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

6 months to
27 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 108 82 84
Rank change year-on-year -26 +2 -1
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,193 892 1,090
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.34% 2.94% 2.51%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.75% 3.23% 2.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 776 539 750
10th Percentile £230 £215 £262
25th Percentile £405 £350 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% +1.41%
75th Percentile £600 £589 £608
90th Percentile £688 £688 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% +10.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 74 55 18
10th Percentile £15.33 - £13.65
25th Percentile £19.57 £12.62 £17.02
Median hourly rate £60.00 £21.28 £23.37
Median % change year-on-year +181.95% -8.94% -19.06%
75th Percentile £84.75 £25.28 £42.81
90th Percentile £96.75 £33.75 £51.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £21.02 £20.74
% change year-on-year +185.51% +1.33% -2.67%

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 43,335 27,616 36,962
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.01% 91.08% 85.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,981 17,460 23,548
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £414 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £505 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.98% -3.81% -4.55%
75th Percentile £623 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,593 1,327 2,546
10th Percentile £14.68 £14.20 £12.72
25th Percentile £20.00 £17.44 £16.06
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -32.93% +4.17%
75th Percentile £68.00 £53.95 £61.30
90th Percentile £81.77 £70.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.50 £24.83 £38.12
% change year-on-year +79.22% -34.86% +8.91%

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 27 June 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 27 June 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 27 June 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 -22 1,036 £520 +4.00% 352
UK excluding London -25 721 £500 - 304
London -9 353 £550 +10.00% 88
Work from Home -2 350 £510 +7.37% 120
South East +27 211 £525 +40.00% 101
North of England -21 203 £491 +3.32% 81
South West -30 122 £500 -11.11% 39
North West -26 113 £513 +4.17% 41
Yorkshire -11 83 £456 -3.95% 29
Midlands -49 79 £475 -3.55% 45
West Midlands -50 69 £477 -7.38% 29
Scotland -17 54 £500 - 6
East of England -24 41 £488 -11.36% 30
Wales -8 13 £800 +188.29% 6
East Midlands -14 10 £200 -54.13% 16
North East -34 7 £440 +125.64% 12
Northern Ireland +5 5 - - 11

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 62 (5.20%) SharePoint
2 54 (4.53%) Confluence
3 34 (2.85%) Microsoft Exchange
4 11 (0.92%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.50%) Mattermost
6 3 (0.25%) IIS
6 3 (0.25%) OpenStack
7 1 (0.084%) Apache
7 1 (0.084%) CICS
7 1 (0.084%) CMS
7 1 (0.084%) JBoss
7 1 (0.084%) LiveCycle
7 1 (0.084%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 1 (0.084%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.084%) Palantir Foundry
7 1 (0.084%) WebSphere
Applications
1 57 (4.78%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (2.26%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.09%) MS Visio
4 11 (0.92%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 10 (0.84%) Microsoft Project
6 7 (0.59%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.34%) PTC Creo
8 2 (0.17%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.084%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 52 (4.36%) Remedy ITSM
2 17 (1.42%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.75%) Teamcenter
4 7 (0.59%) Primavera
5 4 (0.34%) SAP SM
6 3 (0.25%) ContrOCC
6 3 (0.25%) Oracle ERP
6 3 (0.25%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.25%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.25%) SAP FI/CO
7 2 (0.17%) Oracle Applications
7 2 (0.17%) SAP PS
8 1 (0.084%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.084%) Misys Equation
8 1 (0.084%) Misys Midas
8 1 (0.084%) NetSuite
8 1 (0.084%) Oracle Payables
8 1 (0.084%) SAP HR
8 1 (0.084%) SAP Payroll
8 1 (0.084%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 178 (14.92%) Azure
2 125 (10.48%) Microsoft 365
3 70 (5.87%) AWS
4 54 (4.53%) Power Platform
5 53 (4.44%) Entra ID
6 43 (3.60%) SaaS
7 32 (2.68%) Azure DevOps
8 29 (2.43%) OneDrive
9 23 (1.93%) GCP
10 19 (1.59%) PaaS
11 15 (1.26%) GitHub
12 14 (1.17%) OCI
13 12 (1.01%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 12 (1.01%) Microsoft Copilot
14 11 (0.92%) AWS Lambda
14 11 (0.92%) IaaS
14 11 (0.92%) Serverless
15 9 (0.75%) Amazon S3
15 9 (0.75%) Google Workspace
16 8 (0.67%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 63 (5.28%) Firewall
2 45 (3.77%) DNS
3 38 (3.19%) WAN
4 35 (2.93%) LAN
5 33 (2.77%) VPN
6 24 (2.01%) Network Security
7 22 (1.84%) DHCP
7 22 (1.84%) TCP/IP
8 16 (1.34%) BGP
9 14 (1.17%) Wi-Fi
9 14 (1.17%) Wireless
10 13 (1.09%) OSPF
10 13 (1.09%) VLAN
11 12 (1.01%) BIG-IP
11 12 (1.01%) Cisco ISE
11 12 (1.01%) SD-WAN
12 11 (0.92%) Skype
12 11 (0.92%) VXLAN
13 10 (0.84%) Junos
14 8 (0.67%) Ethernet VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 46 (3.86%) Power BI
2 15 (1.26%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.67%) Oracle Database
4 7 (0.59%) Oracle Reports
5 6 (0.50%) Oracle Database 11g
5 6 (0.50%) PostgreSQL
5 6 (0.50%) Relational Database
6 4 (0.34%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 4 (0.34%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 3 (0.25%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.25%) MySQL
7 3 (0.25%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 2 (0.17%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.17%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.17%) GIS
8 2 (0.17%) MariaDB
8 2 (0.17%) Microsoft Analysis Services
9 1 (0.084%) DTS
9 1 (0.084%) InfluxDB
9 1 (0.084%) OpenStack Swift
Development Applications
1 138 (11.57%) JIRA
2 21 (1.76%) Jenkins
3 18 (1.51%) Git
4 14 (1.17%) Bitbucket
5 12 (1.01%) GitLab
6 5 (0.42%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 5 (0.42%) Browser DevTools
6 5 (0.42%) ScriptRunner
7 4 (0.34%) MLflow
8 3 (0.25%) Fiddler
8 3 (0.25%) Hudson
8 3 (0.25%) IntelliJ
9 2 (0.17%) Firebug
9 2 (0.17%) Selenium
9 2 (0.17%) TestRail
10 1 (0.084%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.084%) Claude Code
10 1 (0.084%) Gemini Tracker
10 1 (0.084%) IBM UrbanCode
10 1 (0.084%) Postman
General
1 404 (33.86%) Social Skills
2 198 (16.60%) Finance
3 163 (13.66%) Analytical Skills
4 124 (10.39%) Public Sector
5 50 (4.19%) Legal
5 50 (4.19%) Telecoms
6 45 (3.77%) Banking
7 33 (2.77%) Influencing Skills
8 31 (2.60%) Organisational Skills
9 30 (2.51%) Documentation Skills
10 22 (1.84%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 20 (1.68%) Military
12 16 (1.34%) Local Government
12 16 (1.34%) Retail
13 14 (1.17%) Aerospace
14 13 (1.09%) Financial Institution
14 13 (1.09%) Presentation Skills
15 11 (0.92%) Police
16 9 (0.75%) Manufacturing
17 8 (0.67%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 144 (12.07%) Analyst
2 115 (9.64%) Lead
2 115 (9.64%) Service Manager
3 105 (8.80%) Architect
4 98 (8.21%) Senior
5 85 (7.12%) Consultant
6 75 (6.29%) IT Manager
7 56 (4.69%) Project Manager
8 54 (4.53%) Service Analyst
9 44 (3.69%) Developer
10 43 (3.60%) Delivery Manager
11 34 (2.85%) IT Analyst
12 32 (2.68%) Support Engineer
13 30 (2.51%) IT Services Manager
13 30 (2.51%) Network Engineer
13 30 (2.51%) ServiceNow Architect
14 29 (2.43%) Administrator
15 27 (2.26%) Designer
15 27 (2.26%) Service Delivery Manager
15 27 (2.26%) Transition Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (4.44%) REST
2 29 (2.43%) SOAP
3 13 (1.09%) HTML
4 12 (1.01%) CSS
4 12 (1.01%) Middleware
5 9 (0.75%) 802.1X
5 9 (0.75%) JSON
5 9 (0.75%) OAuth
6 8 (0.67%) XML
7 7 (0.59%) Elastic Stack
7 7 (0.59%) Oracle Fusion
8 6 (0.50%) Web Services
9 5 (0.42%) AngularJS
9 5 (0.42%) Lightning Web Components
9 5 (0.42%) Microsoft Graph
9 5 (0.42%) OpenID
9 5 (0.42%) SAML
10 4 (0.34%) Bootstrap
10 4 (0.34%) OAuth2
10 4 (0.34%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 101 (8.47%) CMDB
2 93 (7.80%) Onboarding
3 65 (5.45%) Product Ownership
4 48 (4.02%) Data Centre
5 39 (3.27%) Management Information System
6 32 (2.68%) Virtual Team
7 29 (2.43%) Enterprise Software
8 27 (2.26%) PKI
9 21 (1.76%) Clustering
10 19 (1.59%) Data Protection Act
10 19 (1.59%) Operational Technology
11 14 (1.17%) Driving Licence
12 12 (1.01%) Analytical Mindset
12 12 (1.01%) Self-Motivation
13 10 (0.84%) Algorithms
13 10 (0.84%) Cloud Native
13 10 (0.84%) PMI
13 10 (0.84%) Security Posture
14 9 (0.75%) Cyber Threat
15 8 (0.67%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 209 (17.52%) Windows
2 54 (4.53%) Linux
3 43 (3.60%) Windows 10
4 37 (3.10%) Windows Server
5 17 (1.42%) Unix
6 15 (1.26%) Windows 7
7 14 (1.17%) Mac OS
8 13 (1.09%) Apple iOS
9 12 (1.01%) Android
10 10 (0.84%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 5 (0.42%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.34%) VMS
13 3 (0.25%) Ubuntu
13 3 (0.25%) Windows XP
14 2 (0.17%) Solaris
14 2 (0.17%) Windows Server 2012
14 2 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.17%) zOS
15 1 (0.084%) Rocky
15 1 (0.084%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 615 (51.55%) ITIL
2 511 (42.83%) ITSM
3 301 (25.23%) Stakeholder Management
4 281 (23.55%) Continuous Improvement
5 252 (21.12%) Agile
6 231 (19.36%) Problem-Solving
7 223 (18.69%) Service Delivery
8 173 (14.50%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 161 (13.50%) Change Management
10 133 (11.15%) DevOps
11 122 (10.23%) Customer Service
12 113 (9.47%) Roadmaps
13 102 (8.55%) Incident Management
14 93 (7.80%) Problem Management
15 87 (7.29%) Decision-Making
16 85 (7.12%) Migration
16 85 (7.12%) Project Delivery
17 83 (6.96%) Configuration Management
18 80 (6.71%) Cybersecurity
19 78 (6.54%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 85 (7.12%) PowerShell
2 61 (5.11%) Python
3 56 (4.69%) SQL
4 49 (4.11%) JavaScript
5 21 (1.76%) Bash
6 16 (1.34%) Java
7 11 (0.92%) PL/SQL
7 11 (0.92%) VB
7 11 (0.92%) VBScript
8 6 (0.50%) Apex Code
8 6 (0.50%) Groovy
9 5 (0.42%) Kotlin
10 4 (0.34%) C
10 4 (0.34%) C#
10 4 (0.34%) Perl
10 4 (0.34%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.25%) SOQL
11 3 (0.25%) T-SQL
12 2 (0.17%) Bicep
12 2 (0.17%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 422 (35.37%) Security Cleared
2 287 (24.06%) SC Cleared
3 137 (11.48%) DV Cleared
4 101 (8.47%) Degree
5 62 (5.20%) ITIL Certification
6 35 (2.93%) PMI Certification
7 33 (2.77%) PMP
8 28 (2.35%) Cisco Certification
9 24 (2.01%) BPSS Clearance
9 24 (2.01%) Computer Science Degree
10 18 (1.51%) Microsoft Certification
11 15 (1.26%) CCNA
11 15 (1.26%) CISM
12 14 (1.17%) CISSP
13 13 (1.09%) A+ Certification
13 13 (1.09%) Master's Degree
14 12 (1.01%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 10 (0.84%) CCNP
16 9 (0.75%) DBS Check
16 9 (0.75%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 77 (6.45%) SLA
2 44 (3.69%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 37 (3.10%) Data Quality
3 37 (3.10%) QA
4 29 (2.43%) PMO
5 26 (2.18%) GDPR
6 23 (1.93%) NCSC
7 21 (1.76%) COBIT
8 20 (1.68%) GRC
9 18 (1.51%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 14 (1.17%) NIST
11 9 (0.75%) ISO 9001
11 9 (0.75%) PCI DSS
12 8 (0.67%) Accessibility
12 8 (0.67%) Cyber Essentials
13 7 (0.59%) Government Security Classifications
14 6 (0.50%) ISO 31000
14 6 (0.50%) ISO/IEC 27005
15 5 (0.42%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 5 (0.42%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 113 (9.47%) Active Directory
2 39 (3.27%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (1.34%) VMware ESXi
4 12 (1.01%) BitLocker
4 12 (1.01%) Docker
5 8 (0.67%) VMware NSX
6 7 (0.59%) Virtual Desktop
6 7 (0.59%) vSphere
7 6 (0.50%) Hyper-V
7 6 (0.50%) vCloud
8 5 (0.42%) NFS
9 4 (0.34%) Oracle RAC
9 4 (0.34%) Virtual Machines
10 3 (0.25%) Firmware
11 2 (0.17%) GPFS
11 2 (0.17%) IAG
11 2 (0.17%) KVM
12 1 (0.084%) iptables
12 1 (0.084%) Slurm Workload Manager
12 1 (0.084%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 50 (4.19%) SCCM
2 42 (3.52%) Microsoft Intune
3 28 (2.35%) Ansible
4 22 (1.84%) Terraform
5 15 (1.26%) Kubernetes
6 13 (1.09%) Jamf Pro
6 13 (1.09%) Single Sign-On
7 9 (0.75%) FortiGate
8 8 (0.67%) vCenter Server
9 7 (0.59%) Data Guard
9 7 (0.59%) Grafana
9 7 (0.59%) Oracle RMAN
9 7 (0.59%) WSUS
10 6 (0.50%) Puppet
10 6 (0.50%) SCOM
11 5 (0.42%) Prometheus
11 5 (0.42%) vMotion
12 4 (0.34%) PowerCLI
12 4 (0.34%) Progress Chef
13 3 (0.25%) Packer
Vendors
1 336 (28.16%) ServiceNow
2 203 (17.02%) Microsoft
3 57 (4.78%) Remedy
4 55 (4.61%) VMware
5 44 (3.69%) Cisco
6 38 (3.19%) Oracle
7 32 (2.68%) SAP
8 29 (2.43%) BMC
9 26 (2.18%) Atlassian
10 23 (1.93%) IFS
11 21 (1.76%) Splunk
12 19 (1.59%) HP
13 18 (1.51%) SolarWinds
14 17 (1.42%) Salesforce
15 15 (1.26%) Dell
16 13 (1.09%) Citrix
16 13 (1.09%) Dynatrace
16 13 (1.09%) F5
16 13 (1.09%) IBM
16 13 (1.09%) Zscaler