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 9 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 103 85 75
Rank change year-on-year -18 -10 +11
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,087 834 1,149
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.28% 2.86% 2.66%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.70% 3.14% 3.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 729 505 770
10th Percentile £220 £225 £280
25th Percentile £382 £400 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.92% -0.95% +5.00%
75th Percentile £613 £600 £608
90th Percentile £725 £695 £726
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - +10.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 64 28 20
10th Percentile £16.09 - £12.53
25th Percentile £16.17 £12.62 £15.39
Median hourly rate £57.50 £18.54 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year +210.14% +4.63% -67.78%
75th Percentile £83.81 £23.61 £20.19
90th Percentile £105.60 £33.48 £30.05
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £14.31 £17.29
% change year-on-year +319.29% -17.21% -68.57%

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 40,321 26,530 37,209
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.49% 90.95% 86.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,358 17,078 23,948
10th Percentile £321 £306 £300
25th Percentile £413 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £501 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.70% -1.00% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £725 £744 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £479 £500
% change year-on-year +2.30% -4.20% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,401 1,077 2,439
10th Percentile £14.96 £14.47 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.85 £18.50 £16.00
Median hourly rate £42.00 £28.75 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +46.09% -21.23% +1.39%
75th Percentile £67.25 £61.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.00 £27.13 £37.50
% change year-on-year +62.21% -27.67% +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 9 May 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 9 May 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 9 May 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 -12 968 £513 -2.38% 329
UK excluding London -11 718 £500 -4.76% 268
London -41 276 £520 +2.67% 96
Work from Home -8 272 £500 +2.56% 148
South East +31 214 £515 +14.44% 90
North of England -18 177 £491 +3.32% 72
South West -18 150 £564 +2.41% 28
North West +3 96 £550 +6.40% 35
Midlands -23 91 £408 -25.91% 35
West Midlands -32 70 £408 -26.04% 28
Yorkshire -34 70 £475 +11.76% 36
East of England -22 45 £475 -13.64% 35
Scotland -28 33 £500 -3.94% 10
East Midlands -16 21 £405 -7.11% 7
North East -14 11 £280 +43.59% 2
Wales -7 7 £340 -12.26% 8
Northern Ireland - 5 £500 - 3

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 82 (7.54%) Confluence
2 35 (3.22%) Microsoft Exchange
3 34 (3.13%) SharePoint
4 8 (0.74%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.55%) Mattermost
6 3 (0.28%) IIS
6 3 (0.28%) nginx
7 1 (0.092%) Apache
7 1 (0.092%) CICS
7 1 (0.092%) CMS
7 1 (0.092%) HCL Notes
7 1 (0.092%) JBoss
7 1 (0.092%) LiveCycle
7 1 (0.092%) OpenStack
7 1 (0.092%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.092%) WebSphere
Applications
1 85 (7.82%) Microsoft Office
2 41 (3.77%) Microsoft Project
3 28 (2.58%) Microsoft Excel
4 13 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.64%) Chatbot
5 7 (0.64%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.37%) PTC Creo
7 2 (0.18%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.092%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 43 (3.96%) Remedy ITSM
2 13 (1.20%) SAP S/4HANA
3 8 (0.74%) Oracle EBS
3 8 (0.74%) Teamcenter
4 2 (0.18%) Oracle Applications
4 2 (0.18%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.18%) SAP PS
5 1 (0.092%) Dynamics NAV
5 1 (0.092%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.092%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.092%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.092%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.092%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 1 (0.092%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.092%) SAP Payroll
5 1 (0.092%) SAP PM
5 1 (0.092%) SAP SM
5 1 (0.092%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 163 (15.00%) Azure
2 96 (8.83%) Microsoft 365
3 81 (7.45%) AWS
4 51 (4.69%) Power Platform
5 47 (4.32%) SaaS
6 40 (3.68%) GCP
7 36 (3.31%) Entra ID
8 28 (2.58%) Azure DevOps
9 20 (1.84%) GitHub
9 20 (1.84%) PaaS
10 17 (1.56%) IaaS
10 17 (1.56%) OneDrive
11 13 (1.20%) OCI
12 12 (1.10%) AWS Lambda
12 12 (1.10%) Serverless
13 10 (0.92%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 10 (0.92%) Microsoft Copilot
14 9 (0.83%) OpenShift
15 8 (0.74%) Dynamics 365
15 8 (0.74%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 61 (5.61%) Firewall
2 45 (4.14%) DNS
3 36 (3.31%) WAN
4 34 (3.13%) LAN
5 33 (3.04%) VPN
6 30 (2.76%) Network Security
7 22 (2.02%) DHCP
8 20 (1.84%) TCP/IP
9 14 (1.29%) BGP
10 13 (1.20%) OSPF
10 13 (1.20%) SD-WAN
11 12 (1.10%) BIG-IP
12 11 (1.01%) Cisco ISE
12 11 (1.01%) Wi-Fi
13 10 (0.92%) VLAN
13 10 (0.92%) Wireless
14 8 (0.74%) Ethernet VPN
14 8 (0.74%) Junos
14 8 (0.74%) Skype
14 8 (0.74%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (3.40%) Power BI
2 14 (1.29%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.74%) Relational Database
4 7 (0.64%) PostgreSQL
5 6 (0.55%) Oracle Reports
6 5 (0.46%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.37%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (0.37%) Elasticsearch
7 4 (0.37%) InfluxDB
7 4 (0.37%) Oracle Database 11g
7 4 (0.37%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 4 (0.37%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.28%) Azure SQL Database
8 3 (0.28%) MySQL
8 3 (0.28%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 2 (0.18%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.18%) GIS
9 2 (0.18%) MariaDB
9 2 (0.18%) Microsoft Analysis Services
9 2 (0.18%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 143 (13.16%) JIRA
2 18 (1.66%) Jenkins
3 16 (1.47%) Git
3 16 (1.47%) GitLab
4 14 (1.29%) Bitbucket
5 7 (0.64%) ScriptRunner
6 6 (0.55%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 5 (0.46%) Browser DevTools
8 4 (0.37%) MLflow
9 3 (0.28%) Fiddler
9 3 (0.28%) Hudson
9 3 (0.28%) IntelliJ
9 3 (0.28%) Selenium
9 3 (0.28%) TestRail
10 2 (0.18%) Cypress.io
10 2 (0.18%) Firebug
10 2 (0.18%) Visual Studio Code
11 1 (0.092%) Artifactory
11 1 (0.092%) Protractor
11 1 (0.092%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 387 (35.60%) Social Skills
2 176 (16.19%) Finance
3 163 (15.00%) Analytical Skills
4 110 (10.12%) Public Sector
5 61 (5.61%) Legal
6 45 (4.14%) Military
7 37 (3.40%) Banking
8 36 (3.31%) Organisational Skills
9 29 (2.67%) Telecoms
10 28 (2.58%) Documentation Skills
11 23 (2.12%) Influencing Skills
12 18 (1.66%) Retail
13 12 (1.10%) Aerospace
14 9 (0.83%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 9 (0.83%) Local Government
14 9 (0.83%) Presentation Skills
15 8 (0.74%) Front Office
15 8 (0.74%) Investment Banking
16 7 (0.64%) Police
17 5 (0.46%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 125 (11.50%) Architect
2 124 (11.41%) Analyst
3 114 (10.49%) Lead
4 110 (10.12%) Service Manager
5 80 (7.36%) Senior
6 63 (5.80%) Consultant
7 61 (5.61%) IT Manager
8 56 (5.15%) Service Architect
9 50 (4.60%) Service Analyst
10 44 (4.05%) Project Manager
11 36 (3.31%) Delivery Manager
11 36 (3.31%) Hardware Engineer
12 32 (2.94%) IT Analyst
13 31 (2.85%) Support Engineer
14 29 (2.67%) IT Services Manager
15 28 (2.58%) Developer
16 27 (2.48%) Service Delivery Manager
17 25 (2.30%) Designer
17 25 (2.30%) Network Engineer
18 24 (2.21%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (3.40%) REST
2 22 (2.02%) SOAP
3 9 (0.83%) 802.1X
3 9 (0.83%) Middleware
4 7 (0.64%) CSS
4 7 (0.64%) HTML
4 7 (0.64%) OAuth
4 7 (0.64%) Oracle Fusion
5 6 (0.55%) Elastic Stack
5 6 (0.55%) JSON
6 5 (0.46%) .NET
6 5 (0.46%) XML
7 4 (0.37%) LDAP
7 4 (0.37%) Microsoft Graph
7 4 (0.37%) OAuth2
7 4 (0.37%) OpenID
7 4 (0.37%) RabbitMQ
7 4 (0.37%) SAML
7 4 (0.37%) Web Services
7 4 (0.37%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 87 (8.00%) Product Ownership
2 73 (6.72%) Onboarding
3 67 (6.16%) CMDB
4 45 (4.14%) Data Centre
5 30 (2.76%) Management Information System
6 26 (2.39%) Virtual Team
7 25 (2.30%) PKI
8 20 (1.84%) Driving Licence
9 19 (1.75%) Clustering
10 17 (1.56%) Enterprise Software
11 15 (1.38%) Data Protection Act
11 15 (1.38%) PMI
12 10 (0.92%) Analytical Mindset
12 10 (0.92%) Cloud Native
12 10 (0.92%) Operational Technology
13 9 (0.83%) Algorithms
13 9 (0.83%) Replication
14 8 (0.74%) Legacy Systems
15 7 (0.64%) Self-Motivation
16 6 (0.55%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 178 (16.38%) Windows
2 56 (5.15%) Linux
3 40 (3.68%) Windows 10
3 40 (3.68%) Windows Server
4 14 (1.29%) Unix
5 12 (1.10%) Mac OS
6 10 (0.92%) Windows 7
7 8 (0.74%) Android
7 8 (0.74%) Apple iOS
8 7 (0.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 7 (0.64%) Ubuntu
9 4 (0.37%) VMS
10 3 (0.28%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.18%) Solaris
11 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2012
11 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
11 2 (0.18%) zOS
12 1 (0.092%) Data ONTAP
12 1 (0.092%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.092%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 592 (54.46%) ITIL
2 458 (42.13%) ITSM
3 232 (21.34%) Agile
4 229 (21.07%) Continuous Improvement
5 224 (20.61%) Stakeholder Management
6 211 (19.41%) Problem-Solving
7 179 (16.47%) Service Delivery
8 153 (14.08%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 143 (13.16%) Change Management
10 120 (11.04%) DevOps
11 118 (10.86%) Customer Service
12 102 (9.38%) Service Design
13 84 (7.73%) Incident Management
13 84 (7.73%) Problem Management
14 83 (7.64%) Roadmaps
15 75 (6.90%) Configuration Management
16 74 (6.81%) Knowledge Transfer
17 72 (6.62%) Project Management
18 67 (6.16%) CI/CD
18 67 (6.16%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 63 (5.80%) PowerShell
2 53 (4.88%) SQL
3 37 (3.40%) Python
4 35 (3.22%) JavaScript
5 16 (1.47%) Java
6 11 (1.01%) Bash
7 9 (0.83%) PL/SQL
8 8 (0.74%) VB
8 8 (0.74%) VBScript
9 6 (0.55%) Apex Code
9 6 (0.55%) Kotlin
10 5 (0.46%) C#
10 5 (0.46%) Shell Script
11 4 (0.37%) Go
11 4 (0.37%) Groovy
11 4 (0.37%) T-SQL
12 3 (0.28%) C
13 2 (0.18%) ActionScript
13 2 (0.18%) PHP
13 2 (0.18%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 434 (39.93%) Security Cleared
2 323 (29.71%) SC Cleared
3 126 (11.59%) Degree
4 120 (11.04%) DV Cleared
5 49 (4.51%) ITIL Certification
6 33 (3.04%) PMI Certification
7 31 (2.85%) PMP
8 30 (2.76%) TOGAF Certification
9 28 (2.58%) Cisco Certification
10 21 (1.93%) Computer Science Degree
11 19 (1.75%) BPSS Clearance
11 19 (1.75%) Microsoft Certification
12 14 (1.29%) CCNA
13 12 (1.10%) A+ Certification
14 11 (1.01%) CCNP
14 11 (1.01%) Master's Degree
15 9 (0.83%) JNCIA
15 9 (0.83%) JNCIS
15 9 (0.83%) MAPM
15 9 (0.83%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 61 (5.61%) SLA
2 34 (3.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 32 (2.94%) Data Quality
4 25 (2.30%) PMO
4 25 (2.30%) QA
5 24 (2.21%) GDPR
6 16 (1.47%) COBIT
6 16 (1.47%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 15 (1.38%) GRC
7 15 (1.38%) NCSC
8 11 (1.01%) Accessibility
9 10 (0.92%) NIST
10 9 (0.83%) Cyber Essentials
11 7 (0.64%) Government Security Classifications
12 6 (0.55%) ISO 31000
12 6 (0.55%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 6 (0.55%) PCI DSS
12 6 (0.55%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 5 (0.46%) Disclosure Scotland
13 5 (0.46%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 98 (9.02%) Active Directory
2 35 (3.22%) VMware Infrastructure
3 14 (1.29%) Docker
4 10 (0.92%) VMware ESXi
5 8 (0.74%) BitLocker
6 5 (0.46%) Hyper-V
6 5 (0.46%) vSphere
7 4 (0.37%) Virtual Desktop
7 4 (0.37%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (0.37%) VMware NSX
8 3 (0.28%) NFS
9 2 (0.18%) IAG
9 2 (0.18%) Oracle RAC
9 2 (0.18%) vCloud
10 1 (0.092%) GPFS
10 1 (0.092%) iptables
10 1 (0.092%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.092%) Samba
10 1 (0.092%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.092%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 32 (2.94%) Ansible
2 30 (2.76%) OPNET
3 29 (2.67%) SCCM
4 27 (2.48%) Terraform
5 21 (1.93%) Kubernetes
5 21 (1.93%) Microsoft Intune
6 11 (1.01%) Grafana
7 10 (0.92%) FortiGate
8 9 (0.83%) WSUS
9 8 (0.74%) Jamf Pro
9 8 (0.74%) Prometheus
10 7 (0.64%) Progress Chef
10 7 (0.64%) Single Sign-On
11 5 (0.46%) PowerCLI
11 5 (0.46%) Puppet
11 5 (0.46%) SCOM
11 5 (0.46%) vCenter Server
11 5 (0.46%) vMotion
12 4 (0.37%) Data Guard
12 4 (0.37%) Packer
Vendors
1 287 (26.40%) ServiceNow
2 165 (15.18%) Microsoft
3 79 (7.27%) Remedy
4 58 (5.34%) Atlassian
5 54 (4.97%) VMware
6 43 (3.96%) Cisco
6 43 (3.96%) Oracle
7 39 (3.59%) HP
8 29 (2.67%) SAP
9 27 (2.48%) Google
10 22 (2.02%) IFS
11 21 (1.93%) Splunk
12 20 (1.84%) BMC
13 19 (1.75%) Dell
14 15 (1.38%) Canon
14 15 (1.38%) Citrix
15 14 (1.29%) SolarWinds
16 13 (1.20%) F5
16 13 (1.20%) Salesforce
17 11 (1.01%) Palo Alto