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 11 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 100 82 88
Rank change year-on-year -18 +6 -5
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,284 941 1,062
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.43% 2.90% 2.47%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.85% 3.21% 2.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 831 571 732
10th Percentile £238 £213 £256
25th Percentile £404 £353 £419
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £522 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.30% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £600 £588 £608
90th Percentile £688 £688 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £510 £496 £525
% change year-on-year +2.77% -5.52% +6.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 83 62 21
10th Percentile £15.00 - £14.13
25th Percentile £19.82 £12.62 £17.72
Median hourly rate £60.00 £20.79 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year +188.60% -20.04% -37.91%
75th Percentile £85.00 £22.46 £48.75
90th Percentile £94.51 £46.13 £53.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £20.79 £26.00
% change year-on-year +188.60% -20.04% +22.01%

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 45,068 29,357 36,726
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.21% 90.46% 85.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,042 18,505 23,449
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £415 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £501 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.40% -4.67% -4.55%
75th Percentile £624 £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 2,667 1,497 2,458
10th Percentile £14.85 £14.20 £12.79
25th Percentile £20.01 £17.45 £16.25
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -34.02% -4.70%
75th Percentile £68.00 £53.75 £61.30
90th Percentile £82.25 £70.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.50 £24.66 £38.12
% change year-on-year +80.45% -35.31% -2.91%

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 11 July 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 11 July 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 11 July 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 -15 1,119 £522 +4.30% 426
UK excluding London -20 785 £510 +2.77% 354
Work from Home +13 379 £516 +3.51% 168
London -2 378 £545 +9.00% 125
South East +36 243 £538 +36.94% 123
North of England -28 213 £475 +4.17% 89
South West -27 127 £500 -9.09% 43
North West -26 120 £517 +8.05% 46
Midlands -44 91 £475 -2.06% 52
Yorkshire -19 87 £450 +20.00% 26
West Midlands -49 80 £486 -4.24% 31
Scotland -14 58 £475 -5.00% 8
East of England -28 41 £525 -4.55% 23
Wales -7 13 £800 +188.29% 8
East Midlands -21 11 £250 -42.66% 21
Northern Ireland +10 6 - - 14
North East -32 6 £440 +125.64% 19

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 77 (6.00%) SharePoint
2 56 (4.36%) Confluence
3 38 (2.96%) Microsoft Exchange
4 11 (0.86%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.47%) Mattermost
6 5 (0.39%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.23%) IIS
8 2 (0.16%) Apache
9 1 (0.078%) CICS
9 1 (0.078%) CMS
9 1 (0.078%) JBoss
9 1 (0.078%) LiveCycle
9 1 (0.078%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
9 1 (0.078%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 60 (4.67%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (2.10%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (1.09%) MS Visio
4 12 (0.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 10 (0.78%) Microsoft Project
6 7 (0.55%) Chatbot
7 4 (0.31%) PTC Creo
8 2 (0.16%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.078%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 54 (4.21%) Remedy ITSM
2 17 (1.32%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.70%) Teamcenter
4 7 (0.55%) Primavera
5 5 (0.39%) ContrOCC
6 4 (0.31%) SAP SM
7 3 (0.23%) Oracle ERP
7 3 (0.23%) SAP CO
7 3 (0.23%) SAP FI
7 3 (0.23%) SAP FI/CO
8 2 (0.16%) Oracle Applications
8 2 (0.16%) SAP PS
9 1 (0.078%) Dynamics NAV
9 1 (0.078%) Misys Equation
9 1 (0.078%) Misys Midas
9 1 (0.078%) NetSuite
9 1 (0.078%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.078%) SAP Payroll
9 1 (0.078%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 198 (15.42%) Azure
2 144 (11.21%) Microsoft 365
3 83 (6.46%) AWS
4 69 (5.37%) Entra ID
5 61 (4.75%) Power Platform
6 47 (3.66%) SaaS
7 35 (2.73%) Azure DevOps
7 35 (2.73%) OneDrive
8 28 (2.18%) GCP
9 18 (1.40%) PaaS
10 17 (1.32%) GitHub
11 14 (1.09%) OCI
12 12 (0.93%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 12 (0.93%) Microsoft Copilot
13 11 (0.86%) AWS Lambda
13 11 (0.86%) Serverless
14 10 (0.78%) IaaS
15 9 (0.70%) Amazon S3
15 9 (0.70%) Azure Monitor
15 9 (0.70%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 67 (5.22%) Firewall
2 54 (4.21%) DNS
3 41 (3.19%) WAN
4 39 (3.04%) LAN
5 37 (2.88%) VPN
6 29 (2.26%) Network Security
7 28 (2.18%) DHCP
7 28 (2.18%) TCP/IP
8 18 (1.40%) BGP
8 18 (1.40%) Wireless
9 15 (1.17%) OSPF
9 15 (1.17%) VLAN
10 14 (1.09%) Wi-Fi
11 12 (0.93%) BIG-IP
11 12 (0.93%) Cisco ISE
11 12 (0.93%) SD-WAN
12 11 (0.86%) Skype
12 11 (0.86%) VXLAN
13 10 (0.78%) Junos
14 8 (0.62%) Ethernet VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (3.89%) Power BI
2 18 (1.40%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.62%) Oracle Database
4 6 (0.47%) Oracle Database 11g
4 6 (0.47%) Oracle Reports
4 6 (0.47%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (0.47%) Relational Database
5 5 (0.39%) MySQL
5 5 (0.39%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (0.31%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 4 (0.31%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 3 (0.23%) Amazon RDS
7 3 (0.23%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.23%) MariaDB
8 2 (0.16%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.16%) Elasticsearch
8 2 (0.16%) GIS
8 2 (0.16%) Microsoft Analysis Services
9 1 (0.078%) Db2
9 1 (0.078%) DTS
Development Applications
1 142 (11.06%) JIRA
2 22 (1.71%) Git
2 22 (1.71%) Jenkins
3 13 (1.01%) Bitbucket
4 12 (0.93%) GitLab
5 5 (0.39%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 5 (0.39%) Browser DevTools
6 4 (0.31%) MLflow
6 4 (0.31%) ScriptRunner
7 3 (0.23%) Fiddler
7 3 (0.23%) Hudson
7 3 (0.23%) IntelliJ
7 3 (0.23%) Rational DOORS
8 2 (0.16%) Firebug
8 2 (0.16%) Maven
8 2 (0.16%) Selenium
8 2 (0.16%) webpack
9 1 (0.078%) Protractor
9 1 (0.078%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.078%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 447 (34.81%) Social Skills
2 208 (16.20%) Finance
3 183 (14.25%) Analytical Skills
4 138 (10.75%) Public Sector
5 54 (4.21%) Telecoms
6 52 (4.05%) Legal
7 44 (3.43%) Banking
8 39 (3.04%) Influencing Skills
9 38 (2.96%) Documentation Skills
10 33 (2.57%) Organisational Skills
11 24 (1.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 23 (1.79%) Military
13 19 (1.48%) Local Government
14 16 (1.25%) Aerospace
14 16 (1.25%) Retail
15 14 (1.09%) Presentation Skills
16 13 (1.01%) Financial Institution
17 11 (0.86%) Police
18 9 (0.70%) Manufacturing
19 8 (0.62%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 156 (12.15%) Analyst
2 119 (9.27%) Lead
2 119 (9.27%) Service Manager
3 112 (8.72%) Architect
4 109 (8.49%) Senior
5 93 (7.24%) Consultant
6 77 (6.00%) IT Manager
7 62 (4.83%) Service Analyst
8 58 (4.52%) Project Manager
9 46 (3.58%) Developer
10 45 (3.50%) Delivery Manager
11 38 (2.96%) Support Engineer
12 36 (2.80%) IT Analyst
13 33 (2.57%) Network Engineer
14 30 (2.34%) Administrator
14 30 (2.34%) Business Analyst
14 30 (2.34%) IT Services Manager
15 28 (2.18%) Service Delivery Manager
15 28 (2.18%) Solutions Architect
16 27 (2.10%) Transition Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (4.44%) REST
2 29 (2.26%) SOAP
3 15 (1.17%) HTML
4 14 (1.09%) CSS
5 12 (0.93%) Middleware
6 9 (0.70%) 802.1X
6 9 (0.70%) JSON
6 9 (0.70%) OAuth
7 8 (0.62%) Web Services
7 8 (0.62%) XML
8 7 (0.55%) Elastic Stack
9 6 (0.47%) AngularJS
9 6 (0.47%) Oracle Fusion
10 5 (0.39%) Lightning Web Components
10 5 (0.39%) Microsoft Graph
10 5 (0.39%) OpenID
10 5 (0.39%) SAML
11 4 (0.31%) .NET
11 4 (0.31%) Node.js
11 4 (0.31%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 116 (9.03%) Onboarding
2 108 (8.41%) CMDB
3 62 (4.83%) Product Ownership
4 46 (3.58%) Data Centre
5 44 (3.43%) Management Information System
6 32 (2.49%) Enterprise Software
6 32 (2.49%) Virtual Team
7 30 (2.34%) PKI
8 23 (1.79%) Clustering
9 20 (1.56%) Data Protection Act
9 20 (1.56%) Operational Technology
10 15 (1.17%) Analytical Mindset
11 14 (1.09%) Driving Licence
11 14 (1.09%) Self-Motivation
12 12 (0.93%) Cloud Native
13 10 (0.78%) Algorithms
13 10 (0.78%) Linux Command Line
13 10 (0.78%) PMI
13 10 (0.78%) Security Posture
14 9 (0.70%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 230 (17.91%) Windows
2 58 (4.52%) Linux
3 45 (3.50%) Windows 10
4 38 (2.96%) Windows Server
5 21 (1.64%) Mac OS
6 18 (1.40%) Unix
7 14 (1.09%) Apple iOS
7 14 (1.09%) Windows 7
8 10 (0.78%) Android
8 10 (0.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 5 (0.39%) Windows Server 2019
10 4 (0.31%) VMS
11 3 (0.23%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.16%) Solaris
12 2 (0.16%) Windows Server 2012
12 2 (0.16%) Windows Server 2016
12 2 (0.16%) Windows XP
12 2 (0.16%) zOS
13 1 (0.078%) Rocky
13 1 (0.078%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 680 (52.96%) ITIL
2 574 (44.70%) ITSM
3 327 (25.47%) Continuous Improvement
4 326 (25.39%) Stakeholder Management
5 267 (20.79%) Agile
6 266 (20.72%) Service Delivery
7 254 (19.78%) Problem-Solving
8 196 (15.26%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 183 (14.25%) Change Management
10 142 (11.06%) DevOps
11 135 (10.51%) Customer Service
12 122 (9.50%) Roadmaps
13 119 (9.27%) Incident Management
14 100 (7.79%) Problem Management
15 98 (7.63%) Project Delivery
16 91 (7.09%) Migration
17 90 (7.01%) Configuration Management
18 89 (6.93%) Decision-Making
19 87 (6.78%) Cybersecurity
20 84 (6.54%) AI
Programming Languages
1 98 (7.63%) PowerShell
2 74 (5.76%) Python
3 61 (4.75%) SQL
4 51 (3.97%) JavaScript
5 31 (2.41%) Bash
6 18 (1.40%) Java
7 11 (0.86%) PL/SQL
7 11 (0.86%) VB
7 11 (0.86%) VBScript
8 7 (0.55%) Groovy
9 6 (0.47%) Apex Code
9 6 (0.47%) C
10 5 (0.39%) C#
10 5 (0.39%) Kotlin
10 5 (0.39%) Shell Script
10 5 (0.39%) T-SQL
11 4 (0.31%) Perl
12 3 (0.23%) SOQL
13 2 (0.16%) ActionScript 2.0
13 2 (0.16%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 462 (35.98%) Security Cleared
2 310 (24.14%) SC Cleared
3 148 (11.53%) DV Cleared
4 110 (8.57%) Degree
5 64 (4.98%) ITIL Certification
6 40 (3.12%) PMI Certification
7 39 (3.04%) PMP
8 31 (2.41%) BPSS Clearance
9 28 (2.18%) Cisco Certification
10 23 (1.79%) Computer Science Degree
10 23 (1.79%) Microsoft Certification
11 18 (1.40%) A+ Certification
12 16 (1.25%) CISM
13 15 (1.17%) CCNA
13 15 (1.17%) CISSP
13 15 (1.17%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 14 (1.09%) Master's Degree
15 11 (0.86%) DBS Check
16 10 (0.78%) Azure Certification
16 10 (0.78%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 91 (7.09%) SLA
2 46 (3.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 39 (3.04%) QA
4 37 (2.88%) Data Quality
5 30 (2.34%) PMO
6 26 (2.02%) GDPR
7 25 (1.95%) NCSC
8 24 (1.87%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 20 (1.56%) COBIT
9 20 (1.56%) GRC
10 15 (1.17%) ISO 9001
10 15 (1.17%) NIST
11 8 (0.62%) Accessibility
11 8 (0.62%) Cyber Essentials
11 8 (0.62%) PCI DSS
12 7 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 7 (0.55%) Disclosure Scotland
12 7 (0.55%) Government Security Classifications
13 6 (0.47%) ISO 31000
13 6 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 128 (9.97%) Active Directory
2 48 (3.74%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (1.32%) VMware ESXi
4 15 (1.17%) Docker
5 12 (0.93%) BitLocker
6 11 (0.86%) VMware NSX
7 9 (0.70%) Hyper-V
7 9 (0.70%) vSphere
8 8 (0.62%) Virtual Desktop
9 7 (0.55%) vCloud
10 5 (0.39%) NFS
10 5 (0.39%) Virtual Machines
11 4 (0.31%) IAG
11 4 (0.31%) Oracle RAC
12 3 (0.23%) Firmware
13 2 (0.16%) GPFS
13 2 (0.16%) KVM
14 1 (0.078%) iptables
14 1 (0.078%) Slurm Workload Manager
14 1 (0.078%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 55 (4.28%) SCCM
2 51 (3.97%) Microsoft Intune
3 34 (2.65%) Terraform
4 33 (2.57%) Ansible
5 18 (1.40%) Kubernetes
6 15 (1.17%) Jamf Pro
7 13 (1.01%) Single Sign-On
8 11 (0.86%) SCOM
9 9 (0.70%) FortiGate
9 9 (0.70%) vCenter Server
10 7 (0.55%) Data Guard
10 7 (0.55%) Grafana
10 7 (0.55%) Oracle RMAN
10 7 (0.55%) WSUS
11 6 (0.47%) Puppet
12 5 (0.39%) Prometheus
12 5 (0.39%) vMotion
13 4 (0.31%) PowerCLI
13 4 (0.31%) Progress Chef
14 3 (0.23%) Cisco Prime
Vendors
1 370 (28.82%) ServiceNow
2 241 (18.77%) Microsoft
3 65 (5.06%) VMware
4 58 (4.52%) Remedy
5 45 (3.50%) Cisco
6 37 (2.88%) Oracle
7 33 (2.57%) BMC
8 32 (2.49%) SAP
9 25 (1.95%) Atlassian
10 24 (1.87%) Splunk
11 22 (1.71%) IFS
12 21 (1.64%) SolarWinds
13 17 (1.32%) Citrix
13 17 (1.32%) Dynatrace
13 17 (1.32%) Salesforce
14 15 (1.17%) Juniper
15 14 (1.09%) Dell
15 14 (1.09%) HP
15 14 (1.09%) IBM
16 13 (1.01%) Apple