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

6 months to
2 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 88 82 100
Rank change year-on-year -6 +18 -21
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,643 976 886
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.99% 2.95% 2.33%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.54% 3.25% 2.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,072 591 566
10th Percentile £263 £200 £213
25th Percentile £431 £333 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £485 £508
Median % change year-on-year +8.25% -4.43% -3.33%
75th Percentile £625 £575 £608
90th Percentile £725 £649 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £476 £500
% change year-on-year +10.24% -4.75% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 79 87 16
10th Percentile £14.50 £12.62 £16.84
25th Percentile £17.80 £14.35 £23.40
Median hourly rate £55.00 £21.28 £36.25
Median % change year-on-year +158.46% -41.30% -34.09%
75th Percentile £85.00 £33.75 £49.06
90th Percentile £92.10 £60.00 £54.38
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.53 £20.83 £45.00
% change year-on-year +70.57% -53.71% +100.00%

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 46,382 30,011 32,696
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.49% 90.62% 85.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,976 18,637 19,780
10th Percentile £325 £300 £308
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 £630 £625 £638
90th Percentile £734 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,269 1,869 1,352
10th Percentile £13.69 £14.32 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.17 £17.30 £20.12
Median hourly rate £38.72 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +53.96% -40.82% -
75th Percentile £65.60 £43.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £65.00 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £39.02 £22.32 £43.00
% change year-on-year +74.86% -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 2 October 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 2 October 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 2 October 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 -3 1,412 £525 +5.00% 1,451
UK excluding London -9 955 £525 +10.24% 1,042
London +37 502 £525 +5.00% 556
Work from Home +7 440 £525 +10.53% 720
South East +11 303 £575 +28.64% 286
North of England -17 274 £481 +6.78% 253
North West -13 162 £483 +5.17% 139
Midlands -35 126 £525 +3.96% 139
West Midlands -11 119 £525 +1.94% 89
Yorkshire -10 107 £456 +28.52% 96
Scotland +18 101 £581 +25.62% 99
South West -35 97 £565 +3.67% 124
East of England -1 62 £538 -2.27% 117
Wales -7 13 £800 +247.83% 22
Northern Ireland +11 8 - - 17
East Midlands -28 7 £206 -34.83% 49
North East -46 5 £600 +207.69% 22

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
1 125 (7.61%) SharePoint
2 63 (3.83%) Confluence
2 63 (3.83%) Microsoft Exchange
3 15 (0.91%) Skype for Business
4 5 (0.30%) OpenStack
5 4 (0.24%) Apache
5 4 (0.24%) CMS
5 4 (0.24%) IBM Transformation Extender
5 4 (0.24%) IIS
6 3 (0.18%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.12%) CICS
8 1 (0.061%) Exchange Server 2010
8 1 (0.061%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.061%) Mattermost
8 1 (0.061%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.061%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 84 (5.11%) Microsoft Office
2 39 (2.37%) Microsoft Excel
3 16 (0.97%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 13 (0.79%) MS Visio
5 8 (0.49%) Chatbot
5 8 (0.49%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.061%) Maple
Business Applications
1 52 (3.16%) Remedy ITSM
2 12 (0.73%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.55%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.43%) Primavera
5 5 (0.30%) ContrOCC
5 5 (0.30%) NEC Housing
5 5 (0.30%) Workday HCM
6 3 (0.18%) Oracle ERP
6 3 (0.18%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.18%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.18%) SAP FI/CO
6 3 (0.18%) 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%) SystmOne
7 2 (0.12%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 287 (17.47%) Azure
2 212 (12.90%) Microsoft 365
3 140 (8.52%) AWS
4 134 (8.16%) Entra ID
5 72 (4.38%) Power Platform
5 72 (4.38%) SaaS
6 58 (3.53%) OneDrive
7 43 (2.62%) GCP
8 37 (2.25%) Azure DevOps
9 21 (1.28%) Azure Monitor
10 19 (1.16%) Microsoft Copilot
11 17 (1.03%) GitHub
12 16 (0.97%) Google Workspace
13 14 (0.85%) Dynamics 365
13 14 (0.85%) Power Automate
14 13 (0.79%) Serverless
15 10 (0.61%) IaaS
16 9 (0.55%) Amazon EC2
16 9 (0.55%) Amazon S3
16 9 (0.55%) Azure Functions
Communications & Networking
1 72 (4.38%) DNS
1 72 (4.38%) Firewall
2 58 (3.53%) VPN
3 54 (3.29%) DHCP
4 45 (2.74%) TCP/IP
5 43 (2.62%) Network Security
6 38 (2.31%) WAN
7 34 (2.07%) LAN
8 26 (1.58%) Wi-Fi
9 16 (0.97%) Skype
10 15 (0.91%) VLAN
10 15 (0.91%) Wireless
11 13 (0.79%) SD-WAN
12 11 (0.67%) BGP
12 11 (0.67%) Intrusion Detection
13 10 (0.61%) SAN
13 10 (0.61%) SSH
14 8 (0.49%) 5G
14 8 (0.49%) Internet
15 7 (0.43%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (2.56%) Power BI
2 32 (1.95%) SQL Server
3 24 (1.46%) Metadata
4 8 (0.49%) MySQL
5 7 (0.43%) Amazon RDS
5 7 (0.43%) PostgreSQL
5 7 (0.43%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 6 (0.37%) Looker
6 6 (0.37%) Oracle Database
7 5 (0.30%) MariaDB
7 5 (0.30%) Relational Database
7 5 (0.30%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 4 (0.24%) BigQuery
8 4 (0.24%) Oracle Database 11g
8 4 (0.24%) Oracle Reports
8 4 (0.24%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.18%) Amazon Aurora
10 2 (0.12%) Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.12%) MongoDB
10 2 (0.12%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 151 (9.19%) JIRA
2 33 (2.01%) Git
3 20 (1.22%) Jenkins
4 16 (0.97%) Bitbucket
5 12 (0.73%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 7 (0.43%) GitLab
7 4 (0.24%) Browser DevTools
7 4 (0.24%) Maven
7 4 (0.24%) webpack
8 3 (0.18%) Gradle
8 3 (0.18%) Rational DOORS
9 2 (0.12%) Fiddler
9 2 (0.12%) Firebug
9 2 (0.12%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.061%) Claude Code
10 1 (0.061%) Gemini Tracker
10 1 (0.061%) IBM UrbanCode
10 1 (0.061%) MLflow
10 1 (0.061%) Snyk
10 1 (0.061%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 663 (40.35%) Social Skills
2 273 (16.62%) Analytical Skills
3 268 (16.31%) Finance
4 200 (12.17%) Public Sector
5 77 (4.69%) Organisational Skills
6 70 (4.26%) Documentation Skills
6 70 (4.26%) Telecoms
7 62 (3.77%) Banking
8 61 (3.71%) Influencing Skills
9 43 (2.62%) Aerospace
9 43 (2.62%) Legal
10 40 (2.43%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 30 (1.83%) Presentation Skills
12 28 (1.70%) Military
13 23 (1.40%) Local Government
13 23 (1.40%) Manufacturing
14 16 (0.97%) Police
14 16 (0.97%) Retail
15 12 (0.73%) Law
16 10 (0.61%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 180 (10.96%) Architect
2 158 (9.62%) Analyst
3 153 (9.31%) Lead
4 121 (7.36%) Consultant
5 116 (7.06%) Senior
6 113 (6.88%) Service Manager
7 75 (4.56%) Delivery Manager
8 74 (4.50%) Developer
8 74 (4.50%) Support Engineer
9 66 (4.02%) Project Manager
10 65 (3.96%) IT Manager
11 57 (3.47%) Solutions Architect
12 51 (3.10%) IT Support
13 49 (2.98%) Service Analyst
14 42 (2.56%) Service Architect
14 42 (2.56%) ServiceNow Architect
15 40 (2.43%) ServiceNow Developer
16 38 (2.31%) IT Engineer
17 37 (2.25%) Transition Manager
18 35 (2.13%) Business Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 78 (4.75%) REST
2 57 (3.47%) Terraform
3 31 (1.89%) SOAP
4 26 (1.58%) XML
5 23 (1.40%) Middleware
5 23 (1.40%) Web Services
6 20 (1.22%) HTML
7 19 (1.16%) CSS
7 19 (1.16%) JSON
8 10 (0.61%) LDAP
9 9 (0.55%) Elastic Stack
9 9 (0.55%) SAML
10 8 (0.49%) AngularJS
10 8 (0.49%) XSLT
11 7 (0.43%) .NET
11 7 (0.43%) ARM Templates
12 6 (0.37%) Ajax
12 6 (0.37%) Node.js
12 6 (0.37%) OAuth
13 5 (0.30%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 178 (10.83%) Onboarding
2 135 (8.22%) CMDB
3 94 (5.72%) Management Information System
4 63 (3.83%) Enterprise Software
5 56 (3.41%) Product Ownership
6 55 (3.35%) Data Centre
7 39 (2.37%) PKI
8 31 (1.89%) Data Protection Act
9 29 (1.77%) Hybrid Cloud
10 27 (1.64%) Security Operations Centre
10 27 (1.64%) Virtual Team
11 26 (1.58%) Operational Technology
12 24 (1.46%) Cloud Native
13 18 (1.10%) Cyber Threat
14 17 (1.03%) Self-Motivation
15 16 (0.97%) Security Posture
16 15 (0.91%) AI Agents
16 15 (0.91%) Analytical Mindset
16 15 (0.91%) Video Conferencing
17 14 (0.85%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 331 (20.15%) Windows
2 92 (5.60%) Linux
3 90 (5.48%) Windows Server
4 74 (4.50%) Windows 10
5 37 (2.25%) Apple iOS
6 35 (2.13%) Mac OS
7 22 (1.34%) Android
8 20 (1.22%) Unix
8 20 (1.22%) Windows 7
9 17 (1.03%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 6 (0.37%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.24%) AIX
11 4 (0.24%) Solaris
11 4 (0.24%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 3 (0.18%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
12 3 (0.18%) zOS
13 2 (0.12%) Ubuntu
13 2 (0.12%) Windows XP
14 1 (0.061%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 874 (53.20%) ITIL
2 714 (43.46%) ITSM
3 537 (32.68%) Stakeholder Management
4 466 (28.36%) Continuous Improvement
5 356 (21.67%) Service Delivery
6 332 (20.21%) Problem-Solving
7 331 (20.15%) Agile
8 248 (15.09%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 240 (14.61%) Roadmaps
10 239 (14.55%) Change Management
11 195 (11.87%) Cybersecurity
12 191 (11.63%) Customer Service
13 190 (11.56%) Incident Management
14 167 (10.16%) DevOps
15 153 (9.31%) Project Delivery
16 146 (8.89%) Decision-Making
17 139 (8.46%) AI
18 132 (8.03%) Migration
18 132 (8.03%) Risk Management
19 124 (7.55%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 149 (9.07%) PowerShell
2 93 (5.66%) Python
3 60 (3.65%) SQL
4 58 (3.53%) JavaScript
5 56 (3.41%) Bash
6 19 (1.16%) VBScript
7 16 (0.97%) Java
8 15 (0.91%) VB
9 12 (0.73%) C#
10 10 (0.61%) Bicep
11 9 (0.55%) Shell Script
12 6 (0.37%) C
13 5 (0.30%) Groovy
13 5 (0.30%) Perl
13 5 (0.30%) T-SQL
14 4 (0.24%) PL/SQL
14 4 (0.24%) TypeScript
15 3 (0.18%) COBOL
15 3 (0.18%) Google Apps Script
15 3 (0.18%) RPG
Qualifications
1 629 (38.28%) Security Cleared
2 435 (26.48%) SC Cleared
3 157 (9.56%) Degree
4 150 (9.13%) DV Cleared
5 63 (3.83%) PMP
6 59 (3.59%) PMI Certification
7 58 (3.53%) BPSS Clearance
8 57 (3.47%) ITIL Certification
9 40 (2.43%) Microsoft Certification
10 36 (2.19%) CISSP
11 35 (2.13%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 31 (1.89%) CISM
13 28 (1.70%) Cisco Certification
14 27 (1.64%) Computer Science Degree
15 26 (1.58%) A+ Certification
16 24 (1.46%) DBS Check
17 21 (1.28%) Azure Certification
18 15 (0.91%) AWS Certification
19 11 (0.67%) CCNA
20 9 (0.55%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 144 (8.76%) SLA
2 62 (3.77%) QA
3 55 (3.35%) Data Quality
4 48 (2.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 42 (2.56%) GRC
6 37 (2.25%) NCSC
7 34 (2.07%) GDPR
7 34 (2.07%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 33 (2.01%) NIST
9 23 (1.40%) PMO
10 17 (1.03%) ISO 9001
11 16 (0.97%) Accessibility
12 14 (0.85%) COBIT
13 13 (0.79%) Cyber Essentials
14 10 (0.61%) PCI DSS
15 8 (0.49%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 8 (0.49%) Disclosure Scotland
15 8 (0.49%) WCAG
16 7 (0.43%) ISO 22301
17 5 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 188 (11.44%) Active Directory
2 85 (5.17%) VMware Infrastructure
3 37 (2.25%) Hyper-V
4 28 (1.70%) VMware ESXi
5 22 (1.34%) Virtual Desktop
5 22 (1.34%) vSphere
6 21 (1.28%) Docker
7 17 (1.03%) VMware NSX
8 16 (0.97%) BitLocker
9 13 (0.79%) vCloud
10 8 (0.49%) Firmware
11 7 (0.43%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 7 (0.43%) XenApp
11 7 (0.43%) XenDesktop
12 6 (0.37%) Virtual Servers
13 5 (0.30%) IAG
14 4 (0.24%) Oracle RAC
15 3 (0.18%) KVM
15 3 (0.18%) Microsoft Virtual Server
15 3 (0.18%) NFS
Systems Management
1 100 (6.09%) Microsoft Intune
2 84 (5.11%) SCCM
3 52 (3.16%) Ansible
4 27 (1.64%) Kubernetes
5 24 (1.46%) SCOM
5 24 (1.46%) Single Sign-On
6 18 (1.10%) vCenter Server
7 15 (0.91%) Jamf Pro
8 11 (0.67%) WSUS
9 8 (0.49%) Grafana
9 8 (0.49%) NetBackup
10 7 (0.43%) Progress Chef
10 7 (0.43%) Puppet
11 5 (0.30%) Data Guard
11 5 (0.30%) Oracle RMAN
11 5 (0.30%) Prometheus
11 5 (0.30%) Tivoli
11 5 (0.30%) Tivoli Monitoring
12 4 (0.24%) PowerCLI
12 4 (0.24%) vMotion
Vendors
1 463 (28.18%) ServiceNow
2 410 (24.95%) Microsoft
3 112 (6.82%) VMware
4 56 (3.41%) Remedy
5 50 (3.04%) Cisco
6 49 (2.98%) BMC
7 37 (2.25%) Atlassian
7 37 (2.25%) SAP
8 34 (2.07%) Oracle
9 32 (1.95%) Dynatrace
10 30 (1.83%) Google
11 27 (1.64%) IBM
12 26 (1.58%) Apple
13 24 (1.46%) Splunk
14 20 (1.22%) Citrix
14 20 (1.22%) CyberArk
14 20 (1.22%) Salesforce
14 20 (1.22%) SolarWinds
15 16 (0.97%) Zscaler
16 13 (0.79%) Qualys