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

6 months to
15 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 96 81 91
Rank change year-on-year -15 +10 -9
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,455 973 943
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.71% 2.95% 2.43%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.20% 3.26% 2.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 950 590 656
10th Percentile £263 £212 £249
25th Percentile £413 £350 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £490 £525
Median % change year-on-year +7.20% -6.71% +2.44%
75th Percentile £619 £575 £605
90th Percentile £725 £675 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £520 £495 £525
% change year-on-year +5.16% -5.81% +9.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 75 18
10th Percentile £14.50 - £17.50
25th Percentile £20.06 £12.62 £19.44
Median hourly rate £55.00 £18.73 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +193.65% -31.89% -34.33%
75th Percentile £85.06 £22.14 £48.75
90th Percentile £92.52 £42.00 £54.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £18.00 £27.50
% change year-on-year +205.56% -34.55% +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 45,525 29,831 33,211
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.86% 90.51% 85.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,003 18,596 21,236
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
25th Percentile £424 £403 £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 2,834 1,716 1,828
10th Percentile £14.22 £14.20 £14.05
25th Percentile £18.50 £17.30 £18.35
Median hourly rate £42.00 £25.15 £41.50
Median % change year-on-year +67.00% -39.40% -1.19%
75th Percentile £68.00 £48.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £81.71 £68.00 £74.91
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £23.00 £42.50
% change year-on-year +91.13% -45.88% +13.33%

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 15 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 15 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 15 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 -17 1,266 £525 +5.00% 1,006
UK excluding London -17 854 £520 +5.16% 747
London +29 460 £525 +5.00% 369
Work from Home +6 415 £518 +3.60% 449
South East +21 290 £565 +13.00% 234
North of England -26 220 £459 +2.06% 186
North West -34 130 £481 +2.29% 111
South West -32 125 £544 +3.57% 77
Midlands -36 100 £500 - 101
West Midlands -29 94 £500 -2.91% 59
Yorkshire -24 85 £440 +24.01% 56
Scotland -8 67 £505 +7.45% 54
East of England -22 40 £525 -4.55% 65
Wales -8 12 £800 +247.83% 13
Northern Ireland +9 8 - - 26
East Midlands -26 6 £250 -16.67% 42
North East -44 5 £440 +125.64% 21

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 99 (6.80%) SharePoint
2 58 (3.99%) Confluence
3 53 (3.64%) Microsoft Exchange
4 15 (1.03%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.41%) Mattermost
5 6 (0.41%) OpenStack
6 3 (0.21%) CMS
6 3 (0.21%) IIS
7 2 (0.14%) Apache
8 1 (0.069%) CICS
8 1 (0.069%) Exchange Server 2010
8 1 (0.069%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.069%) JBoss
8 1 (0.069%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.069%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 82 (5.64%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (2.20%) Microsoft Excel
3 16 (1.10%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 15 (1.03%) MS Visio
5 9 (0.62%) Chatbot
5 9 (0.62%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.069%) Camtasia
6 1 (0.069%) Maple
6 1 (0.069%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 61 (4.19%) Remedy ITSM
2 12 (0.82%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.48%) Primavera
4 5 (0.34%) ContrOCC
4 5 (0.34%) NEC Housing
5 3 (0.21%) Oracle ERP
5 3 (0.21%) SAP CO
5 3 (0.21%) SAP FI
5 3 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
5 3 (0.21%) SAP SM
5 3 (0.21%) Teamcenter
6 2 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
6 2 (0.14%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.14%) Remedy AR System
6 2 (0.14%) SAP PS
7 1 (0.069%) Dynamics CRM
7 1 (0.069%) Misys Equation
7 1 (0.069%) Misys Midas
7 1 (0.069%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.069%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 258 (17.73%) Azure
2 182 (12.51%) Microsoft 365
3 116 (7.97%) AWS
4 103 (7.08%) Entra ID
5 65 (4.47%) Power Platform
6 59 (4.05%) SaaS
7 50 (3.44%) OneDrive
8 34 (2.34%) GCP
9 32 (2.20%) Azure DevOps
10 21 (1.44%) GitHub
11 19 (1.31%) Microsoft Copilot
12 17 (1.17%) OCI
13 14 (0.96%) Azure Monitor
14 13 (0.89%) PaaS
15 10 (0.69%) Google Workspace
15 10 (0.69%) IaaS
16 9 (0.62%) Amazon S3
17 8 (0.55%) Amazon EC2
17 8 (0.55%) Azure AKS
18 7 (0.48%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 86 (5.91%) Firewall
2 71 (4.88%) DNS
3 48 (3.30%) DHCP
3 48 (3.30%) VPN
4 47 (3.23%) WAN
5 44 (3.02%) TCP/IP
6 41 (2.82%) LAN
7 40 (2.75%) Network Security
8 19 (1.31%) BGP
8 19 (1.31%) Wireless
9 18 (1.24%) Wi-Fi
10 16 (1.10%) SD-WAN
11 15 (1.03%) OSPF
11 15 (1.03%) Skype
12 14 (0.96%) VLAN
13 13 (0.89%) VXLAN
14 12 (0.82%) Cisco ISE
15 11 (0.76%) BIG-IP
15 11 (0.76%) Intrusion Detection
16 10 (0.69%) Junos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 48 (3.30%) Power BI
2 26 (1.79%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.55%) Oracle Database
3 8 (0.55%) PostgreSQL
4 7 (0.48%) MySQL
4 7 (0.48%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 6 (0.41%) Oracle Database 11g
5 6 (0.41%) Oracle Reports
5 6 (0.41%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 5 (0.34%) Amazon RDS
6 5 (0.34%) MariaDB
6 5 (0.34%) Relational Database
6 5 (0.34%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 3 (0.21%) Amazon Aurora
7 3 (0.21%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.21%) Metadata
8 2 (0.14%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.14%) Looker
8 2 (0.14%) Microsoft Analysis Services
8 2 (0.14%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 145 (9.97%) JIRA
2 26 (1.79%) Git
3 25 (1.72%) Jenkins
4 23 (1.58%) Bitbucket
5 15 (1.03%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 12 (0.82%) GitLab
7 5 (0.34%) Browser DevTools
8 4 (0.27%) Maven
8 4 (0.27%) MLflow
8 4 (0.27%) Rational DOORS
8 4 (0.27%) ScriptRunner
8 4 (0.27%) webpack
9 3 (0.21%) Fiddler
9 3 (0.21%) Gradle
9 3 (0.21%) Hudson
9 3 (0.21%) IntelliJ
9 3 (0.21%) Sonatype Nexus
10 2 (0.14%) Firebug
11 1 (0.069%) MSI
11 1 (0.069%) Selenium
General
1 558 (38.35%) Social Skills
2 237 (16.29%) Finance
3 225 (15.46%) Analytical Skills
4 168 (11.55%) Public Sector
5 68 (4.67%) Telecoms
6 53 (3.64%) Documentation Skills
7 51 (3.51%) Influencing Skills
8 50 (3.44%) Banking
9 47 (3.23%) Legal
10 46 (3.16%) Organisational Skills
11 30 (2.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 29 (1.99%) Military
13 24 (1.65%) Local Government
14 21 (1.44%) Presentation Skills
15 19 (1.31%) Aerospace
16 14 (0.96%) Retail
17 12 (0.82%) Police
18 11 (0.76%) Financial Institution
19 10 (0.69%) Manufacturing
20 8 (0.55%) Law
Job Titles
1 154 (10.58%) Analyst
2 141 (9.69%) Architect
3 137 (9.42%) Lead
4 118 (8.11%) Senior
5 108 (7.42%) Service Manager
6 100 (6.87%) Consultant
7 76 (5.22%) IT Manager
8 66 (4.54%) Project Manager
9 60 (4.12%) Developer
9 60 (4.12%) Support Engineer
10 55 (3.78%) Service Analyst
11 46 (3.16%) Delivery Manager
12 44 (3.02%) IT Support
12 44 (3.02%) Solutions Architect
13 42 (2.89%) ServiceNow Developer
14 38 (2.61%) Network Engineer
14 38 (2.61%) Transition Manager
15 37 (2.54%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 37 (2.54%) Service Architect
16 36 (2.47%) Business Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 80 (5.50%) REST
2 36 (2.47%) SOAP
3 18 (1.24%) HTML
4 17 (1.17%) CSS
5 15 (1.03%) Middleware
5 15 (1.03%) Web Services
6 12 (0.82%) XML
7 10 (0.69%) JSON
7 10 (0.69%) SAML
8 9 (0.62%) 802.1X
8 9 (0.62%) AngularJS
8 9 (0.62%) OAuth
9 8 (0.55%) Elastic Stack
10 6 (0.41%) ARM Templates
10 6 (0.41%) Node.js
11 5 (0.34%) .NET
11 5 (0.34%) OpenID
11 5 (0.34%) Oracle Fusion
11 5 (0.34%) RESTful
12 4 (0.27%) Ajax
Miscellaneous
1 153 (10.52%) Onboarding
2 113 (7.77%) CMDB
3 65 (4.47%) Management Information System
4 63 (4.33%) Product Ownership
5 47 (3.23%) Data Centre
6 44 (3.02%) Enterprise Software
7 36 (2.47%) PKI
8 27 (1.86%) Operational Technology
9 26 (1.79%) Clustering
9 26 (1.79%) Virtual Team
10 23 (1.58%) Data Protection Act
10 23 (1.58%) Hybrid Cloud
11 21 (1.44%) Cloud Native
12 19 (1.31%) Security Operations Centre
13 16 (1.10%) AI Agents
14 15 (1.03%) Analytical Mindset
14 15 (1.03%) Self-Motivation
15 13 (0.89%) Video Conferencing
16 12 (0.82%) Cyber Threat
17 11 (0.76%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 286 (19.66%) Windows
2 77 (5.29%) Linux
2 77 (5.29%) Windows Server
3 58 (3.99%) Windows 10
4 26 (1.79%) Apple iOS
4 26 (1.79%) Mac OS
5 20 (1.37%) Unix
5 20 (1.37%) Windows 7
6 15 (1.03%) Android
7 13 (0.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 6 (0.41%) Windows Server 2019
9 3 (0.21%) Ubuntu
9 3 (0.21%) VMS
9 3 (0.21%) Windows Server 2012
9 3 (0.21%) Windows Server 2016
10 2 (0.14%) Solaris
10 2 (0.14%) Windows XP
10 2 (0.14%) zOS
11 1 (0.069%) Rocky
11 1 (0.069%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 780 (53.61%) ITIL
2 666 (45.77%) ITSM
3 413 (28.38%) Stakeholder Management
4 376 (25.84%) Continuous Improvement
5 326 (22.41%) Service Delivery
6 307 (21.10%) Agile
7 296 (20.34%) Problem-Solving
8 228 (15.67%) Change Management
9 220 (15.12%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 162 (11.13%) Customer Service
11 160 (11.00%) DevOps
12 151 (10.38%) Roadmaps
13 146 (10.03%) Incident Management
14 133 (9.14%) Cybersecurity
15 127 (8.73%) Project Delivery
16 121 (8.32%) Migration
17 115 (7.90%) AI
17 115 (7.90%) Decision-Making
18 109 (7.49%) Service Design
19 108 (7.42%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 129 (8.87%) PowerShell
2 88 (6.05%) Python
3 70 (4.81%) SQL
4 56 (3.85%) JavaScript
5 46 (3.16%) Bash
6 17 (1.17%) VBScript
7 15 (1.03%) Java
7 15 (1.03%) VB
8 11 (0.76%) PL/SQL
9 9 (0.62%) Groovy
10 8 (0.55%) Bicep
11 6 (0.41%) C
11 6 (0.41%) Shell Script
12 5 (0.34%) Apex Code
12 5 (0.34%) Perl
12 5 (0.34%) T-SQL
13 4 (0.27%) C#
13 4 (0.27%) TypeScript
14 3 (0.21%) Lua
15 2 (0.14%) Korn
Qualifications
1 536 (36.84%) Security Cleared
2 354 (24.33%) SC Cleared
3 154 (10.58%) DV Cleared
4 141 (9.69%) Degree
5 62 (4.26%) ITIL Certification
6 53 (3.64%) PMP
7 48 (3.30%) PMI Certification
8 42 (2.89%) BPSS Clearance
9 32 (2.20%) Cisco Certification
9 32 (2.20%) CISSP
10 31 (2.13%) CISM
11 30 (2.06%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 29 (1.99%) Computer Science Degree
13 28 (1.92%) Microsoft Certification
14 25 (1.72%) A+ Certification
15 14 (0.96%) Azure Certification
15 14 (0.96%) CCNA
15 14 (0.96%) DBS Check
16 13 (0.89%) Master's Degree
17 10 (0.69%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 109 (7.49%) SLA
2 47 (3.23%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 47 (3.23%) QA
3 39 (2.68%) Data Quality
4 31 (2.13%) ISO/IEC 20000
4 31 (2.13%) NCSC
5 30 (2.06%) PMO
6 28 (1.92%) GRC
7 27 (1.86%) GDPR
8 17 (1.17%) COBIT
8 17 (1.17%) NIST
9 16 (1.10%) ISO 9001
10 13 (0.89%) Cyber Essentials
11 9 (0.62%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 9 (0.62%) Disclosure Scotland
12 8 (0.55%) Accessibility
12 8 (0.55%) PCI DSS
13 7 (0.48%) Government Security Classifications
14 6 (0.41%) ISO 31000
14 6 (0.41%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 168 (11.55%) Active Directory
2 69 (4.74%) VMware Infrastructure
3 25 (1.72%) Hyper-V
4 24 (1.65%) VMware ESXi
5 18 (1.24%) Docker
6 17 (1.17%) VMware NSX
7 16 (1.10%) BitLocker
8 15 (1.03%) Virtual Desktop
8 15 (1.03%) vSphere
9 11 (0.76%) vCloud
10 6 (0.41%) IAG
10 6 (0.41%) Virtual Servers
11 5 (0.34%) Virtual Machines
12 4 (0.27%) NFS
12 4 (0.27%) Oracle RAC
13 3 (0.21%) Firmware
13 3 (0.21%) Microsoft Virtual Server
14 2 (0.14%) GPFS
14 2 (0.14%) KVM
15 1 (0.069%) iptables
Systems Management
1 83 (5.70%) Microsoft Intune
2 67 (4.60%) SCCM
3 48 (3.30%) Terraform
4 45 (3.09%) Ansible
5 20 (1.37%) Kubernetes
6 19 (1.31%) Single Sign-On
7 18 (1.24%) SCOM
8 15 (1.03%) vCenter Server
9 13 (0.89%) Jamf Pro
10 8 (0.55%) FortiGate
10 8 (0.55%) WSUS
11 7 (0.48%) Data Guard
11 7 (0.48%) Grafana
11 7 (0.48%) Oracle RMAN
11 7 (0.48%) Puppet
12 6 (0.41%) Progress Chef
13 5 (0.34%) NetBackup
14 4 (0.27%) PowerCLI
14 4 (0.27%) Prometheus
14 4 (0.27%) vMotion
Vendors
1 424 (29.14%) ServiceNow
2 331 (22.75%) Microsoft
3 100 (6.87%) VMware
4 65 (4.47%) Remedy
5 60 (4.12%) Cisco
6 48 (3.30%) BMC
7 44 (3.02%) Oracle
8 35 (2.41%) SAP
9 34 (2.34%) Atlassian
10 32 (2.20%) Splunk
11 24 (1.65%) Dynatrace
12 22 (1.51%) SolarWinds
13 20 (1.37%) IFS
13 20 (1.37%) Salesforce
13 20 (1.37%) Zscaler
14 19 (1.31%) CyberArk
14 19 (1.31%) IBM
15 18 (1.24%) Apple
16 17 (1.17%) Citrix
16 17 (1.17%) Juniper