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 29 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 96 84 93
Rank change year-on-year -12 +9 -6
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,539 977 942
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.86% 2.97% 2.44%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.37% 3.28% 2.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,006 593 638
10th Percentile £263 £208 £220
25th Percentile £420 £343 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £492 £524
Median % change year-on-year +6.71% -6.02% -0.29%
75th Percentile £620 £575 £600
90th Percentile £725 £675 £682
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £493 £505
% change year-on-year +6.60% -2.48% +1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 82 73 17
10th Percentile £14.50 - £17.17
25th Percentile £17.51 £12.62 £20.74
Median hourly rate £55.00 £18.73 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +193.65% -31.89% -46.34%
75th Percentile £85.00 £31.40 £48.75
90th Percentile £92.53 £44.75 £54.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.27 £18.73 £27.50
% change year-on-year +141.67% -31.89% +29.05%

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 45,621 29,800 32,930
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.64% 90.44% 85.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,920 18,562 20,756
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
25th Percentile £425 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.67%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,892 1,765 1,620
10th Percentile £14.10 £14.21 £14.16
25th Percentile £17.85 £17.30 £18.50
Median hourly rate £41.00 £25.15 £42.03
Median % change year-on-year +63.02% -40.16% +0.31%
75th Percentile £67.84 £47.12 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £67.15 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.11 £22.63 £43.00
% change year-on-year +90.48% -47.37% +14.67%

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 29 August 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 29 August 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 29 August 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 -15 1,326 £525 +5.00% 1,095
UK excluding London -12 895 £525 +6.60% 835
London +31 483 £525 +5.00% 418
Work from Home +10 424 £518 +4.23% 531
South East +13 293 £565 +13.00% 270
North of England -20 249 £473 +4.30% 187
North West -21 149 £480 +3.11% 108
South West -32 113 £575 +6.48% 96
Midlands -43 102 £510 - 116
West Midlands -25 96 £520 -0.95% 73
Yorkshire -19 93 £443 +24.79% 62
Scotland +8 87 £520 +15.56% 56
East of England -13 47 £518 -5.91% 71
Wales -10 13 £800 +247.83% 19
Northern Ireland +7 8 - - 28
North East -38 7 £500 +156.41% 17
East Midlands -30 6 £250 -16.67% 44

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
1 110 (7.15%) SharePoint
2 57 (3.70%) Confluence
3 56 (3.64%) Microsoft Exchange
4 15 (0.97%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.39%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.19%) CMS
6 3 (0.19%) IIS
7 2 (0.13%) Apache
8 1 (0.065%) CICS
8 1 (0.065%) Exchange Server 2010
8 1 (0.065%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.065%) JBoss
8 1 (0.065%) Mattermost
8 1 (0.065%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.065%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 86 (5.59%) Microsoft Office
2 37 (2.40%) Microsoft Excel
3 16 (1.04%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (0.78%) Microsoft Project
4 12 (0.78%) MS Visio
5 10 (0.65%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.065%) Maple
Business Applications
1 57 (3.70%) Remedy ITSM
2 11 (0.71%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.45%) Primavera
4 5 (0.32%) ContrOCC
4 5 (0.32%) NEC Housing
5 4 (0.26%) Workday HCM
6 3 (0.19%) Dynamics CRM
6 3 (0.19%) Oracle ERP
6 3 (0.19%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.19%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.19%) SAP FI/CO
6 3 (0.19%) SAP SM
7 2 (0.13%) Exchequer
7 2 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
7 2 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.13%) Remedy AR System
7 2 (0.13%) SAP PS
7 2 (0.13%) Teamcenter
8 1 (0.065%) iTrent
8 1 (0.065%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 278 (18.06%) Azure
2 197 (12.80%) Microsoft 365
3 127 (8.25%) AWS
4 116 (7.54%) Entra ID
5 70 (4.55%) Power Platform
6 64 (4.16%) SaaS
7 53 (3.44%) OneDrive
8 35 (2.27%) Azure DevOps
9 33 (2.14%) GCP
10 21 (1.36%) GitHub
11 20 (1.30%) Microsoft Copilot
12 16 (1.04%) Azure Monitor
13 14 (0.91%) OCI
14 11 (0.71%) PaaS
15 10 (0.65%) Google Workspace
15 10 (0.65%) IaaS
16 9 (0.58%) Azure Sentinel
17 8 (0.52%) Amazon S3
17 8 (0.52%) Azure AKS
17 8 (0.52%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 84 (5.46%) Firewall
2 67 (4.35%) DNS
3 53 (3.44%) VPN
4 47 (3.05%) DHCP
4 47 (3.05%) TCP/IP
5 43 (2.79%) Network Security
5 43 (2.79%) WAN
6 35 (2.27%) LAN
7 21 (1.36%) Wi-Fi
8 19 (1.23%) Wireless
9 18 (1.17%) SD-WAN
10 15 (0.97%) Skype
10 15 (0.97%) VLAN
11 13 (0.84%) BGP
12 11 (0.71%) Intrusion Detection
12 11 (0.71%) SSH
13 9 (0.58%) 5G
13 9 (0.58%) OSPF
13 9 (0.58%) SSL
14 8 (0.52%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 49 (3.18%) Power BI
2 28 (1.82%) SQL Server
3 14 (0.91%) Metadata
4 9 (0.58%) Oracle Database
5 8 (0.52%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (0.45%) MySQL
6 7 (0.45%) Oracle Database 11g
6 7 (0.45%) PostgreSQL
7 6 (0.39%) Oracle Reports
7 6 (0.39%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 5 (0.32%) Amazon RDS
8 5 (0.32%) MariaDB
8 5 (0.32%) Relational Database
8 5 (0.32%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.19%) Amazon Aurora
10 2 (0.13%) Amazon Redshift
10 2 (0.13%) Azure SQL Database
10 2 (0.13%) Looker
10 2 (0.13%) Microsoft Analysis Services
10 2 (0.13%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 144 (9.36%) JIRA
2 24 (1.56%) Git
2 24 (1.56%) Jenkins
3 19 (1.23%) Bitbucket
4 12 (0.78%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 9 (0.58%) GitLab
6 5 (0.32%) Browser DevTools
7 4 (0.26%) Maven
7 4 (0.26%) MLflow
7 4 (0.26%) ScriptRunner
7 4 (0.26%) webpack
8 3 (0.19%) Fiddler
8 3 (0.19%) Gradle
8 3 (0.19%) Hudson
8 3 (0.19%) IntelliJ
8 3 (0.19%) Rational DOORS
8 3 (0.19%) Sonatype Nexus
9 2 (0.13%) Artifactory
9 2 (0.13%) Firebug
10 1 (0.065%) Cucumber
General
1 603 (39.18%) Social Skills
2 255 (16.57%) Finance
3 243 (15.79%) Analytical Skills
4 190 (12.35%) Public Sector
5 76 (4.94%) Telecoms
6 61 (3.96%) Organisational Skills
7 60 (3.90%) Documentation Skills
8 54 (3.51%) Banking
8 54 (3.51%) Influencing Skills
9 46 (2.99%) Legal
10 32 (2.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 30 (1.95%) Military
12 26 (1.69%) Aerospace
13 23 (1.49%) Local Government
14 21 (1.36%) Presentation Skills
15 18 (1.17%) Retail
16 14 (0.91%) Police
17 12 (0.78%) Manufacturing
18 10 (0.65%) Financial Institution
18 10 (0.65%) Law
Job Titles
1 163 (10.59%) Analyst
2 158 (10.27%) Architect
3 149 (9.68%) Lead
4 116 (7.54%) Senior
5 110 (7.15%) Consultant
6 107 (6.95%) Service Manager
7 75 (4.87%) IT Manager
8 71 (4.61%) Project Manager
9 68 (4.42%) Support Engineer
10 61 (3.96%) Developer
11 52 (3.38%) Delivery Manager
12 51 (3.31%) Service Analyst
13 48 (3.12%) IT Support
13 48 (3.12%) Solutions Architect
14 42 (2.73%) Service Architect
15 41 (2.66%) ServiceNow Developer
16 38 (2.47%) Transition Manager
17 36 (2.34%) Business Analyst
18 34 (2.21%) Designer
18 34 (2.21%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 76 (4.94%) REST
2 49 (3.18%) Terraform
3 32 (2.08%) SOAP
4 18 (1.17%) HTML
5 17 (1.10%) CSS
6 14 (0.91%) Middleware
6 14 (0.91%) Web Services
6 14 (0.91%) XML
7 11 (0.71%) JSON
8 10 (0.65%) SAML
9 9 (0.58%) AngularJS
9 9 (0.58%) Elastic Stack
10 7 (0.45%) ARM Templates
11 6 (0.39%) .NET
11 6 (0.39%) Node.js
11 6 (0.39%) OAuth
12 5 (0.32%) OpenID
12 5 (0.32%) RESTful
13 4 (0.26%) Ajax
13 4 (0.26%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 161 (10.46%) Onboarding
2 121 (7.86%) CMDB
3 73 (4.74%) Management Information System
4 63 (4.09%) Product Ownership
5 51 (3.31%) Enterprise Software
6 47 (3.05%) Data Centre
7 30 (1.95%) PKI
8 28 (1.82%) Operational Technology
9 27 (1.75%) Data Protection Act
9 27 (1.75%) Virtual Team
10 24 (1.56%) Hybrid Cloud
11 23 (1.49%) Security Operations Centre
12 21 (1.36%) Cloud Native
13 18 (1.17%) Clustering
14 17 (1.10%) Self-Motivation
15 16 (1.04%) AI Agents
15 16 (1.04%) Analytical Mindset
16 14 (0.91%) NHS
16 14 (0.91%) Video Conferencing
17 13 (0.84%) Cyber Threat
Operating Systems
1 298 (19.36%) Windows
2 84 (5.46%) Linux
2 84 (5.46%) Windows Server
3 66 (4.29%) Windows 10
4 29 (1.88%) Apple iOS
5 27 (1.75%) Mac OS
6 21 (1.36%) Unix
7 20 (1.30%) Windows 7
8 16 (1.04%) Android
9 12 (0.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 6 (0.39%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
12 2 (0.13%) Solaris
12 2 (0.13%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.13%) VMS
12 2 (0.13%) Windows XP
12 2 (0.13%) zOS
13 1 (0.065%) Rocky
13 1 (0.065%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 814 (52.89%) ITIL
2 689 (44.77%) ITSM
3 465 (30.21%) Stakeholder Management
4 408 (26.51%) Continuous Improvement
5 331 (21.51%) Service Delivery
6 313 (20.34%) Agile
7 305 (19.82%) Problem-Solving
8 238 (15.46%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 237 (15.40%) Change Management
10 187 (12.15%) Roadmaps
11 179 (11.63%) Customer Service
12 163 (10.59%) Incident Management
13 156 (10.14%) DevOps
14 155 (10.07%) Cybersecurity
15 138 (8.97%) Project Delivery
16 135 (8.77%) Decision-Making
17 133 (8.64%) AI
18 126 (8.19%) Migration
19 116 (7.54%) Service Design
20 113 (7.34%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 131 (8.51%) PowerShell
2 89 (5.78%) Python
3 71 (4.61%) SQL
4 53 (3.44%) JavaScript
5 47 (3.05%) Bash
6 17 (1.10%) VBScript
7 16 (1.04%) Java
8 15 (0.97%) VB
9 12 (0.78%) PL/SQL
10 10 (0.65%) Bicep
11 9 (0.58%) Groovy
12 7 (0.45%) Shell Script
13 6 (0.39%) C
14 5 (0.32%) Apex Code
14 5 (0.32%) C#
14 5 (0.32%) Perl
14 5 (0.32%) T-SQL
15 4 (0.26%) TypeScript
16 3 (0.19%) Lua
17 2 (0.13%) ActionScript 2.0
Qualifications
1 566 (36.78%) Security Cleared
2 388 (25.21%) SC Cleared
3 149 (9.68%) Degree
4 147 (9.55%) DV Cleared
5 65 (4.22%) ITIL Certification
6 58 (3.77%) PMP
7 52 (3.38%) PMI Certification
8 46 (2.99%) BPSS Clearance
9 35 (2.27%) CISSP
10 33 (2.14%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 33 (2.14%) Microsoft Certification
11 32 (2.08%) CISM
12 29 (1.88%) Computer Science Degree
13 28 (1.82%) Cisco Certification
14 25 (1.62%) A+ Certification
15 17 (1.10%) Azure Certification
15 17 (1.10%) DBS Check
16 14 (0.91%) CCNA
17 13 (0.84%) Master's Degree
18 10 (0.65%) AWS Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 128 (8.32%) SLA
2 52 (3.38%) QA
3 49 (3.18%) Data Quality
3 49 (3.18%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 35 (2.27%) ISO/IEC 20000
5 34 (2.21%) NCSC
6 31 (2.01%) GRC
6 31 (2.01%) PMO
7 30 (1.95%) GDPR
8 21 (1.36%) NIST
9 17 (1.10%) COBIT
10 16 (1.04%) ISO 9001
11 14 (0.91%) Cyber Essentials
12 10 (0.65%) Accessibility
13 9 (0.58%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 9 (0.58%) Disclosure Scotland
14 8 (0.52%) PCI DSS
15 7 (0.45%) Government Security Classifications
16 6 (0.39%) ISO 31000
16 6 (0.39%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 172 (11.18%) Active Directory
2 78 (5.07%) VMware Infrastructure
3 32 (2.08%) Hyper-V
4 24 (1.56%) VMware ESXi
5 21 (1.36%) Docker
6 17 (1.10%) Virtual Desktop
6 17 (1.10%) VMware NSX
7 16 (1.04%) BitLocker
7 16 (1.04%) vSphere
8 12 (0.78%) vCloud
9 6 (0.39%) IAG
9 6 (0.39%) Virtual Servers
10 5 (0.32%) Oracle RAC
10 5 (0.32%) Virtual Machines
11 4 (0.26%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 4 (0.26%) Firmware
11 4 (0.26%) NFS
11 4 (0.26%) XenApp
11 4 (0.26%) XenDesktop
12 3 (0.19%) Microsoft Virtual Server
Systems Management
1 85 (5.52%) Microsoft Intune
2 72 (4.68%) SCCM
3 48 (3.12%) Ansible
4 24 (1.56%) Kubernetes
5 21 (1.36%) SCOM
6 20 (1.30%) Single Sign-On
7 15 (0.97%) vCenter Server
8 11 (0.71%) Jamf Pro
9 10 (0.65%) WSUS
10 8 (0.52%) Data Guard
10 8 (0.52%) Oracle RMAN
11 7 (0.45%) Grafana
12 5 (0.32%) NetBackup
13 4 (0.26%) PowerCLI
13 4 (0.26%) Progress Chef
13 4 (0.26%) Prometheus
13 4 (0.26%) Puppet
13 4 (0.26%) vMotion
14 3 (0.19%) Istio
14 3 (0.19%) Packer
Vendors
1 438 (28.46%) ServiceNow
2 358 (23.26%) Microsoft
3 108 (7.02%) VMware
4 62 (4.03%) Remedy
5 51 (3.31%) Cisco
6 50 (3.25%) BMC
7 46 (2.99%) Oracle
8 34 (2.21%) Atlassian
9 33 (2.14%) SAP
10 28 (1.82%) Dynatrace
11 26 (1.69%) Splunk
12 21 (1.36%) Salesforce
13 20 (1.30%) Citrix
13 20 (1.30%) CyberArk
14 19 (1.23%) Apple
14 19 (1.23%) IBM
15 17 (1.10%) Google
15 17 (1.10%) IFS
15 17 (1.10%) SolarWinds
16 15 (0.97%) Zscaler