11 11 (1.08%) Data Protection Act
11 11 (1.08%) Enterprise Software
12 9 (0.89%) NHS
13 8 (0.79%) Smartphone
14 7 (0.69%) Algorithms
14 7 (0.69%) Hybrid Cloud
15 6 (0.59%) Clustering
15 6 (0.59%) Data Structures
15 6 (0.59%) Mainframe
Operating Systems
1 236 (23.25%) Windows
2 72 (7.09%) Linux
3 64 (6.31%) Windows 10
3 64 (6.31%) Windows Server
4 15 (1.48%) Mac OS
5 14 (1.38%) Android
5 14 (1.38%) Apple iOS
5 14 (1.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 11 (1.08%) Windows 7
7 9 (0.89%) Unix
8 8 (0.79%) Windows Server 2012
9 5 (0.49%) Windows Server 2016
9 5 (0.49%) Windows Server 2019
10 4 (0.39%) Ubuntu
10 4 (0.39%) Windows Server 2003
11 3 (0.30%) CentOS
12 2 (0.20%) VMS
12 2 (0.20%) Windows Server 2008
13 1 (0.099%) AIX
13 1 (0.099%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 563 (55.47%) ITIL
2 451 (44.43%) ITSM
3 220 (21.67%) Problem-Solving
4 197 (19.41%) Continuous Improvement
5 191 (18.82%) Agile
6 171 (16.85%) Stakeholder Management
7 158 (15.57%) Change Management
8 142 (13.99%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 140 (13.79%) Service Delivery
10 121 (11.92%) Customer Service
11 98 (9.66%) Service Design
12 92 (9.06%) DevOps
13 91 (8.97%) Incident Management
14 85 (8.37%) Problem Management
15 83 (8.18%) Project Management
16 69 (6.80%) Knowledge Transfer
17 67 (6.60%) Configuration Management
18 63 (6.21%) Performance Metrics
19 60 (5.91%) Acceptance Criteria
20 59 (5.81%) Business Continuity
Programming Languages
1 96 (9.46%) PowerShell
2 63 (6.21%) Python
3 49 (4.83%) SQL
4 21 (2.07%) Java
5 20 (1.97%) JavaScript
6 16 (1.58%) Perl
7 15 (1.48%) Bash
7 15 (1.48%) Shell Script
8 9 (0.89%) VB
8 9 (0.89%) VBScript
9 6 (0.59%) Kotlin
10 4 (0.39%) Go
11 3 (0.30%) C#
12 2 (0.20%) ActionScript
12 2 (0.20%) ActionScript 2.0
12 2 (0.20%) Apex Code
12 2 (0.20%) Bicep
12 2 (0.20%) PHP
12 2 (0.20%) VBA
13 1 (0.099%) Scala
Qualifications
1 403 (39.70%) Security Cleared
2 306 (30.15%) SC Cleared
3 122 (12.02%) Degree
4 105 (10.34%) DV Cleared
5 51 (5.02%) ITIL Certification
6 37 (3.65%) Microsoft Certification
7 30 (2.96%) TOGAF Certification
8 27 (2.66%) BPSS Clearance
9 22 (2.17%) PMI Certification
10 20 (1.97%) Cisco Certification
11 18 (1.77%) PMP
12 17 (1.67%) Azure Certification
13 16 (1.58%) A+ Certification
13 16 (1.58%) Computer Science Degree
13 16 (1.58%) MCSE
14 15 (1.48%) CCNP
15 14 (1.38%) CCNA
15 14 (1.38%) Network+ Certification
16 11 (1.08%) Server+ Certification
17 7 (0.69%) MAPM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 47 (4.63%) SLA
2 24 (2.36%) Data Quality
2 24 (2.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 22 (2.17%) QA
4 21 (2.07%) GDPR
5 11 (1.08%) PMO
6 9 (0.89%) COBIT
6 9 (0.89%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 8 (0.79%) Accessibility
7 8 (0.79%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 8 (0.79%) NIST
8 6 (0.59%) GRC
9 5 (0.49%) Cyber Essentials
10 4 (0.39%) Disclosure Scotland
10 4 (0.39%) HIPAA
10 4 (0.39%) ISO 9001
10 4 (0.39%) NCSC
11 3 (0.30%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 3 (0.30%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.20%) GxP
System Software
1 139 (13.69%) Active Directory
2 45 (4.43%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (1.87%) VMware NSX
4 17 (1.67%) Docker
5 15 (1.48%) Hyper-V
6 12 (1.18%) Virtual Desktop
7 9 (0.89%) BitLocker
8 7 (0.69%) Virtual Servers
9 6 (0.59%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 4 (0.39%) NDS
10 4 (0.39%) NetIQ eDirectory
11 3 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
12 1 (0.099%) NFS
12 1 (0.099%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 42 (4.14%) SCCM
2 30 (2.96%) OPNET
3 28 (2.76%) Ansible
3 28 (2.76%) Microsoft Intune
4 26 (2.56%) Terraform
5 25 (2.46%) Kubernetes
6 20 (1.97%) vCenter Server
7 17 (1.67%) WSUS
8 10 (0.99%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 9 (0.89%) FortiGate
9 9 (0.89%) Jamf Pro
9 9 (0.89%) Single Sign-On
10 7 (0.69%) Grafana
10 7 (0.69%) Prometheus
11 6 (0.59%) SCOM
12 4 (0.39%) Nessus
12 4 (0.39%) Packer
12 4 (0.39%) Progress Chef
13 3 (0.30%) HP ALM
14 2 (0.20%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 252 (24.83%) ServiceNow
2 179 (17.64%) Microsoft
3 63 (6.21%) Cisco
4 62 (6.11%) Atlassian
4 62 (6.11%) Remedy
5 59 (5.81%) VMware
6 38 (3.74%) Google
6 38 (3.74%) Oracle
7 36 (3.55%) HP
7 36 (3.55%) SolarWinds
8 30 (2.96%) Splunk
9 29 (2.86%) SAP
10 22 (2.17%) Juniper
11 17 (1.67%) Citrix
11 17 (1.67%) Salesforce
12 15 (1.48%) Red Hat
13 14 (1.38%) Dell
14 13 (1.28%) Veeam
15 12 (1.18%) Dynatrace
16 11 (1.08%) Canon