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

6 months to
21 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 91 82 99
Rank change year-on-year -9 +17 -13
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,607 966 902
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.96% 2.96% 2.35%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.51% 3.27% 2.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,057 580 580
10th Percentile £262 £200 £210
25th Percentile £425 £350 £372
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £492 £500
Median % change year-on-year +6.71% -1.60% -4.76%
75th Percentile £625 £575 £600
90th Percentile £725 £649 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £492 £500
% change year-on-year +6.71% -1.60% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 80 82 13
10th Percentile £14.50 £12.62 £15.84
25th Percentile £18.10 £12.82 £26.25
Median hourly rate £55.00 £20.66 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +166.21% -56.51% -13.64%
75th Percentile £85.50 £33.56 £50.00
90th Percentile £92.78 £60.00 £54.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £18.73 £47.50
% change year-on-year +193.65% -60.57% +116.85%

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 45,811 29,562 32,919
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.30% 90.52% 85.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,773 18,345 20,161
10th Percentile £325 £300 £309
25th Percentile £425 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.78%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £730 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,152 1,818 1,440
10th Percentile £13.81 £14.23 £14.84
25th Percentile £17.25 £17.30 £20.00
Median hourly rate £40.00 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +59.05% -41.51% +0.58%
75th Percentile £67.47 £43.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £66.15 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.06 £22.32 £43.00
% change year-on-year +84.00% -48.10% +1.18%

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 September 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 September 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 September 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 -8 1,383 £525 +5.00% 1,245
UK excluding London -10 937 £525 +6.71% 835
London +31 491 £525 +5.00% 519
Work from Home +11 433 £525 +5.00% 564
South East +14 305 £575 +27.78% 260
North of England -19 261 £474 +5.33% 195
North West -13 156 £480 +3.45% 112
Midlands -41 117 £500 -0.50% 116
West Midlands -22 111 £525 +1.94% 68
South West -28 106 £600 +10.09% 81
Yorkshire -11 97 £443 +24.79% 70
Scotland +9 95 £535 +14.75% 58
East of England -9 53 £518 -5.91% 98
Wales -7 13 £800 +247.83% 17
Northern Ireland +9 8 - - 29
North East -42 8 £535 +174.36% 15
East Midlands -31 6 £163 -45.83% 48

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
1 122 (7.59%) SharePoint
2 63 (3.92%) Microsoft Exchange
3 61 (3.80%) Confluence
4 15 (0.93%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.31%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.19%) CMS
6 3 (0.19%) IBM Transformation Extender
7 2 (0.12%) CICS
8 1 (0.062%) Apache
8 1 (0.062%) Exchange Server 2010
8 1 (0.062%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.062%) Mattermost
8 1 (0.062%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.062%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 89 (5.54%) Microsoft Office
2 38 (2.36%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (0.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (0.68%) Microsoft Project
4 11 (0.68%) MS Visio
5 8 (0.50%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.062%) Maple
Business Applications
1 52 (3.24%) Remedy ITSM
2 11 (0.68%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.56%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.44%) Primavera
5 5 (0.31%) ContrOCC
5 5 (0.31%) NEC Housing
5 5 (0.31%) Workday HCM
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 (0.12%) Exchequer
7 2 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.12%) Remedy AR System
7 2 (0.12%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.12%) SAP CX
7 2 (0.12%) SAP PS
7 2 (0.12%) Teamcenter
8 1 (0.062%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 280 (17.42%) Azure
2 204 (12.69%) Microsoft 365
3 135 (8.40%) AWS
4 128 (7.97%) Entra ID
5 71 (4.42%) Power Platform
5 71 (4.42%) SaaS
6 57 (3.55%) OneDrive
7 36 (2.24%) Azure DevOps
7 36 (2.24%) GCP
8 20 (1.24%) Azure Monitor
9 19 (1.18%) Microsoft Copilot
10 15 (0.93%) GitHub
11 14 (0.87%) Dynamics 365
11 14 (0.87%) Power Automate
12 13 (0.81%) Serverless
13 11 (0.68%) Google Workspace
14 10 (0.62%) OCI
15 9 (0.56%) Azure Sentinel
15 9 (0.56%) IaaS
16 8 (0.50%) Azure Functions
Communications & Networking
1 75 (4.67%) Firewall
2 73 (4.54%) DNS
3 55 (3.42%) DHCP
3 55 (3.42%) VPN
4 44 (2.74%) Network Security
4 44 (2.74%) TCP/IP
5 39 (2.43%) WAN
6 33 (2.05%) LAN
7 24 (1.49%) Wi-Fi
8 18 (1.12%) Wireless
9 16 (1.00%) Skype
10 15 (0.93%) VLAN
11 14 (0.87%) SD-WAN
12 11 (0.68%) BGP
12 11 (0.68%) Intrusion Detection
13 10 (0.62%) 5G
13 10 (0.62%) SSH
14 9 (0.56%) Internet
14 9 (0.56%) SAN
15 8 (0.50%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (2.61%) Power BI
2 34 (2.12%) SQL Server
3 24 (1.49%) Metadata
4 9 (0.56%) Oracle Database
5 8 (0.50%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (0.44%) Oracle Database 11g
7 6 (0.37%) MySQL
7 6 (0.37%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 5 (0.31%) Amazon RDS
8 5 (0.31%) MariaDB
8 5 (0.31%) Oracle Reports
8 5 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
8 5 (0.31%) Relational Database
8 5 (0.31%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.19%) Amazon Aurora
9 3 (0.19%) Looker
10 2 (0.12%) Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.12%) Db2
10 2 (0.12%) EDRMS
10 2 (0.12%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 155 (9.65%) JIRA
2 30 (1.87%) Git
3 20 (1.24%) Jenkins
4 16 (1.00%) Bitbucket
5 12 (0.75%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 5 (0.31%) Browser DevTools
6 5 (0.31%) GitLab
7 4 (0.25%) Maven
7 4 (0.25%) webpack
8 3 (0.19%) Fiddler
8 3 (0.19%) Gradle
8 3 (0.19%) Rational DOORS
8 3 (0.19%) ScriptRunner
9 2 (0.12%) Firebug
9 2 (0.12%) Hudson
9 2 (0.12%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.062%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.062%) eggPlant
10 1 (0.062%) IntelliJ
10 1 (0.062%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 641 (39.89%) Social Skills
2 265 (16.49%) Analytical Skills
3 258 (16.05%) Finance
4 197 (12.26%) Public Sector
5 74 (4.60%) Telecoms
6 64 (3.98%) Documentation Skills
6 64 (3.98%) Organisational Skills
7 57 (3.55%) Influencing Skills
8 55 (3.42%) Banking
9 47 (2.92%) Legal
10 40 (2.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 39 (2.43%) Aerospace
12 29 (1.80%) Military
13 25 (1.56%) Presentation Skills
14 22 (1.37%) Local Government
15 19 (1.18%) Manufacturing
16 17 (1.06%) Retail
17 15 (0.93%) Police
18 11 (0.68%) Law
19 10 (0.62%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 175 (10.89%) Architect
2 152 (9.46%) Lead
3 147 (9.15%) Analyst
4 117 (7.28%) Senior
5 114 (7.09%) Service Manager
6 112 (6.97%) Consultant
7 75 (4.67%) Support Engineer
8 74 (4.60%) IT Manager
9 70 (4.36%) Project Manager
10 69 (4.29%) Developer
11 68 (4.23%) Delivery Manager
12 55 (3.42%) Solutions Architect
13 52 (3.24%) IT Support
14 47 (2.92%) Service Analyst
15 42 (2.61%) Service Architect
16 41 (2.55%) ServiceNow Architect
16 41 (2.55%) ServiceNow Developer
17 39 (2.43%) Transition Manager
18 36 (2.24%) IT Engineer
19 34 (2.12%) Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 82 (5.10%) REST
2 52 (3.24%) Terraform
3 34 (2.12%) SOAP
4 25 (1.56%) XML
5 21 (1.31%) HTML
6 20 (1.24%) CSS
6 20 (1.24%) Web Services
7 19 (1.18%) JSON
8 18 (1.12%) Middleware
9 10 (0.62%) SAML
10 9 (0.56%) AngularJS
10 9 (0.56%) Elastic Stack
11 8 (0.50%) XSLT
12 7 (0.44%) .NET
12 7 (0.44%) ARM Templates
12 7 (0.44%) OAuth
13 6 (0.37%) Ajax
13 6 (0.37%) LDAP
14 5 (0.31%) OpenID
14 5 (0.31%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 174 (10.83%) Onboarding
2 127 (7.90%) CMDB
3 87 (5.41%) Management Information System
4 57 (3.55%) Enterprise Software
5 51 (3.17%) Data Centre
6 49 (3.05%) Product Ownership
7 37 (2.30%) PKI
8 29 (1.80%) Data Protection Act
8 29 (1.80%) Virtual Team
9 27 (1.68%) Operational Technology
10 26 (1.62%) Hybrid Cloud
11 23 (1.43%) Security Operations Centre
12 19 (1.18%) Cloud Native
13 18 (1.12%) Clustering
14 17 (1.06%) Analytical Mindset
14 17 (1.06%) Cyber Threat
14 17 (1.06%) Self-Motivation
15 15 (0.93%) AI Agents
15 15 (0.93%) NHS
15 15 (0.93%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 320 (19.91%) Windows
2 92 (5.72%) Windows Server
3 87 (5.41%) Linux
4 73 (4.54%) Windows 10
5 34 (2.12%) Apple iOS
6 32 (1.99%) Mac OS
7 22 (1.37%) Unix
8 20 (1.24%) Windows 7
9 19 (1.18%) Android
10 14 (0.87%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 6 (0.37%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.25%) Solaris
13 3 (0.19%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
13 3 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
13 3 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.19%) zOS
14 2 (0.12%) AIX
14 2 (0.12%) Windows XP
15 1 (0.062%) SUSE
15 1 (0.062%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 854 (53.14%) ITIL
2 708 (44.06%) ITSM
3 515 (32.05%) Stakeholder Management
4 451 (28.06%) Continuous Improvement
5 342 (21.28%) Service Delivery
6 326 (20.29%) Agile
7 324 (20.16%) Problem-Solving
8 249 (15.49%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 242 (15.06%) Change Management
10 222 (13.81%) Roadmaps
11 186 (11.57%) Customer Service
12 176 (10.95%) Incident Management
13 170 (10.58%) Cybersecurity
14 161 (10.02%) DevOps
15 146 (9.09%) Project Delivery
16 143 (8.90%) Decision-Making
17 133 (8.28%) AI
18 129 (8.03%) Risk Management
19 124 (7.72%) Migration
20 120 (7.47%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 145 (9.02%) PowerShell
2 90 (5.60%) Python
3 64 (3.98%) SQL
4 61 (3.80%) JavaScript
5 48 (2.99%) Bash
6 19 (1.18%) VBScript
7 16 (1.00%) Java
8 15 (0.93%) VB
9 12 (0.75%) C#
10 10 (0.62%) Bicep
11 8 (0.50%) Groovy
11 8 (0.50%) PL/SQL
11 8 (0.50%) Shell Script
12 6 (0.37%) C
13 5 (0.31%) Apex Code
13 5 (0.31%) Perl
13 5 (0.31%) T-SQL
14 4 (0.25%) TypeScript
15 3 (0.19%) Lua
16 2 (0.12%) Korn
Qualifications
1 606 (37.71%) Security Cleared
2 414 (25.76%) SC Cleared
3 159 (9.89%) Degree
4 148 (9.21%) DV Cleared
5 63 (3.92%) PMP
6 62 (3.86%) ITIL Certification
7 58 (3.61%) PMI Certification
8 57 (3.55%) BPSS Clearance
9 40 (2.49%) Microsoft Certification
10 36 (2.24%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 33 (2.05%) CISSP
12 30 (1.87%) CISM
13 29 (1.80%) Cisco Certification
14 27 (1.68%) Computer Science Degree
15 26 (1.62%) A+ Certification
16 21 (1.31%) Azure Certification
17 16 (1.00%) DBS Check
18 14 (0.87%) AWS Certification
18 14 (0.87%) CCNA
19 11 (0.68%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 128 (7.97%) SLA
2 60 (3.73%) QA
3 53 (3.30%) Data Quality
4 47 (2.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 39 (2.43%) GRC
6 34 (2.12%) NCSC
7 32 (1.99%) GDPR
8 30 (1.87%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 28 (1.74%) NIST
10 26 (1.62%) PMO
11 15 (0.93%) COBIT
11 15 (0.93%) ISO 9001
12 14 (0.87%) Accessibility
13 13 (0.81%) Cyber Essentials
14 9 (0.56%) Disclosure Scotland
15 8 (0.50%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 8 (0.50%) PCI DSS
15 8 (0.50%) WCAG
16 6 (0.37%) ISO 31000
16 6 (0.37%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 184 (11.45%) Active Directory
2 84 (5.23%) VMware Infrastructure
3 36 (2.24%) Hyper-V
4 28 (1.74%) VMware ESXi
5 21 (1.31%) Virtual Desktop
5 21 (1.31%) vSphere
6 18 (1.12%) Docker
7 17 (1.06%) VMware NSX
8 16 (1.00%) BitLocker
9 13 (0.81%) vCloud
10 6 (0.37%) Citrix Hypervisor
10 6 (0.37%) Firmware
10 6 (0.37%) IAG
10 6 (0.37%) Virtual Servers
10 6 (0.37%) XenApp
10 6 (0.37%) XenDesktop
11 5 (0.31%) Oracle RAC
12 4 (0.25%) Virtual Machines
13 3 (0.19%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 3 (0.19%) NFS
Systems Management
1 97 (6.04%) Microsoft Intune
2 79 (4.92%) SCCM
3 52 (3.24%) Ansible
4 24 (1.49%) SCOM
5 23 (1.43%) Single Sign-On
6 22 (1.37%) Kubernetes
7 18 (1.12%) vCenter Server
8 13 (0.81%) Jamf Pro
9 11 (0.68%) WSUS
10 8 (0.50%) Data Guard
10 8 (0.50%) Oracle RMAN
11 7 (0.44%) NetBackup
12 6 (0.37%) Grafana
12 6 (0.37%) Progress Chef
13 4 (0.25%) PowerCLI
13 4 (0.25%) Puppet
13 4 (0.25%) vMotion
14 3 (0.19%) Cisco Prime
14 3 (0.19%) OPNET
14 3 (0.19%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 461 (28.69%) ServiceNow
2 392 (24.39%) Microsoft
3 113 (7.03%) VMware
4 55 (3.42%) Remedy
5 52 (3.24%) BMC
6 51 (3.17%) Cisco
7 41 (2.55%) Oracle
8 38 (2.36%) Atlassian
9 33 (2.05%) SAP
10 31 (1.93%) Dynatrace
11 27 (1.68%) Splunk
12 23 (1.43%) CyberArk
12 23 (1.43%) IBM
13 22 (1.37%) Apple
14 21 (1.31%) Google
14 21 (1.31%) Salesforce
15 20 (1.24%) SolarWinds
16 19 (1.18%) Citrix
17 15 (0.93%) IFS
17 15 (0.93%) Zscaler