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

6 months to
25 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 93 84 89
Rank change year-on-year -9 +5 -4
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,497 953 947
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.79% 2.91% 2.44%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.30% 3.22% 2.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 980 572 646
10th Percentile £256 £209 £225
25th Percentile £413 £350 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £486 £525
Median % change year-on-year +7.97% -7.38% +0.96%
75th Percentile £620 £575 £603
90th Percentile £725 £675 £686
UK excluding London median daily rate £524 £492 £525
% change year-on-year +6.50% -6.29% +5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 82 75 18
10th Percentile £14.50 - £17.50
25th Percentile £16.53 £12.62 £19.44
Median hourly rate £55.00 £18.73 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +193.65% -31.89% -46.34%
75th Percentile £85.00 £29.33 £48.75
90th Percentile £92.53 £42.00 £54.13
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 45,365 29,616 33,160
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.57% 90.47% 85.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,789 18,444 20,998
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 2,884 1,758 1,700
10th Percentile £14.22 £14.20 £13.87
25th Percentile £18.00 £17.30 £18.13
Median hourly rate £41.56 £25.15 £40.94
Median % change year-on-year +65.23% -38.57% -3.67%
75th Percentile £67.99 £47.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £67.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £22.63 £42.50
% change year-on-year +94.26% -46.75% +6.25%

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 25 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 25 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 25 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 -10 1,295 £525 +5.00% 465
UK excluding London -12 883 £524 +6.50% 403
London +27 464 £525 +5.00% 122
Work from Home +10 419 £513 +2.50% 192
South East +20 286 £565 +13.00% 144
North of England -18 249 £469 +4.17% 83
North West -23 149 £483 +3.82% 52
South West -31 115 £575 +9.52% 50
Midlands -51 99 £500 -1.96% 71
Yorkshire -10 93 £443 +24.79% 26
West Midlands -30 93 £500 -4.76% 48
Scotland +16 84 £521 +14.08% 11
East of England -13 46 £525 -4.55% 35
Wales -8 13 £800 +247.83% 10
Northern Ireland +7 8 - - 7
North East -39 7 £500 +156.41% 5
East Midlands -31 6 £250 -16.67% 24

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
1 106 (7.08%) SharePoint
2 59 (3.94%) Confluence
3 57 (3.81%) Microsoft Exchange
4 15 (1.00%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.40%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.20%) CMS
6 3 (0.20%) IIS
7 2 (0.13%) Apache
8 1 (0.067%) CICS
8 1 (0.067%) Exchange Server 2010
8 1 (0.067%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.067%) JBoss
8 1 (0.067%) Mattermost
8 1 (0.067%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.067%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 81 (5.41%) Microsoft Office
2 34 (2.27%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (0.94%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 14 (0.94%) MS Visio
4 10 (0.67%) Chatbot
4 10 (0.67%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.067%) Maple
Business Applications
1 57 (3.81%) Remedy ITSM
2 11 (0.73%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.47%) Primavera
4 5 (0.33%) ContrOCC
4 5 (0.33%) NEC Housing
5 4 (0.27%) Workday HCM
6 3 (0.20%) Oracle ERP
6 3 (0.20%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.20%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.20%) SAP FI/CO
6 3 (0.20%) SAP SM
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 (0.067%) Dynamics CRM
8 1 (0.067%) iTrent
8 1 (0.067%) Salesforce CRM
8 1 (0.067%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 260 (17.37%) Azure
2 193 (12.89%) Microsoft 365
3 118 (7.88%) AWS
4 108 (7.21%) Entra ID
5 67 (4.48%) Power Platform
6 58 (3.87%) SaaS
7 52 (3.47%) OneDrive
8 33 (2.20%) GCP
9 30 (2.00%) Azure DevOps
10 21 (1.40%) GitHub
10 21 (1.40%) Microsoft Copilot
11 15 (1.00%) Azure Monitor
12 14 (0.94%) OCI
13 11 (0.73%) PaaS
14 10 (0.67%) Google Workspace
15 9 (0.60%) IaaS
16 8 (0.53%) Amazon S3
16 8 (0.53%) Azure AKS
17 7 (0.47%) Azure Sentinel
17 7 (0.47%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 83 (5.54%) Firewall
2 66 (4.41%) DNS
3 50 (3.34%) VPN
4 46 (3.07%) TCP/IP
5 45 (3.01%) DHCP
6 42 (2.81%) Network Security
6 42 (2.81%) WAN
7 35 (2.34%) LAN
8 19 (1.27%) Wi-Fi
8 19 (1.27%) Wireless
9 16 (1.07%) SD-WAN
10 15 (1.00%) Skype
11 14 (0.94%) VLAN
12 13 (0.87%) BGP
13 11 (0.73%) Intrusion Detection
13 11 (0.73%) SSH
14 9 (0.60%) OSPF
14 9 (0.60%) SSL
15 8 (0.53%) HTTP
16 7 (0.47%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 48 (3.21%) Power BI
2 27 (1.80%) SQL Server
3 9 (0.60%) Oracle Database
4 8 (0.53%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 7 (0.47%) MySQL
5 7 (0.47%) Oracle Database 11g
5 7 (0.47%) PostgreSQL
6 6 (0.40%) Oracle Reports
6 6 (0.40%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 5 (0.33%) Amazon RDS
7 5 (0.33%) MariaDB
7 5 (0.33%) Metadata
7 5 (0.33%) Relational Database
7 5 (0.33%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 3 (0.20%) Amazon Aurora
9 2 (0.13%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.13%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.13%) Looker
9 2 (0.13%) Microsoft Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 142 (9.49%) JIRA
2 24 (1.60%) Jenkins
3 23 (1.54%) Bitbucket
3 23 (1.54%) Git
4 16 (1.07%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 10 (0.67%) GitLab
6 5 (0.33%) Browser DevTools
7 4 (0.27%) Maven
7 4 (0.27%) MLflow
7 4 (0.27%) ScriptRunner
7 4 (0.27%) webpack
8 3 (0.20%) Fiddler
8 3 (0.20%) Gradle
8 3 (0.20%) Hudson
8 3 (0.20%) IntelliJ
8 3 (0.20%) Rational DOORS
8 3 (0.20%) Sonatype Nexus
9 2 (0.13%) Artifactory
9 2 (0.13%) Firebug
10 1 (0.067%) Cucumber
General
1 582 (38.88%) Social Skills
2 244 (16.30%) Finance
3 238 (15.90%) Analytical Skills
4 176 (11.76%) Public Sector
5 72 (4.81%) Telecoms
6 59 (3.94%) Organisational Skills
7 56 (3.74%) Documentation Skills
8 53 (3.54%) Banking
9 51 (3.41%) Influencing Skills
10 48 (3.21%) Legal
11 30 (2.00%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 27 (1.80%) Military
13 23 (1.54%) Local Government
13 23 (1.54%) Presentation Skills
14 19 (1.27%) Aerospace
15 15 (1.00%) Retail
16 13 (0.87%) Police
17 10 (0.67%) Financial Institution
17 10 (0.67%) Manufacturing
18 8 (0.53%) Law
Job Titles
1 165 (11.02%) Analyst
2 144 (9.62%) Architect
3 143 (9.55%) Lead
4 110 (7.35%) Senior
5 106 (7.08%) Consultant
6 105 (7.01%) Service Manager
7 74 (4.94%) IT Manager
8 68 (4.54%) Project Manager
9 67 (4.48%) Support Engineer
10 60 (4.01%) Developer
11 57 (3.81%) Service Analyst
12 47 (3.14%) IT Support
13 45 (3.01%) Delivery Manager
13 45 (3.01%) Solutions Architect
14 43 (2.87%) ServiceNow Developer
15 37 (2.47%) Service Architect
15 37 (2.47%) Transition Manager
16 36 (2.40%) Business Analyst
17 35 (2.34%) IT Analyst
18 34 (2.27%) Designer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 78 (5.21%) REST
2 47 (3.14%) Terraform
3 33 (2.20%) SOAP
4 18 (1.20%) HTML
5 17 (1.14%) CSS
6 15 (1.00%) Web Services
7 14 (0.94%) Middleware
8 12 (0.80%) XML
9 10 (0.67%) SAML
10 9 (0.60%) AngularJS
10 9 (0.60%) JSON
11 8 (0.53%) Elastic Stack
12 7 (0.47%) OAuth
13 6 (0.40%) .NET
13 6 (0.40%) ARM Templates
13 6 (0.40%) Node.js
14 5 (0.33%) OpenID
14 5 (0.33%) RESTful
15 4 (0.27%) Ajax
15 4 (0.27%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 158 (10.55%) Onboarding
2 115 (7.68%) CMDB
3 65 (4.34%) Management Information System
4 62 (4.14%) Product Ownership
5 47 (3.14%) Enterprise Software
6 44 (2.94%) Data Centre
7 31 (2.07%) PKI
8 28 (1.87%) Operational Technology
9 26 (1.74%) Data Protection Act
10 24 (1.60%) Hybrid Cloud
11 23 (1.54%) Security Operations Centre
11 23 (1.54%) Virtual Team
12 20 (1.34%) Cloud Native
13 19 (1.27%) Clustering
14 17 (1.14%) Self-Motivation
15 16 (1.07%) AI Agents
16 15 (1.00%) Analytical Mindset
17 14 (0.94%) NHS
18 13 (0.87%) Cyber Threat
18 13 (0.87%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 292 (19.51%) Windows
2 82 (5.48%) Windows Server
3 77 (5.14%) Linux
4 64 (4.28%) Windows 10
5 28 (1.87%) Apple iOS
6 26 (1.74%) Mac OS
7 21 (1.40%) Unix
8 20 (1.34%) Windows 7
9 15 (1.00%) Android
10 12 (0.80%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 6 (0.40%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.20%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.13%) Solaris
13 2 (0.13%) Ubuntu
13 2 (0.13%) VMS
13 2 (0.13%) Windows XP
13 2 (0.13%) zOS
14 1 (0.067%) Rocky
14 1 (0.067%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 794 (53.04%) ITIL
2 672 (44.89%) ITSM
3 435 (29.06%) Stakeholder Management
4 388 (25.92%) Continuous Improvement
5 330 (22.04%) Service Delivery
6 310 (20.71%) Agile
7 301 (20.11%) Problem-Solving
8 227 (15.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 225 (15.03%) Change Management
10 178 (11.89%) Customer Service
11 166 (11.09%) Roadmaps
12 159 (10.62%) Incident Management
13 153 (10.22%) DevOps
14 150 (10.02%) Cybersecurity
15 134 (8.95%) Project Delivery
16 126 (8.42%) Decision-Making
16 126 (8.42%) Migration
17 125 (8.35%) AI
18 113 (7.55%) Service Design
19 109 (7.28%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 130 (8.68%) PowerShell
2 87 (5.81%) Python
3 72 (4.81%) SQL
4 53 (3.54%) JavaScript
5 45 (3.01%) Bash
6 17 (1.14%) VBScript
7 16 (1.07%) Java
8 15 (1.00%) VB
9 12 (0.80%) PL/SQL
10 9 (0.60%) Bicep
10 9 (0.60%) Groovy
11 7 (0.47%) Shell Script
12 6 (0.40%) C
13 5 (0.33%) Apex Code
13 5 (0.33%) Perl
13 5 (0.33%) T-SQL
14 4 (0.27%) C#
14 4 (0.27%) TypeScript
15 3 (0.20%) Lua
16 2 (0.13%) Korn
Qualifications
1 544 (36.34%) Security Cleared
2 369 (24.65%) SC Cleared
3 145 (9.69%) DV Cleared
4 140 (9.35%) Degree
5 64 (4.28%) ITIL Certification
6 53 (3.54%) PMP
7 47 (3.14%) PMI Certification
8 43 (2.87%) BPSS Clearance
9 34 (2.27%) CISSP
10 32 (2.14%) CISM
10 32 (2.14%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 28 (1.87%) Computer Science Degree
11 28 (1.87%) Microsoft Certification
12 27 (1.80%) Cisco Certification
13 25 (1.67%) A+ Certification
14 16 (1.07%) DBS Check
15 14 (0.94%) Azure Certification
16 13 (0.87%) CCNA
16 13 (0.87%) Master's Degree
17 10 (0.67%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 122 (8.15%) SLA
2 52 (3.47%) QA
3 49 (3.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 45 (3.01%) Data Quality
5 34 (2.27%) NCSC
6 32 (2.14%) GRC
7 31 (2.07%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 30 (2.00%) PMO
9 27 (1.80%) GDPR
10 20 (1.34%) NIST
11 17 (1.14%) COBIT
12 16 (1.07%) ISO 9001
13 14 (0.94%) Cyber Essentials
14 9 (0.60%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 9 (0.60%) Disclosure Scotland
15 8 (0.53%) Accessibility
16 7 (0.47%) Government Security Classifications
16 7 (0.47%) PCI DSS
17 6 (0.40%) ISO 31000
17 6 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 170 (11.36%) Active Directory
2 75 (5.01%) VMware Infrastructure
3 30 (2.00%) Hyper-V
4 24 (1.60%) VMware ESXi
5 21 (1.40%) Docker
6 17 (1.14%) Virtual Desktop
6 17 (1.14%) VMware NSX
7 16 (1.07%) BitLocker
8 15 (1.00%) vSphere
9 12 (0.80%) vCloud
10 6 (0.40%) IAG
10 6 (0.40%) Virtual Servers
11 5 (0.33%) Oracle RAC
11 5 (0.33%) Virtual Machines
12 4 (0.27%) NFS
13 3 (0.20%) Citrix Hypervisor
13 3 (0.20%) Firmware
13 3 (0.20%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 3 (0.20%) XenApp
13 3 (0.20%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 83 (5.54%) Microsoft Intune
2 71 (4.74%) SCCM
3 44 (2.94%) Ansible
4 23 (1.54%) Kubernetes
5 20 (1.34%) SCOM
5 20 (1.34%) Single Sign-On
6 15 (1.00%) vCenter Server
7 11 (0.73%) Jamf Pro
8 10 (0.67%) WSUS
9 8 (0.53%) Data Guard
9 8 (0.53%) Oracle RMAN
10 6 (0.40%) Grafana
11 5 (0.33%) NetBackup
12 4 (0.27%) PowerCLI
12 4 (0.27%) Progress Chef
12 4 (0.27%) Prometheus
12 4 (0.27%) Puppet
12 4 (0.27%) vMotion
13 3 (0.20%) Dell DRAC
13 3 (0.20%) Packer
Vendors
1 424 (28.32%) ServiceNow
2 347 (23.18%) Microsoft
3 105 (7.01%) VMware
4 62 (4.14%) Remedy
5 53 (3.54%) Cisco
6 51 (3.41%) BMC
7 46 (3.07%) Oracle
8 35 (2.34%) Atlassian
9 33 (2.20%) SAP
10 26 (1.74%) Splunk
11 24 (1.60%) Dynatrace
12 21 (1.40%) Salesforce
13 20 (1.34%) Citrix
13 20 (1.34%) CyberArk
14 19 (1.27%) Apple
14 19 (1.27%) IBM
14 19 (1.27%) IFS
14 19 (1.27%) Zscaler
15 17 (1.14%) Google
16 16 (1.07%) SolarWinds