Continuous Improvement Job Trends in the Thames Valley

Continual Improvement
South East > Thames Valley

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the Thames Valley requiring Continuous Improvement skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 11 42
Rank change year-on-year -8 +31 +16
Permanent jobs citing Continuous Improvement 355 421 313
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 6.30% 12.51% 4.82%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 8.75% 13.32% 5.72%
Number of salaries quoted 233 97 153
10th Percentile £33,250 £33,243 £32,500
25th Percentile £43,000 £50,000 £39,380
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +15.79% -13.64%
75th Percentile £73,750 £73,833 £68,750
90th Percentile £87,000 £87,500 £87,500
South East median annual salary £57,500 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.55% +4.76% -12.50%

All Process & Methodology Skills
Thames Valley

Continuous Improvement falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the Thames Valley.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 4,055 3,161 5,469
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 71.94% 93.94% 84.23%
Number of salaries quoted 2,733 1,217 3,891
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £38,183 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year - +10.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £72,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £87,500 £80,000
South East median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year - +10.00% -9.09%

Continuous Improvement
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Continuous Improvement relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.

Continuous Improvement job vacancy trend in the Thames Valley

Continuous Improvement
Salary Trend in the Thames Valley

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing Continuous Improvement.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement
Salary Histogram in the Thames Valley

Salary distribution for jobs citing Continuous Improvement in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 15 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Continuous Improvement in the Thames Valley

Continuous Improvement
Job Locations in the Thames Valley

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Continuous Improvement within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 15 May 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Berkshire +2 183 £49,000 -9.68% 91
Buckinghamshire +20 121 £60,000 -2.04% 49
Oxfordshire -25 51 £59,250 +5.80% 33
Continuous Improvement
South East

Continuous Improvement
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley 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 16 (4.51%) SharePoint
2 8 (2.25%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (1.41%) Confluence
4 4 (1.13%) OpenEdge
5 2 (0.56%) CMS
5 2 (0.56%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.28%) Camunda
6 1 (0.28%) JBoss
6 1 (0.28%) Red Hat Fuse
6 1 (0.28%) WordPress
Applications
1 27 (7.61%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (7.32%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 17 (4.79%) NetSuite
2 2 (0.56%) Salesforce CRM
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
3 1 (0.28%) SAP CO
3 1 (0.28%) SAP FI
3 1 (0.28%) SAP FI/CO
3 1 (0.28%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.28%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.28%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 88 (24.79%) Azure
2 44 (12.39%) AWS
3 39 (10.99%) Microsoft 365
4 32 (9.01%) GCP
5 26 (7.32%) SaaS
6 16 (4.51%) Power Platform
7 15 (4.23%) Azure DevOps
8 11 (3.10%) Entra ID
9 7 (1.97%) Azure Sentinel
10 6 (1.69%) OneDrive
10 6 (1.69%) PaaS
11 5 (1.41%) GitHub
12 4 (1.13%) Amazon ECS
12 4 (1.13%) Amazon EKS
12 4 (1.13%) Cloudflare
12 4 (1.13%) Google Analytics
12 4 (1.13%) Serverless
13 3 (0.85%) Azure Data Factory
13 3 (0.85%) Benchling
13 3 (0.85%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 23 (6.48%) DNS
2 20 (5.63%) Firewall
3 10 (2.82%) VPN
4 8 (2.25%) DHCP
5 7 (1.97%) SSL
6 6 (1.69%) WAN
7 5 (1.41%) LAN
7 5 (1.41%) Modbus
7 5 (1.41%) MQTT
8 4 (1.13%) TCP/IP
9 2 (0.56%) Cisco ISE
9 2 (0.56%) HTTP
9 2 (0.56%) Network Security
9 2 (0.56%) VLAN
9 2 (0.56%) Wireless
10 1 (0.28%) Broadband
10 1 (0.28%) HTTPS
10 1 (0.28%) Intranet
10 1 (0.28%) SMTP
10 1 (0.28%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (4.79%) SQL Server
2 14 (3.94%) Power BI
3 9 (2.54%) Relational Database
4 5 (1.41%) PostgreSQL
5 3 (0.85%) Data Warehouse
5 3 (0.85%) MySQL
6 2 (0.56%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 1 (0.28%) Airbyte
7 1 (0.28%) Metadata
7 1 (0.28%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.28%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 19 (5.35%) JIRA
2 15 (4.23%) Git
3 5 (1.41%) Jenkins
3 5 (1.41%) Zephyr
4 4 (1.13%) GitLab
4 4 (1.13%) JUnit
5 3 (0.85%) Subversion
6 2 (0.56%) Cypress.io
6 2 (0.56%) Selenium
7 1 (0.28%) Ant
7 1 (0.28%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.28%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.28%) Gradle
7 1 (0.28%) Maven
7 1 (0.28%) Mockito
7 1 (0.28%) WebDriver
General
1 131 (36.90%) Social Skills
2 106 (29.86%) Finance
3 94 (26.48%) Analytical Skills
4 31 (8.73%) Influencing Skills
5 25 (7.04%) Organisational Skills
6 20 (5.63%) Retail
7 19 (5.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 18 (5.07%) Manufacturing
9 16 (4.51%) Public Sector
10 15 (4.23%) Marketing
11 14 (3.94%) Law
12 12 (3.38%) Telecoms
13 11 (3.10%) Legal
14 10 (2.82%) Aerospace
15 9 (2.54%) Presentation Skills
16 8 (2.25%) Documentation Skills
17 5 (1.41%) Pharmaceutical
18 4 (1.13%) Aviation
19 3 (0.85%) Back Office
20 2 (0.56%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 66 (18.59%) Analyst
2 43 (12.11%) Lead
3 28 (7.89%) Senior
4 17 (4.79%) Software Engineer
5 14 (3.94%) Architect
5 14 (3.94%) IT Manager
5 14 (3.94%) Report Analyst
6 13 (3.66%) Support Analyst
7 12 (3.38%) Applications Support
7 12 (3.38%) Report Manager
8 10 (2.82%) Associate Director
8 10 (2.82%) Data Engineer
8 10 (2.82%) Delivery Manager
8 10 (2.82%) Financial Analyst
8 10 (2.82%) Security Architect
8 10 (2.82%) Team Leader
9 9 (2.54%) Developer
9 9 (2.54%) IT Support
9 9 (2.54%) Service Analyst
9 9 (2.54%) Service Desk Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (3.38%) Middleware
2 9 (2.54%) .NET
3 7 (1.97%) REST
4 6 (1.69%) React
4 6 (1.69%) Spring
5 5 (1.41%) RESTful
5 5 (1.41%) Spring Boot
6 4 (1.13%) AngularJS
6 4 (1.13%) CSS
6 4 (1.13%) Elastic Stack
7 3 (0.85%) ASP.NET
7 3 (0.85%) HTML
7 3 (0.85%) Java EE
7 3 (0.85%) Node.js
7 3 (0.85%) SOAP
7 3 (0.85%) Web Services
8 2 (0.56%) JMS
8 2 (0.56%) JPA
8 2 (0.56%) Mustache
8 2 (0.56%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 21 (5.92%) Distributed Systems
2 20 (5.63%) Onboarding
3 18 (5.07%) Cloud Native
3 18 (5.07%) Life Science
4 16 (4.51%) Product Ownership
5 13 (3.66%) Client/Server
5 13 (3.66%) Low-Code
6 10 (2.82%) Cyber Threat
6 10 (2.82%) Hackathon
7 9 (2.54%) Analytical Mindset
7 9 (2.54%) Cyber Defence
7 9 (2.54%) Security Operations Centre
8 8 (2.25%) Management Information System
9 6 (1.69%) IoT
9 6 (1.69%) Manufacturing Execution System
9 6 (1.69%) SCADA
9 6 (1.69%) Self-Motivation
10 5 (1.41%) Pharmacovigilance
11 4 (1.13%) Security Posture
12 3 (0.85%) Cloud Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 34 (9.58%) Windows
2 30 (8.45%) Linux
3 12 (3.38%) Windows Server
4 4 (1.13%) Android
4 4 (1.13%) Apple iOS
5 2 (0.56%) Windows Server 2019
6 1 (0.28%) FreeBSD
6 1 (0.28%) OpenBSD
6 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 100 (28.17%) Problem-Solving
2 75 (21.13%) Agile
3 50 (14.08%) Analytics
4 45 (12.68%) Decision-Making
5 43 (12.11%) ITIL
6 41 (11.55%) DevOps
7 39 (10.99%) Cybersecurity
8 38 (10.70%) ERP
9 36 (10.14%) Computer Science
9 36 (10.14%) Roadmaps
9 36 (10.14%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 33 (9.30%) Business Intelligence
10 33 (9.30%) Project Delivery
10 33 (9.30%) Service Management
11 30 (8.45%) AI
12 29 (8.17%) Line Management
13 28 (7.89%) Change Management
13 28 (7.89%) Scrum
13 28 (7.89%) Test Automation
14 26 (7.32%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 47 (13.24%) SQL
2 44 (12.39%) Python
3 15 (4.23%) C++
4 14 (3.94%) C
5 13 (3.66%) Rust
6 12 (3.38%) C#
6 12 (3.38%) PowerShell
7 8 (2.25%) Java
8 5 (1.41%) PL/SQL
9 4 (1.13%) Go
9 4 (1.13%) JavaScript
10 2 (0.56%) R
10 2 (0.56%) VBA
11 1 (0.28%) ABAP
11 1 (0.28%) Apex Code
11 1 (0.28%) Bash
11 1 (0.28%) Bicep
11 1 (0.28%) Kusto Query Language
11 1 (0.28%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 80 (22.54%) Degree
2 52 (14.65%) Security Cleared
3 42 (11.83%) ACCA
4 33 (9.30%) SC Cleared
5 27 (7.61%) CIMA
6 20 (5.63%) Computer Science Degree
7 11 (3.10%) Master's Degree
8 9 (2.54%) DV Cleared
8 9 (2.54%) ISTQB
9 8 (2.25%) CompTIA Security+
10 7 (1.97%) CISSP
10 7 (1.97%) CRISC
10 7 (1.97%) ISACA
10 7 (1.97%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 5 (1.41%) GIAC
12 4 (1.13%) CREST Certified
13 3 (0.85%) DBS Check
13 3 (0.85%) Microsoft Certification
13 3 (0.85%) TOGAF Certification
14 2 (0.56%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (10.70%) QA
2 22 (6.20%) Accessibility
3 18 (5.07%) SLA
4 14 (3.94%) Data Quality
4 14 (3.94%) IFRS
5 12 (3.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 11 (3.10%) PMO
7 7 (1.97%) Cyber Essentials
7 7 (1.97%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 7 (1.97%) Good Clinical Practice
8 5 (1.41%) GxP
9 4 (1.13%) GRC
9 4 (1.13%) NCSC
10 3 (0.85%) Def Stans
10 3 (0.85%) GDPR
11 2 (0.56%) ISO 22301
11 2 (0.56%) ISO 9001
12 1 (0.28%) COBIT
12 1 (0.28%) MISRA
System Software
1 27 (7.61%) VMware Infrastructure
2 19 (5.35%) Active Directory
3 16 (4.51%) Hyper-V
4 14 (3.94%) KVM
5 6 (1.69%) Docker
6 2 (0.56%) Terminal Server
6 2 (0.56%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.28%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 13 (3.66%) Kubernetes
2 12 (3.38%) Terraform
3 5 (1.41%) Ansible
4 4 (1.13%) Graylog
4 4 (1.13%) Kibana
5 3 (0.85%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (0.85%) SCCM
6 2 (0.56%) SCOM
7 1 (0.28%) Proxmox
Vendors
1 91 (25.63%) Microsoft
2 29 (8.17%) VMware
3 9 (2.54%) Google
3 9 (2.54%) Oracle
4 8 (2.25%) ServiceNow
5 7 (1.97%) MuleSoft
5 7 (1.97%) SAP
6 6 (1.69%) Adobe
6 6 (1.69%) Apple
6 6 (1.69%) Databricks
6 6 (1.69%) Salesforce
7 5 (1.41%) Xero
8 4 (1.13%) Cisco
9 3 (0.85%) CA Agile Central
9 3 (0.85%) LabVantage
9 3 (0.85%) Splunk
10 2 (0.56%) AppDynamics
10 2 (0.56%) CrowdStrike
10 2 (0.56%) IFS
10 2 (0.56%) Meraki