Waterfall Contracts

Waterfall Model
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring Waterfall skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Waterfall over the 6 months leading up to 30 April 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Apr 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 143 144 111
Rank change year-on-year +1 -33 -24
Contract jobs citing Waterfall 592 737 1,365
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 2.02% 1.69% 2.29%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.23% 1.96% 2.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 409 543 977
10th Percentile £358 £390 £406
25th Percentile £413 £463 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £575 £550
Median % change year-on-year -13.04% +4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £606 £669 £638
90th Percentile £691 £755 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £533
% change year-on-year -4.76% -1.41% +6.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 7 7
10th Percentile - £48.50 £43.86
25th Percentile £35.00 £50.00 £48.42
Median hourly rate £48.00 £58.91 £80.00
Median % change year-on-year -18.51% -26.37% +50.94%
75th Percentile £52.31 £62.96 £89.75
90th Percentile £72.07 £65.33 £98.80
UK excluding London median hourly rate £48.82 £58.91 £83.00
% change year-on-year -17.13% -29.03% +31.75%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Waterfall 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 26,551 37,621 53,662
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 90.82% 86.30% 89.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,137 24,254 37,244
10th Percentile £308 £300 £325
25th Percentile £413 £413 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £521 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -0.86% -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £630 £638 £650
90th Percentile £744 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -3.80% - +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,071 2,437 1,746
10th Percentile £14.70 £12.75 £11.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £16.00 £16.25
Median hourly rate £29.00 £35.50 £37.30
Median % change year-on-year -18.31% -4.83% +49.20%
75th Percentile £62.00 £59.95 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.94 £36.50 £36.00
% change year-on-year -23.45% +1.39% +80.00%

Waterfall
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Waterfall as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Waterfall in the UK

Waterfall
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Waterfall.

Daily rate trend for Waterfall in the UK

Waterfall
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Waterfall over the 6 months to 30 April 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Waterfall in the UK

Waterfall
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Waterfall.

Hourly rate trend for Waterfall in the UK

Waterfall
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Waterfall over the 6 months to 30 April 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Waterfall in the UK

Waterfall
Top 17 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Waterfall within the UK over the 6 months to 30 April 2025. 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 +2 482 £520 -10.34% 349
UK excluding London +22 306 £500 -4.76% 220
London -1 235 £520 -13.33% 148
Work from Home -5 200 £510 -15.00% 175
Scotland +12 71 £447 -14.86% 10
North of England -10 64 £475 -5.00% 50
South East +20 58 £500 -9.09% 69
Midlands +16 48 £510 +2.00% 37
North West +16 42 £450 -4.00% 28
South West +33 40 £550 -8.33% 28
West Midlands +16 32 £525 -6.67% 21
East of England +48 23 £540 +26.32% 15
Yorkshire -25 17 £500 - 17
East Midlands +3 14 £392 +1.03% 16
North East -5 5 £486 -19.04% 6
Wales +4 1 £525 -12.50% 8
Northern Ireland -10 1 - - 5

Waterfall
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 57 (9.63%) Confluence
2 33 (5.57%) SharePoint
3 6 (1.01%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.51%) OpenEdge
4 3 (0.51%) SAS
4 3 (0.51%) Skype for Business
5 2 (0.34%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.34%) CMS
5 2 (0.34%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.17%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.17%) Appian
6 1 (0.17%) Camunda
6 1 (0.17%) CICS
6 1 (0.17%) WebLogic
6 1 (0.17%) WebSphere
Applications
1 52 (8.78%) Microsoft Project
2 42 (7.09%) Microsoft Excel
3 35 (5.91%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 30 (5.07%) Microsoft Office
5 18 (3.04%) MS Visio
6 8 (1.35%) Trello
7 2 (0.34%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 22 (3.72%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.69%) Dynamics CRM
3 6 (1.01%) SAP ERP
4 4 (0.68%) Salesforce CRM
5 3 (0.51%) Primavera
5 3 (0.51%) SAP FI
5 3 (0.51%) SAP WM
6 2 (0.34%) Adobe Campaign
6 2 (0.34%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.34%) Oracle ERP
6 2 (0.34%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.17%) IntelliMatch
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Assets
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Cash Management
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle EBS R12
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle General Ledger
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.17%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 87 (14.70%) Azure
2 35 (5.91%) Power Platform
3 30 (5.07%) AWS
3 30 (5.07%) SaaS
4 29 (4.90%) Microsoft 365
5 28 (4.73%) Azure DevOps
6 15 (2.53%) Yammer
7 12 (2.03%) OCI
8 11 (1.86%) Asana
9 10 (1.69%) GCP
9 10 (1.69%) GitHub
9 10 (1.69%) IaaS
9 10 (1.69%) Power Automate
10 8 (1.35%) Dynamics 365
10 8 (1.35%) PowerApps
11 7 (1.18%) PaaS
12 5 (0.84%) Entra ID
12 5 (0.84%) OneDrive
13 4 (0.68%) Cloud Computing
13 4 (0.68%) Smartsheet
Communications & Networking
1 17 (2.87%) Firewall
2 13 (2.20%) Network Security
3 10 (1.69%) DNS
4 7 (1.18%) DHCP
5 6 (1.01%) WAN
6 5 (0.84%) LAN
6 5 (0.84%) VSAN
7 4 (0.68%) 5G
8 3 (0.51%) Skype
8 3 (0.51%) Unified Communications
8 3 (0.51%) VPN
9 2 (0.34%) Cisco ISE
9 2 (0.34%) Intrusion Detection
9 2 (0.34%) iSCSI
9 2 (0.34%) SAN
9 2 (0.34%) TCP/IP
9 2 (0.34%) Wireless
10 1 (0.17%) HSRP
10 1 (0.17%) IPsec
10 1 (0.17%) PuTTY
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (4.90%) Power BI
2 16 (2.70%) SQL Server
3 12 (2.03%) Data Warehouse
4 7 (1.18%) MS Access
4 7 (1.18%) Oracle ODI
4 7 (1.18%) Tableau
5 6 (1.01%) BigQuery
5 6 (1.01%) DB2
6 5 (0.84%) Metadata
6 5 (0.84%) Oracle Reports
7 4 (0.68%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.68%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (0.68%) QlikView
7 4 (0.68%) Relational Database
8 3 (0.51%) Data Lake
8 3 (0.51%) Data Mining
9 2 (0.34%) Hadoop
9 2 (0.34%) IDMS
9 2 (0.34%) MySQL
10 1 (0.17%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 142 (23.99%) JIRA
2 18 (3.04%) Jenkins
3 10 (1.69%) QARun
3 10 (1.69%) WinRunner
4 9 (1.52%) SoapUI
5 8 (1.35%) Git
5 8 (1.35%) Postman
5 8 (1.35%) Selenium
6 5 (0.84%) Bitbucket
6 5 (0.84%) LoadRunner
6 5 (0.84%) NeoLoad
6 5 (0.84%) Subversion
7 4 (0.68%) Cucumber
7 4 (0.68%) JMeter
7 4 (0.68%) WebDriver
8 3 (0.51%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 3 (0.51%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.51%) Eclipse
8 3 (0.51%) Oracle APEX
8 3 (0.51%) TeamCity
General
1 281 (47.47%) Social Skills
2 203 (34.29%) Finance
3 115 (19.43%) Analytical Skills
4 59 (9.97%) Public Sector
5 57 (9.63%) Banking
6 27 (4.56%) Organisational Skills
7 23 (3.89%) Influencing Skills
8 19 (3.21%) Presentation Skills
9 17 (2.87%) Manufacturing
9 17 (2.87%) Retail
10 16 (2.70%) Legal
11 13 (2.20%) Financial Institution
11 13 (2.20%) Pharmaceutical
12 11 (1.86%) Investment Banking
13 9 (1.52%) Telecoms
14 8 (1.35%) Automotive
14 8 (1.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 8 (1.35%) Marketing
15 7 (1.18%) Publishing
16 5 (0.84%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 150 (25.34%) Analyst
1 150 (25.34%) Project Manager
2 87 (14.70%) Business Analyst
3 67 (11.32%) Senior
4 47 (7.94%) Lead
5 39 (6.59%) Architect
6 26 (4.39%) Developer
6 26 (4.39%) IT Manager
7 25 (4.22%) Test Analyst
8 24 (4.05%) IT Project Manager
9 23 (3.89%) Delivery Manager
9 23 (3.89%) Senior Manager
10 22 (3.72%) Consultant
10 22 (3.72%) Programme Manager
10 22 (3.72%) Senior Analyst
10 22 (3.72%) Solutions Architect
11 19 (3.21%) Infrastructure Manager
12 18 (3.04%) Change Analyst
12 18 (3.04%) Senior Project Manager
13 17 (2.87%) Test Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (3.38%) Middleware
2 15 (2.53%) SOAP
3 12 (2.03%) Flash
3 12 (2.03%) REST
4 10 (1.69%) Web Services
4 10 (1.69%) XML
5 9 (1.52%) .NET
5 9 (1.52%) Kafka
6 7 (1.18%) Oracle Fusion
7 6 (1.01%) Spring Boot
8 4 (0.68%) J2EE
9 3 (0.51%) .NET Framework
9 3 (0.51%) ADO
9 3 (0.51%) EDI
9 3 (0.51%) Gherkin
9 3 (0.51%) JSON
9 3 (0.51%) SailPoint
9 3 (0.51%) SAP Basis
9 3 (0.51%) SAP PI
9 3 (0.51%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 20 (3.38%) Product Ownership
2 19 (3.21%) Data Centre
3 16 (2.70%) Onboarding
4 12 (2.03%) Clustering
4 12 (2.03%) PMI
5 10 (1.69%) Data Protection Act
5 10 (1.69%) Life Science
6 9 (1.52%) Data Structures
6 9 (1.52%) Mobile App
6 9 (1.52%) Public Cloud
7 8 (1.35%) Enterprise Software
8 7 (1.18%) Management Information System
8 7 (1.18%) Self-Motivation
9 6 (1.01%) CMDB
9 6 (1.01%) Legacy Systems
9 6 (1.01%) PKI
9 6 (1.01%) Reference Data
10 5 (0.84%) Cloud Native
10 5 (0.84%) FMCG
10 5 (0.84%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 35 (5.91%) Windows
2 13 (2.20%) Linux
2 13 (2.20%) Unix
3 6 (1.01%) Windows Server
4 5 (0.84%) Windows 10
5 4 (0.68%) VMS
6 3 (0.51%) Windows Server 2012
6 3 (0.51%) Windows Server 2016
7 2 (0.34%) Android
7 2 (0.34%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.17%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 566 (95.61%) Agile
2 211 (35.64%) Project Management
3 197 (33.28%) Stakeholder Management
4 150 (25.34%) Problem-Solving
5 111 (18.75%) Change Management
6 108 (18.24%) Project Delivery
7 83 (14.02%) PRINCE2
8 71 (11.99%) DevOps
9 67 (11.32%) Scrum
10 64 (10.81%) Migration
11 60 (10.14%) Risk Management
11 60 (10.14%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 57 (9.63%) Business Analysis
13 54 (9.12%) Continuous Improvement
14 51 (8.61%) Test Automation
15 48 (8.11%) Decision-Making
16 46 (7.77%) Requirements Gathering
17 45 (7.60%) Budget Management
17 45 (7.60%) User Acceptance Testing
18 43 (7.26%) SDLC
Programming Languages
1 53 (8.95%) SQL
2 17 (2.87%) Java
2 17 (2.87%) Python
3 13 (2.20%) C#
4 9 (1.52%) JavaScript
5 8 (1.35%) Shell Script
6 7 (1.18%) PL/SQL
6 7 (1.18%) PowerShell
7 6 (1.01%) VB
8 5 (0.84%) C++
9 3 (0.51%) COBOL
9 3 (0.51%) VBA
9 3 (0.51%) VBScript
10 2 (0.34%) C
11 1 (0.17%) Assembly Language
11 1 (0.17%) HLASM
11 1 (0.17%) JCL
11 1 (0.17%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.17%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.17%) XPath
Qualifications
1 99 (16.72%) Degree
2 82 (13.85%) Security Cleared
3 69 (11.66%) PMI Certification
4 65 (10.98%) PMP
5 64 (10.81%) SC Cleared
6 22 (3.72%) Master's Degree
7 17 (2.87%) DV Cleared
8 16 (2.70%) ISTQB
9 15 (2.53%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 12 (2.03%) CCNA
10 12 (2.03%) Cisco Certification
10 12 (2.03%) CISSP
11 11 (1.86%) Computer Science Degree
11 11 (1.86%) ISEB
12 10 (1.69%) PRINCE2 Certification
13 8 (1.35%) CBAP
14 7 (1.18%) CISA
14 7 (1.18%) IIBA
15 6 (1.01%) Microsoft Certification
15 6 (1.01%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 58 (9.80%) QA
2 30 (5.07%) PMO
3 24 (4.05%) GDPR
4 21 (3.55%) NIST
5 18 (3.04%) Data Quality
6 9 (1.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 8 (1.35%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 6 (1.01%) Accessibility
9 5 (0.84%) GxP
9 5 (0.84%) HIPAA
10 4 (0.68%) Disclosure Scotland
10 4 (0.68%) PCI DSS
10 4 (0.68%) SOC 2
11 3 (0.51%) 21 CFR Part 11
11 3 (0.51%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 3 (0.51%) SLA
12 2 (0.34%) JSP 440
12 2 (0.34%) MISRA
12 2 (0.34%) MISRA C
12 2 (0.34%) RMADS
System Software
1 17 (2.87%) VMware NSX
2 16 (2.70%) VMware Infrastructure
3 15 (2.53%) VMware ESXi
4 10 (1.69%) Active Directory
5 9 (1.52%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (0.68%) vSphere
7 3 (0.51%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.51%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 2 (0.34%) Docker
8 2 (0.34%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.17%) Time Sharing Option
9 1 (0.17%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 18 (3.04%) vCenter Server
2 6 (1.01%) VxRail
3 5 (0.84%) Ansible
4 4 (0.68%) Amdocs OSS
4 4 (0.68%) PowerCLI
4 4 (0.68%) Terraform
5 3 (0.51%) HP ALM
5 3 (0.51%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (0.51%) WSUS
6 2 (0.34%) Avamar
6 2 (0.34%) OPNET
6 2 (0.34%) SCOM
6 2 (0.34%) Sysdig
7 1 (0.17%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 1 (0.17%) HP Quality Center
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Identity Manager
7 1 (0.17%) Puppet
7 1 (0.17%) SCCM
7 1 (0.17%) TrustSec
7 1 (0.17%) vRealize
Vendors
1 102 (17.23%) Microsoft
2 53 (8.95%) SAP
3 48 (8.11%) Oracle
4 27 (4.56%) ServiceNow
5 21 (3.55%) Atlassian
6 19 (3.21%) Salesforce
6 19 (3.21%) VMware
7 17 (2.87%) Cisco
8 10 (1.69%) Ariba
9 9 (1.52%) Citrix
10 8 (1.35%) Pega
10 8 (1.35%) Workday
11 6 (1.01%) Dell
11 6 (1.01%) IBM
12 5 (0.84%) Adobe
12 5 (0.84%) Databricks
12 5 (0.84%) Informatica
12 5 (0.84%) Planview
13 4 (0.68%) Blue Prism
13 4 (0.68%) Snow