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 29 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 87 85 100
Rank change year-on-year -2 +15 -15
Contract jobs citing Service Management 1,628 970 876
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.98% 2.98% 2.31%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.53% 3.28% 2.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,068 586 559
10th Percentile £263 £200 £212
25th Percentile £432 £327 £374
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £483 £501
Median % change year-on-year +8.81% -3.60% -4.67%
75th Percentile £625 £575 £606
90th Percentile £725 £649 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +10.53% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 78 85 14
10th Percentile £14.50 £12.62 £16.17
25th Percentile £17.51 £13.37 £25.88
Median hourly rate £55.00 £21.28 £46.25
Median % change year-on-year +158.46% -53.99% -15.91%
75th Percentile £85.00 £33.75 £49.69
90th Percentile £92.15 £60.00 £54.63
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.27 £21.06 £47.50
% change year-on-year +114.98% -55.67% +111.11%

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 46,073 29,551 32,512
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.35% 90.64% 85.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,867 18,364 19,652
10th Percentile £325 £294 £308
25th Percentile £425 £403 £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 £731 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,200 1,847 1,359
10th Percentile £13.74 £14.25 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.23 £17.30 £20.06
Median hourly rate £39.75 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +58.05% -40.82% -1.16%
75th Percentile £65.88 £43.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £65.00 £74.45
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £22.32 £43.00
% change year-on-year +79.25% -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 29 September 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 29 September 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 29 September 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 -8 1,399 £525 +5.00% 1,171
UK excluding London -7 948 £525 +10.53% 816
London +34 498 £525 +5.00% 427
Work from Home +5 434 £525 +10.53% 556
South East +12 305 £575 +30.02% 206
North of England -19 264 £480 +6.67% 206
North West -12 152 £481 +4.63% 118
Midlands -32 123 £525 +3.96% 124
West Midlands -14 117 £525 +1.94% 78
Yorkshire -8 107 £468 +31.69% 75
South West -39 99 £600 +10.09% 98
Scotland +11 95 £550 +18.92% 63
East of England -3 62 £550 - 94
Wales -8 13 £800 +247.83% 14
Northern Ireland +7 8 - - 27
East Midlands -33 6 £163 -48.66% 45
North East -44 5 £600 +207.69% 16

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 (7.68%) SharePoint
2 64 (3.93%) Microsoft Exchange
3 58 (3.56%) Confluence
4 15 (0.92%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.31%) OpenStack
6 4 (0.25%) CMS
6 4 (0.25%) IBM Transformation Extender
7 2 (0.12%) CICS
8 1 (0.061%) Apache
8 1 (0.061%) Exchange Server 2010
8 1 (0.061%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.061%) IIS
8 1 (0.061%) Mattermost
8 1 (0.061%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
8 1 (0.061%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 84 (5.16%) Microsoft Office
2 37 (2.27%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (0.86%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (0.68%) 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 50 (3.07%) Remedy ITSM
2 12 (0.74%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.55%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.43%) Primavera
5 5 (0.31%) ContrOCC
5 5 (0.31%) NEC Housing
5 5 (0.31%) 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
1 283 (17.38%) Azure
2 213 (13.08%) Microsoft 365
3 139 (8.54%) AWS
4 133 (8.17%) Entra ID
5 71 (4.36%) Power Platform
5 71 (4.36%) SaaS
6 59 (3.62%) OneDrive
7 42 (2.58%) GCP
8 35 (2.15%) Azure DevOps
9 21 (1.29%) Azure Monitor
10 19 (1.17%) Microsoft Copilot
11 16 (0.98%) GitHub
11 16 (0.98%) Google Workspace
12 14 (0.86%) Dynamics 365
12 14 (0.86%) Power Automate
13 13 (0.80%) Serverless
14 10 (0.61%) IaaS
15 9 (0.55%) Azure Sentinel
16 8 (0.49%) Azure Functions
16 8 (0.49%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 72 (4.42%) DNS
1 72 (4.42%) Firewall
2 57 (3.50%) VPN
3 54 (3.32%) DHCP
4 45 (2.76%) TCP/IP
5 43 (2.64%) Network Security
6 38 (2.33%) WAN
7 33 (2.03%) LAN
8 26 (1.60%) Wi-Fi
9 16 (0.98%) Skype
10 15 (0.92%) VLAN
10 15 (0.92%) Wireless
11 13 (0.80%) SD-WAN
12 11 (0.68%) BGP
12 11 (0.68%) Intrusion Detection
13 10 (0.61%) SAN
13 10 (0.61%) SSH
14 8 (0.49%) 5G
14 8 (0.49%) HTTP
15 7 (0.43%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (2.52%) Power BI
2 33 (2.03%) SQL Server
3 24 (1.47%) Metadata
4 7 (0.43%) Oracle Database
4 7 (0.43%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 6 (0.37%) Looker
5 6 (0.37%) MySQL
6 5 (0.31%) Amazon RDS
6 5 (0.31%) MariaDB
6 5 (0.31%) Oracle Database 11g
6 5 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
6 5 (0.31%) Relational Database
6 5 (0.31%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 4 (0.25%) BigQuery
7 4 (0.25%) Oracle Reports
7 4 (0.25%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 3 (0.18%) Amazon Aurora
9 2 (0.12%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.12%) Microsoft Analysis Services
9 2 (0.12%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 146 (8.97%) JIRA
2 31 (1.90%) Git
3 20 (1.23%) Jenkins
4 16 (0.98%) Bitbucket
5 12 (0.74%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 5 (0.31%) Browser DevTools
6 5 (0.31%) GitLab
7 4 (0.25%) Maven
7 4 (0.25%) webpack
8 3 (0.18%) Fiddler
8 3 (0.18%) Gradle
8 3 (0.18%) Rational DOORS
9 2 (0.12%) Firebug
9 2 (0.12%) Hudson
9 2 (0.12%) Sonatype Nexus
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
1 658 (40.42%) Social Skills
2 268 (16.46%) Finance
3 265 (16.28%) Analytical Skills
4 198 (12.16%) Public Sector
5 69 (4.24%) Telecoms
6 67 (4.12%) Documentation Skills
7 66 (4.05%) Organisational Skills
8 61 (3.75%) Banking
9 58 (3.56%) Influencing Skills
10 44 (2.70%) Legal
11 41 (2.52%) Aerospace
12 40 (2.46%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 29 (1.78%) Military
13 29 (1.78%) Presentation Skills
14 23 (1.41%) Local Government
15 21 (1.29%) Manufacturing
16 16 (0.98%) Police
16 16 (0.98%) Retail
17 11 (0.68%) Law
18 10 (0.61%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 181 (11.12%) Architect
2 151 (9.28%) Lead
3 148 (9.09%) Analyst
4 120 (7.37%) Senior
5 116 (7.13%) Consultant
6 114 (7.00%) Service Manager
7 75 (4.61%) Support Engineer
8 73 (4.48%) Delivery Manager
8 73 (4.48%) Developer
9 70 (4.30%) IT Manager
10 67 (4.12%) Project Manager
11 57 (3.50%) Solutions Architect
12 51 (3.13%) IT Support
13 48 (2.95%) Service Analyst
14 43 (2.64%) Service Architect
15 42 (2.58%) ServiceNow Architect
16 41 (2.52%) ServiceNow Developer
17 37 (2.27%) IT Engineer
17 37 (2.27%) Transition Manager
18 34 (2.09%) Desktop Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 80 (4.91%) REST
2 55 (3.38%) Terraform
3 32 (1.97%) SOAP
4 26 (1.60%) XML
5 21 (1.29%) HTML
5 21 (1.29%) Middleware
6 20 (1.23%) CSS
6 20 (1.23%) JSON
6 20 (1.23%) Web Services
7 10 (0.61%) SAML
8 9 (0.55%) AngularJS
8 9 (0.55%) Elastic Stack
9 8 (0.49%) XSLT
10 7 (0.43%) .NET
10 7 (0.43%) ARM Templates
10 7 (0.43%) OAuth
11 6 (0.37%) Ajax
11 6 (0.37%) LDAP
12 5 (0.31%) Node.js
12 5 (0.31%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 178 (10.93%) Onboarding
2 133 (8.17%) CMDB
3 92 (5.65%) Management Information System
4 59 (3.62%) Enterprise Software
5 55 (3.38%) Data Centre
6 54 (3.32%) Product Ownership
7 38 (2.33%) PKI
8 29 (1.78%) Data Protection Act
8 29 (1.78%) Hybrid Cloud
9 28 (1.72%) Operational Technology
10 27 (1.66%) Virtual Team
11 23 (1.41%) Security Operations Centre
12 20 (1.23%) Cloud Native
13 18 (1.11%) Cyber Threat
14 17 (1.04%) Self-Motivation
15 16 (0.98%) Analytical Mindset
15 16 (0.98%) Security Posture
16 15 (0.92%) AI Agents
16 15 (0.92%) Clustering
16 15 (0.92%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 327 (20.09%) Windows
2 90 (5.53%) Windows Server
3 87 (5.34%) Linux
4 73 (4.48%) Windows 10
5 37 (2.27%) Apple iOS
6 36 (2.21%) Mac OS
7 21 (1.29%) Android
7 21 (1.29%) Unix
8 20 (1.23%) Windows 7
9 15 (0.92%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 6 (0.37%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.25%) AIX
11 4 (0.25%) Solaris
11 4 (0.25%) 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%) Windows XP
14 1 (0.061%) SUSE
14 1 (0.061%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 867 (53.26%) ITIL
2 710 (43.61%) ITSM
3 532 (32.68%) Stakeholder Management
4 462 (28.38%) Continuous Improvement
5 354 (21.74%) Service Delivery
6 331 (20.33%) Problem-Solving
7 326 (20.02%) Agile
8 245 (15.05%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 240 (14.74%) Change Management
10 236 (14.50%) Roadmaps
11 191 (11.73%) Customer Service
12 181 (11.12%) Cybersecurity
12 181 (11.12%) Incident Management
13 159 (9.77%) DevOps
14 149 (9.15%) Project Delivery
15 146 (8.97%) Decision-Making
16 137 (8.42%) AI
17 133 (8.17%) Migration
17 133 (8.17%) Risk Management
18 121 (7.43%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 147 (9.03%) PowerShell
2 91 (5.59%) Python
3 63 (3.87%) SQL
4 60 (3.69%) JavaScript
5 51 (3.13%) Bash
6 19 (1.17%) VBScript
7 16 (0.98%) Java
8 15 (0.92%) VB
9 12 (0.74%) C#
10 10 (0.61%) Bicep
11 9 (0.55%) Shell Script
12 6 (0.37%) C
13 5 (0.31%) Groovy
13 5 (0.31%) Perl
13 5 (0.31%) PL/SQL
13 5 (0.31%) T-SQL
14 4 (0.25%) TypeScript
15 3 (0.18%) Apex Code
15 3 (0.18%) Google Apps Script
15 3 (0.18%) Lua
Qualifications
1 619 (38.02%) Security Cleared
2 425 (26.11%) SC Cleared
3 156 (9.58%) Degree
4 149 (9.15%) DV Cleared
5 62 (3.81%) PMP
6 61 (3.75%) ITIL Certification
7 58 (3.56%) PMI Certification
8 57 (3.50%) BPSS Clearance
9 39 (2.40%) Microsoft Certification
10 36 (2.21%) CISSP
11 35 (2.15%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 31 (1.90%) CISM
13 28 (1.72%) Cisco Certification
14 27 (1.66%) Computer Science Degree
15 25 (1.54%) A+ Certification
16 21 (1.29%) Azure Certification
17 16 (0.98%) DBS Check
18 15 (0.92%) AWS Certification
19 11 (0.68%) CCNA
20 9 (0.55%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 136 (8.35%) SLA
2 62 (3.81%) QA
3 54 (3.32%) Data Quality
4 48 (2.95%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 40 (2.46%) GRC
6 35 (2.15%) NCSC
7 34 (2.09%) GDPR
8 33 (2.03%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 32 (1.97%) NIST
10 23 (1.41%) PMO
11 17 (1.04%) ISO 9001
12 16 (0.98%) COBIT
13 15 (0.92%) Accessibility
14 13 (0.80%) Cyber Essentials
15 10 (0.61%) PCI DSS
16 8 (0.49%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
16 8 (0.49%) Disclosure Scotland
16 8 (0.49%) WCAG
17 7 (0.43%) ISO 31000
17 7 (0.43%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 185 (11.36%) Active Directory
2 85 (5.22%) VMware Infrastructure
3 37 (2.27%) Hyper-V
4 28 (1.72%) VMware ESXi
5 22 (1.35%) Virtual Desktop
5 22 (1.35%) vSphere
6 18 (1.11%) Docker
7 17 (1.04%) VMware NSX
8 16 (0.98%) BitLocker
9 13 (0.80%) 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 (0.31%) IAG
14 4 (0.25%) Oracle RAC
15 3 (0.18%) Microsoft Virtual Server
15 3 (0.18%) NFS
15 3 (0.18%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 101 (6.20%) Microsoft Intune
2 83 (5.10%) SCCM
3 50 (3.07%) Ansible
4 25 (1.54%) Single Sign-On
5 24 (1.47%) Kubernetes
5 24 (1.47%) SCOM
6 18 (1.11%) vCenter Server
7 15 (0.92%) Jamf Pro
8 11 (0.68%) WSUS
9 8 (0.49%) NetBackup
10 7 (0.43%) Progress Chef
11 6 (0.37%) Data Guard
11 6 (0.37%) Grafana
11 6 (0.37%) Oracle RMAN
12 5 (0.31%) Puppet
12 5 (0.31%) Tivoli
12 5 (0.31%) Tivoli Monitoring
13 4 (0.25%) PowerCLI
13 4 (0.25%) vMotion
14 3 (0.18%) vRealize
Vendors
1 464 (28.50%) ServiceNow
2 407 (25.00%) Microsoft
3 113 (6.94%) VMware
4 54 (3.32%) Remedy
5 50 (3.07%) BMC
6 49 (3.01%) Cisco
7 36 (2.21%) Atlassian
7 36 (2.21%) SAP
8 35 (2.15%) Oracle
9 32 (1.97%) Dynatrace
10 29 (1.78%) Google
11 27 (1.66%) Apple
11 27 (1.66%) IBM
12 24 (1.47%) Splunk
13 20 (1.23%) Citrix
13 20 (1.23%) CyberArk
13 20 (1.23%) Salesforce
13 20 (1.23%) SolarWinds
14 16 (0.98%) Zscaler
15 14 (0.86%) IFS