Continuous Improvement Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Continual Improvement
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Continuous Improvement skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 14 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 21 42
Rank change year-on-year -3 +21 -5
Permanent jobs citing Continuous Improvement 3,158 2,803 1,838
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 7.45% 7.80% 5.33%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.49% 8.76% 6.01%
Number of salaries quoted 1,632 1,127 1,201
10th Percentile £30,000 £35,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £40,438 £41,594 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,500 £54,650
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -3.93% -4.96%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £70,000
90th Percentile £85,700 £85,000 £83,500
UK median annual salary £62,500 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +4.17% - -4.00%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

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 UK excluding London.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 33,283 31,985 30,588
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 78.49% 89.04% 88.64%
Number of salaries quoted 19,187 14,363 22,780
10th Percentile £27,750 £31,250 £28,000
25th Percentile £33,500 £41,250 £38,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £55,000 £52,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +5.77% -5.45%
75th Percentile £65,000 £70,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £80,000 £83,750 £80,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

Continuous Improvement
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

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

Continuous Improvement job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Continuous Improvement
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Continuous Improvement.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Continuous Improvement in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 14 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Continuous Improvement in the UK excluding London

Continuous Improvement
Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Continuous Improvement within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 14 January 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
South East +8 810 £58,000 -7.94% 503
North of England -2 787 £57,500 +15.00% 423
Midlands -10 516 £52,501 +0.00% 269
Scotland +27 459 £70,079 +27.42% 94
Yorkshire +15 338 £62,250 +31.05% 148
North West -5 337 £55,768 +4.80% 215
West Midlands -12 309 £57,500 +2.22% 153
South West +13 284 £55,000 +22.22% 218
East Midlands -2 207 £41,500 - 113
East of England -20 177 £47,500 -6.80% 201
North East +8 114 £55,000 +46.67% 66
Wales +16 105 £52,107 +10.15% 79
Northern Ireland +14 46 £55,000 -23.84% 29
Continuous Improvement
UK

Continuous Improvement
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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
1 138 (4.37%) SharePoint
2 61 (1.93%) Confluence
3 53 (1.68%) Microsoft Exchange
4 14 (0.44%) IIS
5 11 (0.35%) CMS
6 5 (0.16%) Camunda
6 5 (0.16%) Exchange Server 2013
6 5 (0.16%) OpenStack
7 4 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
7 4 (0.13%) Umbraco
7 4 (0.13%) WordPress
8 3 (0.095%) Anypoint
8 3 (0.095%) Apache Spark
8 3 (0.095%) govService
8 3 (0.095%) HCL Domino
8 3 (0.095%) HCL Notes
8 3 (0.095%) Moodle
9 2 (0.063%) Apache
9 2 (0.063%) Apache Airflow
9 2 (0.063%) BizTalk Server
Applications
1 260 (8.23%) Microsoft Excel
2 259 (8.20%) Microsoft Office
3 94 (2.98%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 30 (0.95%) Microsoft Project
5 24 (0.76%) MS Visio
6 13 (0.41%) SOLIDWORKS
7 9 (0.28%) AutoCAD
8 6 (0.19%) Windchill
9 5 (0.16%) Siemens NX
10 4 (0.13%) Autodesk Inventor
10 4 (0.13%) Oracle Smart View
10 4 (0.13%) Photoshop
11 3 (0.095%) Spreadsheet
12 2 (0.063%) EPLAN
12 2 (0.063%) Trello
12 2 (0.063%) Weka
13 1 (0.032%) Acrobat
13 1 (0.032%) Adobe Illustrator
13 1 (0.032%) Chatbot
13 1 (0.032%) Revit
Business Applications
1 67 (2.12%) SAP S/4HANA
2 25 (0.79%) Oracle Payables
3 23 (0.73%) Dynamics CRM
4 20 (0.63%) NetSuite
5 17 (0.54%) Oracle Receivables
6 16 (0.51%) Oracle Assets
7 13 (0.41%) Dynamics NAV
7 13 (0.41%) SAP FI
8 12 (0.38%) Oracle ERP
9 11 (0.35%) SAP ERP
10 10 (0.32%) Oracle General Ledger
10 10 (0.32%) SAP CO
10 10 (0.32%) SAP FI/CO
10 10 (0.32%) Workday HCM
11 8 (0.25%) JDE EnterpriseOne
11 8 (0.25%) Oracle Financials
11 8 (0.25%) Shopify
12 7 (0.22%) Magento
12 7 (0.22%) Teamcenter
13 6 (0.19%) SAP PS
Cloud Services
1 611 (19.35%) Azure
2 324 (10.26%) Microsoft 365
3 299 (9.47%) AWS
4 254 (8.04%) Power Platform
5 230 (7.28%) SaaS
6 170 (5.38%) Azure DevOps
7 107 (3.39%) Entra ID
8 102 (3.23%) GitHub
9 79 (2.50%) GCP
10 70 (2.22%) Serverless
11 53 (1.68%) Snowflake
12 51 (1.61%) GitHub Copilot
13 41 (1.30%) Power Automate
14 40 (1.27%) Dynamics 365
15 39 (1.23%) dbt
16 38 (1.20%) Azure Data Factory
17 36 (1.14%) PowerApps
18 31 (0.98%) Azure Logic Apps
19 28 (0.89%) GitHub Actions
20 26 (0.82%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 87 (2.75%) Firewall
2 73 (2.31%) WAN
3 62 (1.96%) DNS
4 57 (1.80%) LAN
5 55 (1.74%) VPN
6 49 (1.55%) DHCP
7 43 (1.36%) Remote Desktop
8 35 (1.11%) Wireless
9 33 (1.04%) Wi-Fi
10 29 (0.92%) TCP/IP
11 27 (0.85%) VLAN
12 26 (0.82%) Broadband
12 26 (0.82%) Network Security
13 24 (0.76%) SD-WAN
14 21 (0.66%) SAN
15 20 (0.63%) Internet
16 12 (0.38%) Intranet
16 12 (0.38%) WLAN
17 9 (0.28%) SSL
18 8 (0.25%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 222 (7.03%) Power BI
2 122 (3.86%) SQL Server
3 64 (2.03%) Data Warehouse
4 60 (1.90%) Tableau
5 34 (1.08%) Relational Database
6 31 (0.98%) MySQL
7 24 (0.76%) Metadata
8 23 (0.73%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 22 (0.70%) MongoDB
10 20 (0.63%) Azure SQL Database
10 20 (0.63%) Looker
10 20 (0.63%) PostgreSQL
11 19 (0.60%) NoSQL
12 17 (0.54%) Data Lake
13 15 (0.47%) Snowflake Schema
14 13 (0.41%) Oracle Reports
14 13 (0.41%) Power Query
15 10 (0.32%) BigQuery
15 10 (0.32%) BusinessObjects
15 10 (0.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 270 (8.55%) JIRA
2 94 (2.98%) Git
3 78 (2.47%) Jenkins
4 43 (1.36%) GitLab
5 40 (1.27%) eCATT
6 27 (0.85%) SonarQube
7 22 (0.70%) Selenium
8 19 (0.60%) Rational DOORS
9 18 (0.57%) Oracle Forms
10 14 (0.44%) Cypress.io
11 12 (0.38%) NeoLoad
12 11 (0.35%) Cucumber
13 10 (0.32%) JMeter
14 9 (0.28%) Bitbucket
15 8 (0.25%) JUnit
15 8 (0.25%) Maven
15 8 (0.25%) Postman
15 8 (0.25%) Visual Studio
16 7 (0.22%) Storybook
17 6 (0.19%) Locust
General
1 1,439 (45.57%) Social Skills
2 845 (26.76%) Finance
3 733 (23.21%) Analytical Skills
4 282 (8.93%) Marketing
5 269 (8.52%) Manufacturing
6 227 (7.19%) Retail
7 167 (5.29%) Organisational Skills
8 166 (5.26%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 154 (4.88%) Legal
10 136 (4.31%) Public Sector
11 131 (4.15%) Influencing Skills
12 120 (3.80%) Presentation Skills
13 119 (3.77%) Law
14 80 (2.53%) Banking
15 76 (2.41%) Electronics
16 69 (2.18%) Back Office
17 45 (1.42%) Games
18 43 (1.36%) Telecoms
19 38 (1.20%) Documentation Skills
20 32 (1.01%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 446 (14.12%) Senior
2 417 (13.20%) Analyst
3 376 (11.91%) Lead
4 233 (7.38%) Developer
5 153 (4.84%) Architect
6 143 (4.53%) Support Engineer
7 133 (4.21%) Senior Manager
8 115 (3.64%) IT Support
9 96 (3.04%) Product Manager
10 95 (3.01%) Development Manager
11 92 (2.91%) IT Manager
12 88 (2.79%) 2nd Line Support
12 88 (2.79%) QA Manager
12 88 (2.79%) Quality Manager
13 80 (2.53%) Support Analyst
14 79 (2.50%) Technical Support
15 75 (2.37%) Service Manager
16 69 (2.18%) Technical Engineer
17 64 (2.03%) Senior QA Manager
17 64 (2.03%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 170 (5.38%) .NET
2 138 (4.37%) React
3 90 (2.85%) REST
4 58 (1.84%) CSS
5 47 (1.49%) Spring
6 46 (1.46%) HTML
7 43 (1.36%) SOAP
8 41 (1.30%) Middleware
9 40 (1.27%) Spring Boot
10 37 (1.17%) Node.js
11 34 (1.08%) Lightning Web Components
12 31 (0.98%) RESTful
13 30 (0.95%) AngularJS
14 24 (0.76%) .NET Core
14 24 (0.76%) .NET Framework
14 24 (0.76%) EDI
15 23 (0.73%) ASP.NET
16 21 (0.66%) JSON
16 21 (0.66%) Oracle Fusion
17 18 (0.57%) Django
Miscellaneous
1 216 (6.84%) Onboarding
2 185 (5.86%) Product Ownership
3 154 (4.88%) Management Information System
4 124 (3.93%) Driving Licence
5 122 (3.86%) Cloud Native
6 121 (3.83%) Analytical Mindset
7 102 (3.23%) FMCG
8 100 (3.17%) Self-Motivation
9 65 (2.06%) Data Centre
10 49 (1.55%) Legacy Systems
11 47 (1.49%) Distributed Systems
12 45 (1.42%) Security Posture
13 37 (1.17%) Mobile App
14 35 (1.11%) Enterprise Software
15 34 (1.08%) Virtual Team
16 27 (0.85%) IoT
16 27 (0.85%) Low-Code
17 26 (0.82%) Operational Technology
18 23 (0.73%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
18 23 (0.73%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 288 (9.12%) Windows
2 95 (3.01%) Windows Server
3 86 (2.72%) Windows 10
4 66 (2.09%) Linux
5 40 (1.27%) Apple iOS
6 38 (1.20%) Android
7 29 (0.92%) Windows Server 2019
8 19 (0.60%) Mac OS
9 17 (0.54%) Windows Server 2016
10 14 (0.44%) Windows Server 2012
11 13 (0.41%) Unix
12 6 (0.19%) Windows 7
12 6 (0.19%) Windows 8
13 3 (0.095%) AIX
13 3 (0.095%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 3 (0.095%) SUSE
13 3 (0.095%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 2 (0.063%) CentOS
15 1 (0.032%) OpenWrt
15 1 (0.032%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 919 (29.10%) Problem-Solving
2 780 (24.70%) Agile
3 476 (15.07%) Analytics
4 472 (14.95%) Decision-Making
4 472 (14.95%) Project Management
5 468 (14.82%) Stakeholder Management
6 458 (14.50%) Coaching
7 394 (12.48%) Mentoring
8 376 (11.91%) DevOps
9 357 (11.30%) ITIL
10 354 (11.21%) Customer Experience
11 343 (10.86%) AI
12 334 (10.58%) Roadmaps
13 317 (10.04%) CI/CD
14 299 (9.47%) Customer Service
15 291 (9.21%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 289 (9.15%) ERP
17 278 (8.80%) Business Intelligence
18 262 (8.30%) Change Management
19 244 (7.73%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 356 (11.27%) SQL
2 260 (8.23%) Python
3 221 (7.00%) C#
4 166 (5.26%) PowerShell
5 153 (4.84%) JavaScript
6 105 (3.32%) Java
7 73 (2.31%) TypeScript
8 62 (1.96%) Bash
9 30 (0.95%) C++
10 28 (0.89%) Apex Code
11 27 (0.85%) T-SQL
12 25 (0.79%) PHP
13 19 (0.60%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 19 (0.60%) VBA
14 17 (0.54%) Go
15 16 (0.51%) Bicep
16 15 (0.47%) SOQL
16 15 (0.47%) SOSL
17 14 (0.44%) C
18 13 (0.41%) R
Qualifications
1 666 (21.09%) Degree
2 262 (8.30%) Security Cleared
3 161 (5.10%) SC Cleared
4 94 (2.98%) Computer Science Degree
5 86 (2.72%) BPSS Clearance
6 65 (2.06%) Microsoft Certification
7 64 (2.03%) PMI Certification
7 64 (2.03%) Six Sigma Yellow Belt
8 59 (1.87%) ACCA
9 56 (1.77%) PMP
10 54 (1.71%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 45 (1.42%) DBS Check
12 44 (1.39%) CTC Cleared
13 42 (1.33%) CIMA
14 41 (1.30%) Azure Certification
15 32 (1.01%) HND
16 31 (0.98%) Cisco Certification
16 31 (0.98%) CISSP
16 31 (0.98%) HNC
17 30 (0.95%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 362 (11.46%) QA
2 121 (3.83%) SLA
3 113 (3.58%) Data Quality
4 106 (3.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 98 (3.10%) GDPR
6 94 (2.98%) PMO
7 75 (2.37%) Accessibility
8 67 (2.12%) NIST
9 65 (2.06%) Cyber Essentials
10 41 (1.30%) GRC
11 36 (1.14%) ISO/IEC 12207
12 31 (0.98%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 31 (0.98%) Def Stans
13 22 (0.70%) NCSC
13 22 (0.70%) SOC 2
14 21 (0.66%) ISO 9001
15 18 (0.57%) Actionable Recommendations
16 17 (0.54%) PCI DSS
17 16 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 15288
18 14 (0.44%) SOC 3
System Software
1 179 (5.67%) Active Directory
2 112 (3.55%) Docker
3 40 (1.27%) VMware Infrastructure
4 33 (1.04%) Hyper-V
5 28 (0.89%) Firmware
5 28 (0.89%) Virtual Desktop
6 19 (0.60%) Virtual Machines
7 15 (0.47%) VMware ESXi
8 6 (0.19%) Embedded Firmware
9 5 (0.16%) KVM
9 5 (0.16%) vSphere
10 4 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
11 2 (0.063%) QEMU
12 1 (0.032%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 1 (0.032%) Terminal Server
12 1 (0.032%) VMware Server
Systems Management
1 129 (4.08%) Terraform
2 113 (3.58%) Kubernetes
3 95 (3.01%) Microsoft Intune
4 40 (1.27%) HP ALM
4 40 (1.27%) SCCM
5 36 (1.14%) Grafana
6 28 (0.89%) Ansible
7 20 (0.63%) Prometheus
8 18 (0.57%) vCenter Server
9 11 (0.35%) Single Sign-On
10 10 (0.32%) Autotask
10 10 (0.32%) FortiGate
11 9 (0.28%) WSUS
12 7 (0.22%) HP Fortify
13 6 (0.19%) Nessus
14 4 (0.13%) Argo
14 4 (0.13%) Control-M
14 4 (0.13%) Jamf Pro
14 4 (0.13%) SCOM
14 4 (0.13%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 645 (20.42%) Microsoft
2 193 (6.11%) SAP
3 117 (3.70%) Oracle
4 102 (3.23%) Salesforce
5 99 (3.13%) ServiceNow
6 93 (2.94%) Cisco
7 62 (1.96%) VMware
8 45 (1.42%) HP
9 42 (1.33%) IBM
10 31 (0.98%) Siemens
10 31 (0.98%) Workday
11 29 (0.92%) SolarWinds
12 28 (0.89%) Google
13 26 (0.82%) Adobe
13 26 (0.82%) Apple
14 24 (0.76%) Splunk
15 23 (0.73%) Atlassian
16 22 (0.70%) YouTube
17 21 (0.66%) Veeam
18 20 (0.63%) Genesys