Continuous Improvement Job Trends

Continual Improvement
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Continuous Improvement skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 1 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 21 49
Rank change year-on-year +2 +28 0
Permanent jobs citing Continuous Improvement 4,796 4,189 2,687
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 8.11% 7.58% 5.23%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.90% 8.43% 5.72%
Number of salaries quoted 2,580 1,829 1,845
10th Percentile £31,250 £35,000 £35,000
25th Percentile £42,500 £45,000 £46,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -1.93%
75th Percentile £81,250 £78,750 £77,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £96,030
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £52,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.76% -4.55% -4.35%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

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.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 48,455 49,716 46,950
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 81.91% 90.02% 91.47%
Number of salaries quoted 28,359 24,660 35,854
10th Percentile £28,500 £35,000 £31,552
25th Percentile £36,500 £45,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £49,000 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -10.91% +4.76% -4.50%

Continuous Improvement
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Continuous Improvement job vacancy trend in the UK

Continuous Improvement
Salary Trend

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

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Continuous Improvement over the 6 months to 1 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Continuous Improvement in the UK

Continuous Improvement
Top 17 Job Locations

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 over the 6 months to 1 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
England -5 3,933 £61,000 +1.67% 1,956
UK excluding London -3 3,234 £55,000 +4.76% 1,646
Work from Home +20 1,595 £63,625 +1.80% 890
London +9 1,228 £76,000 - 534
South East +9 836 £57,750 -11.15% 466
North of England -2 808 £57,500 +18.56% 483
Midlands -11 548 £52,500 - 256
Scotland +29 459 £72,500 +37.44% 96
North West -3 352 £55,000 +3.36% 263
West Midlands -12 336 £57,500 +4.55% 157
Yorkshire +17 332 £60,000 +26.32% 169
South West +11 281 £53,000 +17.78% 186
East Midlands +2 212 £40,000 -11.11% 98
East of England -20 180 £46,160 -9.43% 140
North East +6 126 £55,000 +46.67% 57
Wales +14 103 £52,500 +10.98% 44
Northern Ireland +17 45 £55,000 -23.84% 21

Continuous Improvement
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
1 193 (4.02%) SharePoint
2 91 (1.90%) Confluence
3 88 (1.83%) Microsoft Exchange
4 30 (0.63%) CMS
5 22 (0.46%) IIS
6 17 (0.35%) Apache Spark
7 14 (0.29%) Apache Airflow
8 8 (0.17%) Apache
9 7 (0.15%) Anypoint
9 7 (0.15%) nginx
9 7 (0.15%) Umbraco
10 6 (0.13%) Drupal
10 6 (0.13%) WordPress
11 5 (0.10%) Camunda
11 5 (0.10%) Exchange Server 2013
12 4 (0.083%) Appian
12 4 (0.083%) Moodle
12 4 (0.083%) OpenStack
12 4 (0.083%) Oracle Workflow
13 3 (0.063%) Oracle Coherence
Applications
1 345 (7.19%) Microsoft Excel
2 325 (6.78%) Microsoft Office
3 123 (2.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 37 (0.77%) Microsoft Project
5 28 (0.58%) MS Visio
6 14 (0.29%) Photoshop
7 13 (0.27%) SOLIDWORKS
8 10 (0.21%) AutoCAD
8 10 (0.21%) Spreadsheet
9 9 (0.19%) Adobe Premiere
9 9 (0.19%) Trello
10 8 (0.17%) Adobe XD
11 6 (0.13%) Chatbot
11 6 (0.13%) Windchill
12 5 (0.10%) Maya
12 5 (0.10%) Oracle Smart View
12 5 (0.10%) Siemens NX
13 4 (0.083%) 3ds Max
13 4 (0.083%) Autodesk Inventor
13 4 (0.083%) Blender
Business Applications
1 79 (1.65%) SAP S/4HANA
2 48 (1.00%) Dynamics CRM
3 31 (0.65%) Oracle Payables
4 24 (0.50%) NetSuite
5 23 (0.48%) Oracle Receivables
6 18 (0.38%) SAP FI
7 17 (0.35%) Oracle Assets
8 16 (0.33%) Unit4 Business World
8 16 (0.33%) Workday HCM
9 15 (0.31%) Oracle ERP
9 15 (0.31%) Shopify
10 14 (0.29%) SAP CO
10 14 (0.29%) SAP FI/CO
11 13 (0.27%) Dynamics GP
11 13 (0.27%) Remedy ITSM
12 12 (0.25%) Dynamics NAV
12 12 (0.25%) SAP ERP
13 11 (0.23%) Oracle General Ledger
14 10 (0.21%) Elite 3E
15 9 (0.19%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 999 (20.83%) Azure
2 550 (11.47%) AWS
3 440 (9.17%) Microsoft 365
4 392 (8.17%) Power Platform
5 349 (7.28%) SaaS
6 252 (5.25%) Azure DevOps
7 205 (4.27%) GCP
8 185 (3.86%) GitHub
9 170 (3.54%) Entra ID
10 131 (2.73%) Serverless
11 83 (1.73%) GitHub Actions
12 78 (1.63%) Dynamics 365
13 72 (1.50%) Power Automate
14 66 (1.38%) PaaS
15 60 (1.25%) PowerApps
16 59 (1.23%) Snowflake
17 58 (1.21%) GitHub Copilot
18 54 (1.13%) AWS Lambda
19 53 (1.11%) AWS CloudFormation
20 52 (1.08%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 142 (2.96%) Firewall
2 103 (2.15%) WAN
3 94 (1.96%) DNS
4 80 (1.67%) DHCP
4 80 (1.67%) LAN
5 73 (1.52%) VPN
6 53 (1.11%) TCP/IP
6 53 (1.11%) Wi-Fi
7 45 (0.94%) Remote Desktop
8 44 (0.92%) Network Security
9 41 (0.85%) Wireless
10 36 (0.75%) Broadband
11 31 (0.65%) VLAN
12 30 (0.63%) SD-WAN
13 26 (0.54%) Internet
14 22 (0.46%) SAN
15 14 (0.29%) WLAN
16 13 (0.27%) Intranet
17 12 (0.25%) HTTP
17 12 (0.25%) Kerberos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 335 (6.98%) Power BI
2 203 (4.23%) SQL Server
3 116 (2.42%) Data Warehouse
4 79 (1.65%) Tableau
5 74 (1.54%) Relational Database
6 72 (1.50%) MySQL
7 64 (1.33%) NoSQL
8 45 (0.94%) MongoDB
8 45 (0.94%) PostgreSQL
9 43 (0.90%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 36 (0.75%) BigQuery
11 34 (0.71%) Azure SQL Database
12 31 (0.65%) Metadata
13 30 (0.63%) Looker
14 27 (0.56%) Power Query
15 26 (0.54%) Data Lake
16 25 (0.52%) SQL Server Integration Services
17 21 (0.44%) Oracle Reports
18 19 (0.40%) DynamoDB
19 16 (0.33%) Amazon RDS
Development Applications
1 368 (7.67%) JIRA
2 179 (3.73%) Git
3 121 (2.52%) Jenkins
4 63 (1.31%) GitLab
5 40 (0.83%) eCATT
6 38 (0.79%) Selenium
7 31 (0.65%) Cypress.io
8 30 (0.63%) SonarQube
9 21 (0.44%) Rational DOORS
10 20 (0.42%) Visual Studio
11 19 (0.40%) JMeter
12 18 (0.38%) Bitbucket
12 18 (0.38%) Cucumber
12 18 (0.38%) Oracle Forms
13 15 (0.31%) Postman
14 14 (0.29%) webpack
15 12 (0.25%) NeoLoad
16 10 (0.21%) gulp
16 10 (0.21%) JUnit
16 10 (0.21%) Storybook
General
1 2,211 (46.10%) Social Skills
2 1,396 (29.11%) Finance
3 1,106 (23.06%) Analytical Skills
4 444 (9.26%) Marketing
5 337 (7.03%) Retail
6 332 (6.92%) Legal
7 316 (6.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 315 (6.57%) Manufacturing
9 304 (6.34%) Law
10 263 (5.48%) Organisational Skills
11 229 (4.77%) Public Sector
12 200 (4.17%) Influencing Skills
13 166 (3.46%) Banking
14 162 (3.38%) Presentation Skills
15 84 (1.75%) Electronics
16 74 (1.54%) Documentation Skills
17 69 (1.44%) Back Office
18 65 (1.36%) Games
19 61 (1.27%) Telecoms
20 60 (1.25%) French Language
Job Titles
1 698 (14.55%) Senior
2 632 (13.18%) Lead
3 559 (11.66%) Analyst
4 388 (8.09%) Developer
5 271 (5.65%) Architect
6 190 (3.96%) Senior Manager
7 178 (3.71%) Support Engineer
8 157 (3.27%) Product Manager
9 139 (2.90%) Service Manager
10 136 (2.84%) IT Support
11 123 (2.56%) Consultant
12 122 (2.54%) IT Manager
13 116 (2.42%) Development Manager
14 111 (2.31%) Support Analyst
15 96 (2.00%) 2nd Line Support
15 96 (2.00%) Innovation Manager
15 96 (2.00%) Project Manager
16 94 (1.96%) Software Engineer
17 90 (1.88%) Business Analyst
17 90 (1.88%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 280 (5.84%) .NET
2 217 (4.52%) React
3 129 (2.69%) REST
4 121 (2.52%) CSS
5 104 (2.17%) HTML
6 98 (2.04%) RESTful
7 84 (1.75%) Node.js
8 66 (1.38%) Spring
9 60 (1.25%) Spring Boot
10 58 (1.21%) Middleware
11 55 (1.15%) SOAP
12 54 (1.13%) AngularJS
13 48 (1.00%) .NET Framework
14 46 (0.96%) Lightning Web Components
15 43 (0.90%) .NET Core
16 40 (0.83%) EDI
17 38 (0.79%) Django
18 34 (0.71%) Vue
19 32 (0.67%) Entity Framework
19 32 (0.67%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 323 (6.73%) Onboarding
2 288 (6.01%) Product Ownership
3 258 (5.38%) Management Information System
4 227 (4.73%) Cloud Native
5 171 (3.57%) Self-Motivation
6 166 (3.46%) Analytical Mindset
7 143 (2.98%) FMCG
8 137 (2.86%) Driving Licence
9 103 (2.15%) Data Centre
10 87 (1.81%) Security Posture
11 79 (1.65%) Distributed Systems
12 75 (1.56%) Legacy Systems
13 64 (1.33%) Hybrid Cloud
14 62 (1.29%) Enterprise Software
15 58 (1.21%) Virtual Team
16 56 (1.17%) Data Structures
17 53 (1.11%) Mobile App
18 42 (0.88%) Low-Code
19 41 (0.85%) Robotics
20 39 (0.81%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 393 (8.19%) Windows
2 140 (2.92%) Linux
2 140 (2.92%) Windows Server
3 100 (2.09%) Windows 10
4 52 (1.08%) Apple iOS
5 48 (1.00%) Android
6 41 (0.85%) Windows Server 2019
7 36 (0.75%) Mac OS
8 28 (0.58%) Windows Server 2016
9 24 (0.50%) Unix
10 15 (0.31%) Windows Server 2012
11 12 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 10 (0.21%) VMS
13 6 (0.13%) SUSE
13 6 (0.13%) Windows 7
13 6 (0.13%) Windows 8
14 5 (0.10%) AIX
15 3 (0.063%) CentOS
15 3 (0.063%) OpenWrt
15 3 (0.063%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 1,375 (28.67%) Problem-Solving
2 1,311 (27.34%) Agile
3 738 (15.39%) Decision-Making
4 732 (15.26%) Stakeholder Management
5 704 (14.68%) Analytics
6 671 (13.99%) Mentoring
7 625 (13.03%) Project Management
8 619 (12.91%) DevOps
9 603 (12.57%) Roadmaps
10 596 (12.43%) AI
11 593 (12.36%) Coaching
12 582 (12.14%) CI/CD
13 500 (10.43%) ITIL
14 468 (9.76%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 465 (9.70%) Customer Experience
16 434 (9.05%) Business Intelligence
17 387 (8.07%) Change Management
18 371 (7.74%) ERP
19 368 (7.67%) Project Delivery
20 365 (7.61%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 551 (11.49%) SQL
2 459 (9.57%) Python
3 316 (6.59%) C#
4 244 (5.09%) JavaScript
5 225 (4.69%) Java
6 221 (4.61%) PowerShell
7 140 (2.92%) TypeScript
8 94 (1.96%) Bash
9 49 (1.02%) C++
10 41 (0.85%) Apex Code
11 39 (0.81%) Go
12 36 (0.75%) Bicep
13 35 (0.73%) PHP
14 33 (0.69%) T-SQL
15 32 (0.67%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 25 (0.52%) Kusto Query Language
17 20 (0.42%) VBA
18 18 (0.38%) C
19 17 (0.35%) SOQL
19 17 (0.35%) VB
Qualifications
1 1,000 (20.85%) Degree
2 376 (7.84%) Security Cleared
3 211 (4.40%) SC Cleared
4 190 (3.96%) Computer Science Degree
5 103 (2.15%) BPSS Clearance
6 102 (2.13%) PMI Certification
7 96 (2.00%) Microsoft Certification
8 95 (1.98%) CISSP
9 94 (1.96%) Master's Degree
10 93 (1.94%) PMP
11 72 (1.50%) Azure Certification
11 72 (1.50%) CISM
12 66 (1.38%) DV Cleared
13 65 (1.36%) ACCA
14 64 (1.33%) Six Sigma Yellow Belt
15 61 (1.27%) DBS Check
16 59 (1.23%) AWS Certification
16 59 (1.23%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
17 51 (1.06%) CIMA
18 49 (1.02%) CRISC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 498 (10.38%) QA
2 216 (4.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 199 (4.15%) Data Quality
4 187 (3.90%) Accessibility
5 186 (3.88%) GDPR
6 157 (3.27%) SLA
7 119 (2.48%) NIST
8 116 (2.42%) PMO
9 85 (1.77%) Cyber Essentials
10 69 (1.44%) GRC
11 42 (0.88%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 40 (0.83%) SOC 2
13 39 (0.81%) ISO/IEC 12207
14 33 (0.69%) PCI DSS
14 33 (0.69%) WCAG
15 31 (0.65%) Actionable Recommendations
15 31 (0.65%) Def Stans
16 28 (0.58%) NCSC
17 25 (0.52%) ISO 9001
18 21 (0.44%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 291 (6.07%) Active Directory
2 194 (4.05%) Docker
3 72 (1.50%) VMware Infrastructure
4 44 (0.92%) Hyper-V
5 39 (0.81%) Firmware
5 39 (0.81%) Virtual Machines
6 30 (0.63%) Virtual Desktop
7 19 (0.40%) VMware ESXi
8 9 (0.19%) vSphere
9 8 (0.17%) Embedded Firmware
10 4 (0.083%) BitLocker
10 4 (0.083%) VMware NSX
11 3 (0.063%) KVM
11 3 (0.063%) NFS
11 3 (0.063%) Virtual Servers
12 2 (0.042%) QEMU
13 1 (0.021%) HDFS
13 1 (0.021%) Terminal Server
13 1 (0.021%) vCloud
13 1 (0.021%) VMware Server
Systems Management
1 237 (4.94%) Terraform
2 218 (4.55%) Kubernetes
3 154 (3.21%) Microsoft Intune
4 99 (2.06%) Ansible
5 70 (1.46%) Grafana
6 56 (1.17%) SCCM
7 43 (0.90%) Prometheus
8 41 (0.85%) HP ALM
9 31 (0.65%) Single Sign-On
10 22 (0.46%) FortiGate
11 17 (0.35%) vCenter Server
12 15 (0.31%) Autotask
13 13 (0.27%) WSUS
14 11 (0.23%) Argo
15 9 (0.19%) Active Directory Federation Services
16 8 (0.17%) Jamf Pro
17 7 (0.15%) HP Fortify
18 6 (0.13%) Nessus
19 5 (0.10%) Kubeflow
19 5 (0.10%) SCOM
Vendors
1 966 (20.14%) Microsoft
2 253 (5.28%) SAP
3 176 (3.67%) ServiceNow
4 173 (3.61%) Oracle
5 156 (3.25%) Salesforce
6 105 (2.19%) Cisco
7 102 (2.13%) VMware
8 95 (1.98%) Google
9 75 (1.56%) Workday
10 60 (1.25%) Adobe
10 60 (1.25%) HP
11 51 (1.06%) IBM
12 38 (0.79%) Apple
12 38 (0.79%) Databricks
13 35 (0.73%) Dell
14 34 (0.71%) Fortinet
14 34 (0.71%) Splunk
15 33 (0.69%) Siemens
16 30 (0.63%) Sage
16 30 (0.63%) SolarWinds