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

6 months to
21 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 105 94 78
Rank change year-on-year -11 -16 +11
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,031 826 1,179
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.52% 2.69% 2.64%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.90% 2.99% 3.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 698 499 805
10th Percentile £200 £220 £285
25th Percentile £346 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £535
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.87% +7.00%
75th Percentile £600 £619 £608
90th Percentile £720 £700 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £520 £535
% change year-on-year -3.85% -2.80% +12.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 80 26 16
10th Percentile £15.50 £16.83 £12.53
25th Percentile £17.15 £22.65 £15.46
Median hourly rate £29.60 £30.00 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year -1.33% +69.30% -39.22%
75th Percentile £64.87 £36.19 £50.31
90th Percentile £84.13 £69.38 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.60 £30.00 £17.11
% change year-on-year -1.33% +75.34% -73.68%

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 35,563 27,597 38,882
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.83% 89.79% 87.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,526 17,059 25,424
10th Percentile £313 £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 -2.54% -1.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,133 855 2,176
10th Percentile £14.62 £15.62 £13.29
25th Percentile £17.87 £21.25 £16.25
Median hourly rate £25.77 £32.50 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -20.71% -7.14% -
75th Percentile £60.46 £63.75 £60.00
90th Percentile £72.00 £75.00 £73.27
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £31.29 £35.00
% change year-on-year -19.62% -10.60% -

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 21 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 21 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 21 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 -9 932 £500 -4.76% 329
UK excluding London -5 692 £500 -3.85% 294
London -50 253 £500 -4.76% 80
Work from Home -17 239 £450 -14.29% 143
South East +35 190 £500 +11.11% 97
North of England -8 166 £500 +17.65% 72
South West -6 157 £575 +1.77% 48
Midlands -10 104 £425 -23.94% 44
North West -4 90 £550 +25.71% 47
West Midlands -27 77 £431 -23.88% 29
Yorkshire -28 61 £468 +108.00% 22
East of England -7 47 £452 -17.82% 32
Scotland -18 30 £488 -2.50% 10
East Midlands -1 27 £419 -9.95% 14
North East -11 18 £280 -53.04% 3
Wales -6 2 £160 -58.71% 5
Northern Ireland - 2 £325 - 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 82 (7.95%) Confluence
2 68 (6.60%) Microsoft Exchange
3 62 (6.01%) SharePoint
4 14 (1.36%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.48%) Mattermost
5 5 (0.48%) SharePoint Server
6 4 (0.39%) Apache
6 4 (0.39%) WebLogic
7 3 (0.29%) nginx
8 2 (0.19%) JBoss
9 1 (0.097%) CMS
9 1 (0.097%) HCL Notes
9 1 (0.097%) LiveCycle
9 1 (0.097%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 1 (0.097%) WebSphere
Applications
1 97 (9.41%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (3.49%) Microsoft Project
3 33 (3.20%) Microsoft Excel
4 13 (1.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.39%) Autodesk Inventor
5 4 (0.39%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.39%) PTC Creo
6 3 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.097%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 30 (2.91%) Remedy ITSM
2 15 (1.45%) SAP S/4HANA
3 13 (1.26%) Oracle EBS
4 7 (0.68%) Teamcenter
5 3 (0.29%) Dynamics CRM
6 2 (0.19%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.097%) assyst
7 1 (0.097%) Dynamics NAV
7 1 (0.097%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.097%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.097%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 1 (0.097%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.097%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 1 (0.097%) SAP ERP
7 1 (0.097%) SAP PM
7 1 (0.097%) SAP SM
7 1 (0.097%) SystmOne
7 1 (0.097%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 177 (17.17%) Azure
2 111 (10.77%) Microsoft 365
3 102 (9.89%) AWS
4 48 (4.66%) Entra ID
5 47 (4.56%) GCP
6 34 (3.30%) Power Platform
7 33 (3.20%) SaaS
8 31 (3.01%) OneDrive
9 28 (2.72%) Azure DevOps
10 12 (1.16%) GitHub
10 12 (1.16%) IaaS
11 11 (1.07%) PaaS
11 11 (1.07%) Serverless
12 10 (0.97%) AWS Lambda
13 9 (0.87%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 9 (0.87%) Dynamics 365
13 9 (0.87%) PowerApps
14 8 (0.78%) Azure Monitor
15 7 (0.68%) Nutanix
15 7 (0.68%) Salesforce Service Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 76 (7.37%) DNS
2 57 (5.53%) Firewall
3 45 (4.36%) DHCP
4 34 (3.30%) VPN
5 30 (2.91%) LAN
6 29 (2.81%) WAN
7 28 (2.72%) VLAN
8 27 (2.62%) TCP/IP
9 22 (2.13%) Skype
10 20 (1.94%) Network Security
11 19 (1.84%) Junos
12 18 (1.75%) Cisco ISE
12 18 (1.75%) Wi-Fi
13 14 (1.36%) BGP
13 14 (1.36%) Cisco IOS
14 13 (1.26%) Cisco Firepower
15 10 (0.97%) HTTP
15 10 (0.97%) WebEx
16 9 (0.87%) SSH
17 8 (0.78%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (2.23%) Power BI
2 14 (1.36%) Relational Database
2 14 (1.36%) SQL Server
3 7 (0.68%) PostgreSQL
4 5 (0.48%) Amazon RDS
4 5 (0.48%) Metadata
5 4 (0.39%) Elasticsearch
5 4 (0.39%) InfluxDB
5 4 (0.39%) Tableau
6 2 (0.19%) Azure SQL Database
6 2 (0.19%) Big Data
6 2 (0.19%) GIS
6 2 (0.19%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.097%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.097%) Electronic Patient Records
7 1 (0.097%) KNIME
7 1 (0.097%) Oracle Reports
7 1 (0.097%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.097%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 1 (0.097%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 137 (13.29%) JIRA
2 15 (1.45%) Git
2 15 (1.45%) Jenkins
3 12 (1.16%) GitLab
4 7 (0.68%) Bitbucket
5 3 (0.29%) ScriptRunner
5 3 (0.29%) TestRail
6 2 (0.19%) Cypress.io
6 2 (0.19%) Selenium
7 1 (0.097%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.097%) MLflow
7 1 (0.097%) Rational DOORS
7 1 (0.097%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 405 (39.28%) Social Skills
2 173 (16.78%) Analytical Skills
3 149 (14.45%) Finance
4 137 (13.29%) Public Sector
5 55 (5.33%) Legal
6 48 (4.66%) Military
7 35 (3.39%) Banking
8 34 (3.30%) Organisational Skills
9 33 (3.20%) Influencing Skills
10 31 (3.01%) Documentation Skills
11 25 (2.42%) Retail
12 23 (2.23%) Telecoms
13 17 (1.65%) Manufacturing
14 11 (1.07%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 10 (0.97%) Aerospace
15 10 (0.97%) Investment Banking
16 8 (0.78%) Law
17 7 (0.68%) Presentation Skills
18 6 (0.58%) Local Government
19 5 (0.48%) International Banking
Job Titles
1 142 (13.77%) Analyst
2 121 (11.74%) Lead
3 112 (10.86%) Architect
4 87 (8.44%) Service Manager
5 58 (5.63%) Support Engineer
6 51 (4.95%) Service Analyst
7 50 (4.85%) Senior
8 49 (4.75%) Consultant
9 48 (4.66%) Service Architect
10 41 (3.98%) IT Support
11 37 (3.59%) IT Manager
12 33 (3.20%) Hardware Engineer
13 30 (2.91%) Desktop Support
13 30 (2.91%) IT Analyst
14 29 (2.81%) Business Analyst
14 29 (2.81%) Support Analyst
15 27 (2.62%) 2nd Line Support
15 27 (2.62%) Network Engineer
16 26 (2.52%) Delivery Manager
16 26 (2.52%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 41 (3.98%) REST
2 19 (1.84%) SOAP
3 10 (0.97%) LDAP
3 10 (0.97%) XMPP
4 8 (0.78%) Elastic Stack
4 8 (0.78%) Web Services
5 6 (0.58%) .NET
5 6 (0.58%) 802.1X
6 4 (0.39%) ARM Templates
6 4 (0.39%) JSON
6 4 (0.39%) RabbitMQ
6 4 (0.39%) RFC 2544
7 3 (0.29%) CSS
7 3 (0.29%) EDI
7 3 (0.29%) Lightning Web Components
7 3 (0.29%) Microsoft Graph
7 3 (0.29%) Oracle Fusion
7 3 (0.29%) XML
8 2 (0.19%) HTML
8 2 (0.19%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 80 (7.76%) Product Ownership
2 62 (6.01%) CMDB
3 45 (4.36%) Onboarding
4 40 (3.88%) Management Information System
5 39 (3.78%) Data Centre
6 28 (2.72%) PKI
6 28 (2.72%) Virtual Team
7 25 (2.42%) Analytical Mindset
8 20 (1.94%) Driving Licence
9 19 (1.84%) Self-Motivation
10 14 (1.36%) PMI
11 12 (1.16%) Data Protection Act
12 11 (1.07%) Enterprise Software
13 9 (0.87%) NHS
14 8 (0.78%) Smartphone
15 7 (0.68%) Algorithms
15 7 (0.68%) Clustering
15 7 (0.68%) Hybrid Cloud
16 6 (0.58%) Data Structures
17 5 (0.48%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 237 (22.99%) Windows
2 73 (7.08%) Linux
3 63 (6.11%) Windows 10
4 60 (5.82%) Windows Server
5 15 (1.45%) Android
5 15 (1.45%) Mac OS
5 15 (1.45%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 13 (1.26%) Apple iOS
7 11 (1.07%) Windows 7
8 10 (0.97%) Unix
9 8 (0.78%) Windows Server 2012
10 5 (0.48%) Ubuntu
10 5 (0.48%) Windows Server 2016
10 5 (0.48%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.39%) Windows Server 2003
12 3 (0.29%) CentOS
13 2 (0.19%) VMS
13 2 (0.19%) Windows Server 2008
14 1 (0.097%) Data ONTAP
14 1 (0.097%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 580 (56.26%) ITIL
2 458 (44.42%) ITSM
3 219 (21.24%) Problem-Solving
4 207 (20.08%) Agile
5 204 (19.79%) Continuous Improvement
6 179 (17.36%) Stakeholder Management
7 163 (15.81%) Change Management
8 147 (14.26%) Service Delivery
9 145 (14.06%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 120 (11.64%) Customer Service
11 106 (10.28%) DevOps
12 96 (9.31%) Service Design
13 91 (8.83%) Incident Management
14 86 (8.34%) Problem Management
15 85 (8.24%) Project Management
16 74 (7.18%) Configuration Management
17 68 (6.60%) Knowledge Transfer
18 64 (6.21%) Performance Metrics
19 61 (5.92%) Acceptance Criteria
19 61 (5.92%) Business Continuity
Programming Languages
1 98 (9.51%) PowerShell
2 61 (5.92%) Python
3 48 (4.66%) SQL
4 22 (2.13%) JavaScript
5 21 (2.04%) Java
6 15 (1.45%) Bash
7 13 (1.26%) Perl
8 12 (1.16%) Shell Script
9 9 (0.87%) VB
9 9 (0.87%) VBScript
10 6 (0.58%) Kotlin
11 4 (0.39%) Go
12 3 (0.29%) C#
13 2 (0.19%) ActionScript
13 2 (0.19%) ActionScript 2.0
13 2 (0.19%) Apex Code
13 2 (0.19%) Bicep
13 2 (0.19%) PHP
14 1 (0.097%) PL/SQL
14 1 (0.097%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 417 (40.45%) Security Cleared
2 314 (30.46%) SC Cleared
3 124 (12.03%) Degree
4 112 (10.86%) DV Cleared
5 55 (5.33%) ITIL Certification
6 37 (3.59%) Microsoft Certification
7 30 (2.91%) TOGAF Certification
8 28 (2.72%) BPSS Clearance
9 26 (2.52%) PMI Certification
10 22 (2.13%) Cisco Certification
10 22 (2.13%) PMP
11 17 (1.65%) Azure Certification
12 16 (1.55%) A+ Certification
12 16 (1.55%) CCNP
12 16 (1.55%) Computer Science Degree
12 16 (1.55%) MCSE
13 15 (1.45%) CCNA
14 14 (1.36%) Network+ Certification
15 11 (1.07%) Server+ Certification
16 7 (0.68%) MAPM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 48 (4.66%) SLA
2 26 (2.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 25 (2.42%) Data Quality
4 22 (2.13%) GDPR
4 22 (2.13%) QA
5 12 (1.16%) PMO
6 11 (1.07%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 9 (0.87%) COBIT
8 8 (0.78%) Accessibility
8 8 (0.78%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 8 (0.78%) NIST
9 6 (0.58%) GRC
10 5 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials
10 5 (0.48%) PCI DSS
11 4 (0.39%) Disclosure Scotland
11 4 (0.39%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.39%) ISO 9001
11 4 (0.39%) NCSC
12 3 (0.29%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 2 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 143 (13.87%) Active Directory
2 45 (4.36%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (1.65%) Docker
3 17 (1.65%) VMware NSX
4 15 (1.45%) Hyper-V
5 13 (1.26%) Virtual Desktop
6 9 (0.87%) BitLocker
7 7 (0.68%) Virtual Servers
8 6 (0.58%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 4 (0.39%) NDS
9 4 (0.39%) NetIQ eDirectory
10 3 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
11 1 (0.097%) NFS
11 1 (0.097%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 41 (3.98%) SCCM
2 30 (2.91%) Microsoft Intune
2 30 (2.91%) OPNET
3 28 (2.72%) Ansible
3 28 (2.72%) Terraform
4 25 (2.42%) Kubernetes
5 18 (1.75%) vCenter Server
6 17 (1.65%) WSUS
7 11 (1.07%) Jamf Pro
8 10 (0.97%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 10 (0.97%) FortiGate
9 9 (0.87%) Single Sign-On
10 8 (0.78%) Grafana
11 7 (0.68%) Prometheus
12 5 (0.48%) SCOM
13 4 (0.39%) Nessus
13 4 (0.39%) Packer
13 4 (0.39%) Progress Chef
14 3 (0.29%) HP ALM
15 2 (0.19%) Puppet
Vendors
1 262 (25.41%) ServiceNow
2 180 (17.46%) Microsoft
3 66 (6.40%) Remedy
4 64 (6.21%) Atlassian
5 63 (6.11%) Cisco
6 60 (5.82%) VMware
7 38 (3.69%) Google
7 38 (3.69%) Oracle
8 36 (3.49%) HP
9 34 (3.30%) SolarWinds
10 30 (2.91%) SAP
11 29 (2.81%) Splunk
12 21 (2.04%) Juniper
13 18 (1.75%) Citrix
14 17 (1.65%) Salesforce
15 16 (1.55%) Red Hat
16 15 (1.45%) Dell
17 13 (1.26%) Veeam
18 12 (1.16%) Canon
18 12 (1.16%) Dynatrace