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

6 months to
30 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 105 82 84
Rank change year-on-year -23 +2 +1
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,210 900 1,075
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.36% 2.94% 2.49%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.77% 3.24% 2.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 782 544 739
10th Percentile £230 £213 £263
25th Percentile £406 £350 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% +0.96%
75th Percentile £600 £589 £608
90th Percentile £688 £688 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £499 £525
% change year-on-year +0.30% -5.05% +9.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 55 18
10th Percentile £15.00 - £13.65
25th Percentile £18.54 £12.62 £17.02
Median hourly rate £60.00 £20.75 £23.37
Median % change year-on-year +189.16% -11.21% -33.70%
75th Percentile £84.25 £22.35 £42.81
90th Percentile £96.25 £33.75 £51.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £57.50 £20.75 £20.74
% change year-on-year +177.11% +0.05% -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 43,613 27,816 36,814
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.98% 90.91% 85.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,139 17,565 23,448
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £414 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £504 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.18% -4.00% -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 2,612 1,364 2,554
10th Percentile £14.82 £14.20 £12.74
25th Percentile £20.00 £17.49 £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 £81.25 £70.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.50 £25.00 £38.12
% change year-on-year +78.00% -34.42% +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 30 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 30 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 30 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 -18 1,053 £520 +4.00% 346
UK excluding London -23 734 £500 +0.30% 299
London -15 356 £550 +10.00% 91
Work from Home +7 354 £510 +7.37% 114
South East +26 216 £525 +40.00% 96
North of England -23 205 £488 +3.72% 80
South West -27 122 £500 -11.11% 39
North West -20 115 £513 +4.17% 42
Yorkshire -20 83 £456 -3.95% 26
Midlands -47 82 £475 -3.55% 46
West Midlands -41 71 £477 -7.38% 30
Scotland -24 54 £500 - 7
East of England -23 44 £475 -13.64% 27
Wales -7 13 £800 +188.29% 6
East Midlands -16 11 £200 -54.13% 16
North East -32 7 £440 +125.64% 13
Northern Ireland +6 5 - - 10

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 63 (5.21%) SharePoint
2 54 (4.46%) Confluence
3 34 (2.81%) Microsoft Exchange
4 11 (0.91%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.50%) Mattermost
6 4 (0.33%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.25%) IIS
8 1 (0.083%) Apache
8 1 (0.083%) CICS
8 1 (0.083%) CMS
8 1 (0.083%) JBoss
8 1 (0.083%) LiveCycle
8 1 (0.083%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.083%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 57 (4.71%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (2.23%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.07%) MS Visio
4 11 (0.91%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 10 (0.83%) Microsoft Project
6 7 (0.58%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.33%) PTC Creo
8 2 (0.17%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.083%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 52 (4.30%) Remedy ITSM
2 17 (1.40%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.74%) Teamcenter
4 7 (0.58%) Primavera
5 4 (0.33%) ContrOCC
5 4 (0.33%) SAP SM
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 (0.083%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.083%) Misys Equation
8 1 (0.083%) Misys Midas
8 1 (0.083%) NetSuite
8 1 (0.083%) SAP HR
8 1 (0.083%) SAP Payroll
8 1 (0.083%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 181 (14.96%) Azure
2 127 (10.50%) Microsoft 365
3 72 (5.95%) AWS
4 55 (4.55%) Entra ID
4 55 (4.55%) Power Platform
5 43 (3.55%) SaaS
6 32 (2.64%) Azure DevOps
7 29 (2.40%) OneDrive
8 24 (1.98%) GCP
9 18 (1.49%) PaaS
10 15 (1.24%) GitHub
11 13 (1.07%) OCI
12 12 (0.99%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 12 (0.99%) Microsoft Copilot
13 11 (0.91%) AWS Lambda
13 11 (0.91%) Serverless
14 10 (0.83%) IaaS
15 9 (0.74%) Amazon S3
15 9 (0.74%) Google Workspace
16 8 (0.66%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 64 (5.29%) Firewall
2 45 (3.72%) DNS
3 40 (3.31%) WAN
4 37 (3.06%) LAN
5 34 (2.81%) VPN
6 25 (2.07%) Network Security
7 23 (1.90%) TCP/IP
8 22 (1.82%) DHCP
9 16 (1.32%) BGP
9 16 (1.32%) Wireless
10 14 (1.16%) Wi-Fi
11 13 (1.07%) OSPF
11 13 (1.07%) VLAN
12 12 (0.99%) BIG-IP
12 12 (0.99%) Cisco ISE
12 12 (0.99%) SD-WAN
13 11 (0.91%) Skype
13 11 (0.91%) VXLAN
14 10 (0.83%) Junos
15 8 (0.66%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (3.88%) Power BI
2 17 (1.40%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.66%) Oracle Database
4 6 (0.50%) Oracle Database 11g
4 6 (0.50%) Oracle Reports
4 6 (0.50%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (0.50%) Relational Database
5 5 (0.41%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (0.33%) MySQL
6 4 (0.33%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 4 (0.33%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 3 (0.25%) Azure SQL Database
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 (0.083%) DTS
9 1 (0.083%) InfluxDB
9 1 (0.083%) OpenStack Swift
Development Applications
1 138 (11.40%) JIRA
2 21 (1.74%) Jenkins
3 19 (1.57%) Git
4 14 (1.16%) Bitbucket
5 12 (0.99%) GitLab
6 5 (0.41%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 5 (0.41%) Browser DevTools
6 5 (0.41%) ScriptRunner
7 4 (0.33%) 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
10 1 (0.083%) Cucumber
10 1 (0.083%) Cypress.io
10 1 (0.083%) Protractor
10 1 (0.083%) Rational DOORS
10 1 (0.083%) Visual Studio Code
10 1 (0.083%) webpack
General
1 412 (34.05%) Social Skills
2 203 (16.78%) Finance
3 165 (13.64%) Analytical Skills
4 128 (10.58%) Public Sector
5 52 (4.30%) Telecoms
6 50 (4.13%) Legal
7 46 (3.80%) Banking
8 33 (2.73%) Influencing Skills
8 33 (2.73%) Organisational Skills
9 30 (2.48%) Documentation Skills
10 22 (1.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 20 (1.65%) Military
12 17 (1.40%) Local Government
13 16 (1.32%) Retail
14 15 (1.24%) Aerospace
15 13 (1.07%) Financial Institution
15 13 (1.07%) Presentation Skills
16 11 (0.91%) Police
17 9 (0.74%) Manufacturing
18 8 (0.66%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 145 (11.98%) Analyst
2 116 (9.59%) Lead
3 115 (9.50%) Service Manager
4 106 (8.76%) Architect
5 98 (8.10%) Senior
6 88 (7.27%) Consultant
7 75 (6.20%) IT Manager
8 57 (4.71%) Project Manager
9 55 (4.55%) Service Analyst
10 44 (3.64%) Developer
11 43 (3.55%) Delivery Manager
12 34 (2.81%) IT Analyst
13 33 (2.73%) Support Engineer
14 31 (2.56%) Network Engineer
15 30 (2.48%) IT Services Manager
15 30 (2.48%) ServiceNow Architect
16 29 (2.40%) Administrator
17 27 (2.23%) Designer
17 27 (2.23%) Service Delivery Manager
17 27 (2.23%) Transition Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (4.38%) REST
2 29 (2.40%) SOAP
3 13 (1.07%) HTML
4 12 (0.99%) CSS
4 12 (0.99%) Middleware
5 9 (0.74%) 802.1X
5 9 (0.74%) JSON
5 9 (0.74%) OAuth
6 7 (0.58%) Elastic Stack
6 7 (0.58%) XML
7 6 (0.50%) Oracle Fusion
7 6 (0.50%) Web Services
8 5 (0.41%) AngularJS
8 5 (0.41%) Lightning Web Components
8 5 (0.41%) Microsoft Graph
8 5 (0.41%) OpenID
8 5 (0.41%) SAML
9 4 (0.33%) Bootstrap
9 4 (0.33%) OAuth2
9 4 (0.33%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 103 (8.51%) CMDB
2 99 (8.18%) Onboarding
3 64 (5.29%) Product Ownership
4 48 (3.97%) Data Centre
5 42 (3.47%) Management Information System
6 32 (2.64%) Virtual Team
7 29 (2.40%) Enterprise Software
8 28 (2.31%) PKI
9 22 (1.82%) Clustering
10 19 (1.57%) Data Protection Act
10 19 (1.57%) Operational Technology
11 15 (1.24%) Driving Licence
12 12 (0.99%) Analytical Mindset
12 12 (0.99%) Self-Motivation
13 10 (0.83%) Algorithms
13 10 (0.83%) Cloud Native
13 10 (0.83%) PMI
13 10 (0.83%) Security Posture
14 9 (0.74%) Cyber Threat
14 9 (0.74%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 215 (17.77%) Windows
2 55 (4.55%) Linux
3 43 (3.55%) Windows 10
4 38 (3.14%) Windows Server
5 18 (1.49%) Unix
6 15 (1.24%) Mac OS
6 15 (1.24%) Windows 7
7 13 (1.07%) Apple iOS
8 12 (0.99%) Android
9 10 (0.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 5 (0.41%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.33%) VMS
12 3 (0.25%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.25%) Windows XP
13 2 (0.17%) Solaris
13 2 (0.17%) Windows Server 2012
13 2 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.17%) zOS
14 1 (0.083%) Rocky
14 1 (0.083%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 627 (51.82%) ITIL
2 520 (42.98%) ITSM
3 305 (25.21%) Stakeholder Management
4 287 (23.72%) Continuous Improvement
5 253 (20.91%) Agile
6 237 (19.59%) Problem-Solving
7 227 (18.76%) Service Delivery
8 176 (14.55%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 165 (13.64%) Change Management
10 133 (10.99%) DevOps
11 126 (10.41%) Customer Service
12 117 (9.67%) Roadmaps
13 103 (8.51%) Incident Management
14 95 (7.85%) Problem Management
15 89 (7.36%) Decision-Making
16 87 (7.19%) Project Delivery
17 86 (7.11%) Migration
18 84 (6.94%) Configuration Management
19 82 (6.78%) Cybersecurity
20 79 (6.53%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 86 (7.11%) PowerShell
2 64 (5.29%) Python
3 58 (4.79%) SQL
4 48 (3.97%) JavaScript
5 21 (1.74%) Bash
6 16 (1.32%) Java
7 11 (0.91%) PL/SQL
7 11 (0.91%) VB
7 11 (0.91%) VBScript
8 6 (0.50%) Apex Code
8 6 (0.50%) Groovy
9 5 (0.41%) C#
9 5 (0.41%) Kotlin
9 5 (0.41%) T-SQL
10 4 (0.33%) C
10 4 (0.33%) Perl
10 4 (0.33%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.25%) SOQL
12 2 (0.17%) Bicep
12 2 (0.17%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 426 (35.21%) Security Cleared
2 291 (24.05%) SC Cleared
3 136 (11.24%) DV Cleared
4 103 (8.51%) Degree
5 62 (5.12%) ITIL Certification
6 35 (2.89%) PMI Certification
7 33 (2.73%) PMP
8 28 (2.31%) Cisco Certification
9 25 (2.07%) BPSS Clearance
10 24 (1.98%) Computer Science Degree
11 19 (1.57%) Microsoft Certification
12 15 (1.24%) CCNA
12 15 (1.24%) CISM
13 14 (1.16%) A+ Certification
13 14 (1.16%) CISSP
14 13 (1.07%) Master's Degree
15 12 (0.99%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 10 (0.83%) CCNP
17 9 (0.74%) DBS Check
17 9 (0.74%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 81 (6.69%) SLA
2 45 (3.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 38 (3.14%) Data Quality
4 37 (3.06%) QA
5 29 (2.40%) PMO
6 26 (2.15%) GDPR
7 23 (1.90%) NCSC
8 21 (1.74%) COBIT
9 20 (1.65%) GRC
9 20 (1.65%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 14 (1.16%) NIST
11 12 (0.99%) ISO 9001
12 9 (0.74%) PCI DSS
13 8 (0.66%) Accessibility
13 8 (0.66%) Cyber Essentials
14 7 (0.58%) Government Security Classifications
15 6 (0.50%) ISO 31000
15 6 (0.50%) ISO/IEC 27005
16 5 (0.41%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
16 5 (0.41%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 115 (9.50%) Active Directory
2 40 (3.31%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (1.32%) VMware ESXi
4 12 (0.99%) BitLocker
4 12 (0.99%) Docker
5 8 (0.66%) VMware NSX
6 7 (0.58%) Virtual Desktop
6 7 (0.58%) vSphere
7 6 (0.50%) Hyper-V
7 6 (0.50%) vCloud
8 5 (0.41%) NFS
8 5 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
9 4 (0.33%) Oracle RAC
10 3 (0.25%) Firmware
10 3 (0.25%) IAG
11 2 (0.17%) GPFS
11 2 (0.17%) KVM
12 1 (0.083%) iptables
12 1 (0.083%) Slurm Workload Manager
12 1 (0.083%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 50 (4.13%) SCCM
2 43 (3.55%) Microsoft Intune
3 29 (2.40%) Ansible
4 23 (1.90%) Terraform
5 15 (1.24%) Kubernetes
6 14 (1.16%) Jamf Pro
7 13 (1.07%) Single Sign-On
8 9 (0.74%) FortiGate
9 8 (0.66%) vCenter Server
10 7 (0.58%) Data Guard
10 7 (0.58%) Grafana
10 7 (0.58%) Oracle RMAN
10 7 (0.58%) SCOM
10 7 (0.58%) WSUS
11 6 (0.50%) Puppet
12 5 (0.41%) Prometheus
12 5 (0.41%) vMotion
13 4 (0.33%) PowerCLI
13 4 (0.33%) Progress Chef
14 3 (0.25%) Cisco Prime
Vendors
1 343 (28.35%) ServiceNow
2 209 (17.27%) Microsoft
3 57 (4.71%) Remedy
4 56 (4.63%) VMware
5 44 (3.64%) Cisco
6 37 (3.06%) Oracle
7 32 (2.64%) SAP
8 30 (2.48%) BMC
9 26 (2.15%) Atlassian
10 23 (1.90%) IFS
11 21 (1.74%) Splunk
12 18 (1.49%) HP
12 18 (1.49%) SolarWinds
13 17 (1.40%) Salesforce
14 15 (1.24%) Dell
15 14 (1.16%) Dynatrace
16 13 (1.07%) Citrix
16 13 (1.07%) F5
16 13 (1.07%) Juniper
16 13 (1.07%) Zscaler