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

6 months to
9 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 106 89 77
Rank change year-on-year -17 -12 +7
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,078 838 1,164
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.35% 2.87% 2.64%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.76% 3.16% 3.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 734 527 779
10th Percentile £213 £240 £265
25th Percentile £385 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £517 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.57% - +5.00%
75th Percentile £612 £606 £608
90th Percentile £725 £700 £726
UK excluding London median daily rate £510 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -2.86% - +10.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 66 34 21
10th Percentile £15.92 £12.62 £12.53
25th Percentile £16.17 £13.42 £15.46
Median hourly rate £37.25 £22.14 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year +68.25% +24.94% -63.46%
75th Percentile £74.26 £30.68 £26.50
90th Percentile £96.25 £68.38 £55.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £22.14 £17.72
% change year-on-year +171.00% +24.94% -63.46%

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 39,074 26,483 37,997
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.36% 90.62% 86.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,751 17,195 24,633
10th Percentile £315 £308 £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 £744 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £487 £488 £500
% change year-on-year -0.10% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,316 997 2,379
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.00 £12.79
25th Percentile £19.34 £20.00 £16.00
Median hourly rate £36.70 £31.64 £33.07
Median % change year-on-year +15.99% -4.31% -8.15%
75th Percentile £65.00 £63.75 £57.91
90th Percentile £77.50 £75.80 £70.41
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.71 £30.00 £33.00
% change year-on-year +22.37% -9.09% -8.08%

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 April 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 April 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 April 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 -15 986 £520 -0.95% 367
UK excluding London -10 737 £510 -2.86% 317
London -43 262 £520 -0.95% 89
Work from Home -26 253 £500 -1.14% 157
South East +25 212 £514 +10.48% 109
South West -9 176 £578 +3.73% 34
North of England -10 172 £500 +5.26% 73
North West +11 101 £550 +7.84% 39
Midlands -21 100 £411 -21.67% 50
West Midlands -31 75 £408 -25.91% 35
Yorkshire -26 59 £472 +10.94% 28
East of England -22 50 £475 -13.64% 45
Scotland -30 27 £500 - 13
East Midlands -13 25 £413 +7.84% 15
North East -9 15 £420 +115.38% 7
Wales -14 3 £340 -25.48% 6
Northern Ireland - 1 £500 -

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 96 (8.91%) Confluence
2 48 (4.45%) Microsoft Exchange
3 38 (3.53%) SharePoint
4 9 (0.83%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.46%) Mattermost
6 3 (0.28%) IIS
6 3 (0.28%) nginx
7 2 (0.19%) Apache
8 1 (0.093%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.093%) JBoss
8 1 (0.093%) LiveCycle
8 1 (0.093%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.093%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.093%) SharePoint Server
8 1 (0.093%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.093%) WebSphere
Applications
1 86 (7.98%) Microsoft Office
2 40 (3.71%) Microsoft Project
3 28 (2.60%) Microsoft Excel
4 11 (1.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.56%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.37%) PTC Creo
7 2 (0.19%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.19%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.093%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 40 (3.71%) Remedy ITSM
2 13 (1.21%) Oracle EBS
3 11 (1.02%) SAP S/4HANA
4 7 (0.65%) Teamcenter
5 2 (0.19%) Oracle Applications
5 2 (0.19%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.093%) assyst
6 1 (0.093%) Dynamics NAV
6 1 (0.093%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.093%) Oracle ERP
6 1 (0.093%) Oracle Payables
6 1 (0.093%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.093%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.093%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 1 (0.093%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.093%) SAP HR
6 1 (0.093%) SAP Payroll
6 1 (0.093%) SAP PM
6 1 (0.093%) SystmOne
6 1 (0.093%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 156 (14.47%) Azure
2 104 (9.65%) Microsoft 365
3 81 (7.51%) AWS
4 47 (4.36%) Power Platform
4 47 (4.36%) SaaS
5 42 (3.90%) Entra ID
6 41 (3.80%) GCP
7 27 (2.50%) Azure DevOps
8 19 (1.76%) OneDrive
9 18 (1.67%) GitHub
9 18 (1.67%) PaaS
10 15 (1.39%) IaaS
11 12 (1.11%) AWS Lambda
11 12 (1.11%) Serverless
12 11 (1.02%) OCI
13 10 (0.93%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 8 (0.74%) Dynamics 365
14 8 (0.74%) OpenShift
15 7 (0.65%) Google Workspace
15 7 (0.65%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 71 (6.59%) Firewall
2 58 (5.38%) DNS
3 40 (3.71%) VPN
4 38 (3.53%) WAN
5 37 (3.43%) LAN
6 33 (3.06%) DHCP
7 31 (2.88%) Network Security
8 23 (2.13%) TCP/IP
9 19 (1.76%) BGP
9 19 (1.76%) VLAN
10 16 (1.48%) Wi-Fi
11 15 (1.39%) Cisco ISE
12 13 (1.21%) OSPF
13 12 (1.11%) BIG-IP
13 12 (1.11%) Junos
13 12 (1.11%) SD-WAN
13 12 (1.11%) Skype
14 11 (1.02%) WebEx
14 11 (1.02%) Wireless
15 8 (0.74%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (3.43%) Power BI
2 15 (1.39%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.74%) Relational Database
4 7 (0.65%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (0.46%) Metadata
5 5 (0.46%) Oracle Reports
6 4 (0.37%) Amazon RDS
6 4 (0.37%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (0.37%) InfluxDB
7 3 (0.28%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.28%) Oracle Database
7 3 (0.28%) Oracle Database 11g
7 3 (0.28%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 3 (0.28%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 3 (0.28%) Tableau
8 2 (0.19%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.19%) Big Data
8 2 (0.19%) GIS
8 2 (0.19%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 1 (0.093%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 154 (14.29%) JIRA
2 16 (1.48%) GitLab
2 16 (1.48%) Jenkins
3 15 (1.39%) Bitbucket
4 13 (1.21%) Git
5 7 (0.65%) ScriptRunner
6 6 (0.56%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 4 (0.37%) MLflow
8 3 (0.28%) Selenium
8 3 (0.28%) TestRail
9 2 (0.19%) Cypress.io
9 2 (0.19%) Hudson
9 2 (0.19%) IntelliJ
10 1 (0.093%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.093%) Browser DevTools
10 1 (0.093%) Cucumber
10 1 (0.093%) Postman
10 1 (0.093%) Protractor
10 1 (0.093%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.093%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 384 (35.62%) Social Skills
2 165 (15.31%) Analytical Skills
3 156 (14.47%) Finance
4 117 (10.85%) Public Sector
5 62 (5.75%) Legal
6 50 (4.64%) Military
7 36 (3.34%) Banking
8 33 (3.06%) Documentation Skills
9 32 (2.97%) Organisational Skills
10 26 (2.41%) Influencing Skills
11 22 (2.04%) Telecoms
12 19 (1.76%) Retail
13 13 (1.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 11 (1.02%) Aerospace
15 10 (0.93%) Manufacturing
16 9 (0.83%) Investment Banking
17 8 (0.74%) Local Government
18 7 (0.65%) Front Office
18 7 (0.65%) Law
19 6 (0.56%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 129 (11.97%) Analyst
2 122 (11.32%) Architect
3 110 (10.20%) Service Manager
4 109 (10.11%) Lead
5 77 (7.14%) Senior
6 69 (6.40%) Consultant
7 60 (5.57%) Service Architect
8 54 (5.01%) IT Manager
9 51 (4.73%) Service Analyst
10 36 (3.34%) Hardware Engineer
11 34 (3.15%) IT Analyst
11 34 (3.15%) IT Support
12 33 (3.06%) Delivery Manager
12 33 (3.06%) Support Engineer
13 32 (2.97%) Administrator
13 32 (2.97%) Project Manager
14 27 (2.50%) IT Services Manager
14 27 (2.50%) Service Delivery Manager
15 26 (2.41%) Developer
15 26 (2.41%) Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (4.64%) REST
2 19 (1.76%) SOAP
3 11 (1.02%) XMPP
4 9 (0.83%) 802.1X
5 8 (0.74%) Middleware
6 6 (0.56%) JSON
6 6 (0.56%) Oracle Fusion
7 5 (0.46%) .NET
7 5 (0.46%) CSS
7 5 (0.46%) Elastic Stack
7 5 (0.46%) HTML
8 4 (0.37%) AngularJS
8 4 (0.37%) ARM Templates
8 4 (0.37%) LDAP
8 4 (0.37%) Lightning Web Components
8 4 (0.37%) Microsoft Graph
8 4 (0.37%) OAuth
8 4 (0.37%) RabbitMQ
8 4 (0.37%) Web Services
9 2 (0.19%) Bootstrap
Miscellaneous
1 94 (8.72%) Product Ownership
2 68 (6.31%) CMDB
3 63 (5.84%) Onboarding
4 43 (3.99%) Data Centre
5 35 (3.25%) Management Information System
6 29 (2.69%) Virtual Team
7 25 (2.32%) PKI
8 20 (1.86%) Driving Licence
9 16 (1.48%) Clustering
10 15 (1.39%) Analytical Mindset
11 14 (1.30%) PMI
12 13 (1.21%) Data Protection Act
12 13 (1.21%) Self-Motivation
13 12 (1.11%) Enterprise Software
14 9 (0.83%) Replication
15 8 (0.74%) Hybrid Cloud
15 8 (0.74%) NHS
16 7 (0.65%) Algorithms
16 7 (0.65%) Cloud Native
17 6 (0.56%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 198 (18.37%) Windows
2 67 (6.22%) Linux
3 60 (5.57%) Windows Server
4 47 (4.36%) Windows 10
5 16 (1.48%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 12 (1.11%) Mac OS
7 11 (1.02%) Windows 7
8 10 (0.93%) Unix
9 9 (0.83%) Android
9 9 (0.83%) Windows Server 2012
10 8 (0.74%) Apple iOS
11 7 (0.65%) Ubuntu
12 5 (0.46%) VMS
13 4 (0.37%) Windows Server 2003
14 3 (0.28%) CentOS
14 3 (0.28%) Windows Server 2019
15 2 (0.19%) Solaris
15 2 (0.19%) Windows Server 2008
15 2 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
16 1 (0.093%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 608 (56.40%) ITIL
2 472 (43.78%) ITSM
3 245 (22.73%) Agile
4 219 (20.32%) Continuous Improvement
5 211 (19.57%) Problem-Solving
6 206 (19.11%) Stakeholder Management
7 179 (16.60%) Service Delivery
8 160 (14.84%) Change Management
9 146 (13.54%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 124 (11.50%) DevOps
11 108 (10.02%) Customer Service
12 103 (9.55%) Service Design
13 95 (8.81%) Problem Management
14 87 (8.07%) Incident Management
15 80 (7.42%) Configuration Management
16 76 (7.05%) Acceptance Criteria
16 76 (7.05%) Project Management
17 73 (6.77%) Knowledge Transfer
18 66 (6.12%) Migration
19 64 (5.94%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 97 (9.00%) PowerShell
2 57 (5.29%) Python
3 53 (4.92%) SQL
4 29 (2.69%) JavaScript
5 19 (1.76%) Bash
6 17 (1.58%) Java
7 9 (0.83%) Perl
7 9 (0.83%) VB
7 9 (0.83%) VBScript
8 8 (0.74%) PL/SQL
9 6 (0.56%) Kotlin
10 5 (0.46%) Apex Code
10 5 (0.46%) C#
10 5 (0.46%) Shell Script
11 4 (0.37%) Go
11 4 (0.37%) Groovy
12 3 (0.28%) T-SQL
13 2 (0.19%) Bicep
13 2 (0.19%) C
13 2 (0.19%) PHP
Qualifications
1 461 (42.76%) Security Cleared
2 356 (33.02%) SC Cleared
3 137 (12.71%) Degree
4 129 (11.97%) DV Cleared
5 53 (4.92%) ITIL Certification
6 31 (2.88%) PMI Certification
7 30 (2.78%) TOGAF Certification
8 29 (2.69%) PMP
9 26 (2.41%) Cisco Certification
10 24 (2.23%) BPSS Clearance
11 23 (2.13%) Microsoft Certification
12 18 (1.67%) Computer Science Degree
13 16 (1.48%) CCNP
14 15 (1.39%) CCNA
15 14 (1.30%) A+ Certification
16 10 (0.93%) MCSE
17 9 (0.83%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
17 9 (0.83%) JNCIA
17 9 (0.83%) JNCIP
17 9 (0.83%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 55 (5.10%) SLA
2 35 (3.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 31 (2.88%) Data Quality
4 23 (2.13%) GDPR
5 20 (1.86%) PMO
5 20 (1.86%) QA
6 17 (1.58%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 14 (1.30%) GRC
8 12 (1.11%) COBIT
9 11 (1.02%) NCSC
10 10 (0.93%) Accessibility
11 9 (0.83%) NIST
12 8 (0.74%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 7 (0.65%) Cyber Essentials
13 7 (0.65%) Government Security Classifications
14 6 (0.56%) ISO 9001
14 6 (0.56%) PCI DSS
15 5 (0.46%) Disclosure Scotland
16 3 (0.28%) HMG Security Policy Framework
16 3 (0.28%) ISO 31000
System Software
1 118 (10.95%) Active Directory
2 32 (2.97%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (1.67%) Docker
4 9 (0.83%) BitLocker
5 6 (0.56%) VMware NSX
6 5 (0.46%) Hyper-V
7 4 (0.37%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.28%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.28%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.19%) IAG
9 2 (0.19%) NDS
9 2 (0.19%) NetIQ eDirectory
9 2 (0.19%) NFS
9 2 (0.19%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.093%) iptables
10 1 (0.093%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.093%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.093%) Samba
10 1 (0.093%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 38 (3.53%) SCCM
2 30 (2.78%) Microsoft Intune
2 30 (2.78%) OPNET
3 27 (2.50%) Terraform
4 26 (2.41%) Ansible
4 26 (2.41%) Kubernetes
5 12 (1.11%) FortiGate
6 11 (1.02%) WSUS
7 10 (0.93%) Grafana
8 8 (0.74%) Jamf Pro
9 7 (0.65%) Progress Chef
9 7 (0.65%) Prometheus
10 6 (0.56%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 6 (0.56%) vCenter Server
11 5 (0.46%) Puppet
11 5 (0.46%) SCOM
12 4 (0.37%) Nessus
12 4 (0.37%) Packer
12 4 (0.37%) Single Sign-On
13 3 (0.28%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 280 (25.97%) ServiceNow
2 171 (15.86%) Microsoft
3 76 (7.05%) Remedy
4 75 (6.96%) Atlassian
5 54 (5.01%) Cisco
6 52 (4.82%) VMware
7 47 (4.36%) Oracle
8 39 (3.62%) HP
9 29 (2.69%) Google
10 26 (2.41%) Splunk
11 25 (2.32%) SAP
12 21 (1.95%) Citrix
13 19 (1.76%) Red Hat
13 19 (1.76%) Salesforce
14 18 (1.67%) Dell
14 18 (1.67%) IFS
15 17 (1.58%) SolarWinds
16 16 (1.48%) BMC
17 15 (1.39%) Canon
17 15 (1.39%) Juniper