Head of Service Operations Job Trends

Head of Service Operations
UK

The median Head of Service Operations salary in the UK is £95,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 20 March 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 678 - 815
Rank change year-on-year - - +201
Permanent jobs requiring a Head of Service Operations 12 0 12
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.016% - 0.014%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.017% - 0.015%
Number of salaries quoted 10 0 5
10th Percentile £90,500 - -
25th Percentile £92,500 - £75,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £95,000 - £80,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -5.88%
75th Percentile £138,750 - £95,000
90th Percentile £165,500 - £107,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £75,000 - £80,000
% change year-on-year - - -3.03%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 69,320 38,229 80,901
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 91.97% 90.36% 94.62%
Number of salaries quoted 44,176 23,016 61,754
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £28,500
25th Percentile £39,000 £43,419 £38,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -8.33%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £91,934
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £54,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -7.41% +8.00% -4.76%

Head of Service Operations
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Head of Service Operations' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Head of Service Operations job vacancy trend in the UK

Head of Service Operations
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Head of Service Operations job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Head of Service Operations job vacancies in the UK

Head of Service Operations
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Head of Service Operations over the 6 months to 20 March 2026.

Salary histogram for Head of Service Operations in the UK

Head of Service Operations
Top 6 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Head of Service Operations within the UK over the 6 months to 20 March 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 - 11 £95,000 - 1
Work from Home - 8 £95,000 -
London - 4 £160,000 -
East Midlands - 1 £75,000 - 1
Midlands - 1 £75,000 - 1
UK excluding London - 1 £75,000 - 1

Head of Service Operations Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 20 March 2026, Head of Service Operations job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring Head of Service Operations in the job title.

1 8 (66.67%) People Management
2 7 (58.33%) Budget Management
2 7 (58.33%) Risk Management
3 6 (50.00%) Budgeting and Forecasting
3 6 (50.00%) Continuous Improvement
3 6 (50.00%) Cost Control
3 6 (50.00%) Cybersecurity
3 6 (50.00%) Microsoft
3 6 (50.00%) Service Delivery
4 5 (41.67%) Stakeholder Management
5 4 (33.33%) Business Strategy
6 3 (25.00%) Azure
6 3 (25.00%) Capacity Planning
6 3 (25.00%) Commercial Awareness
6 3 (25.00%) Economics
6 3 (25.00%) GDPR
6 3 (25.00%) GTM Strategy
6 3 (25.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 3 (25.00%) ITIL
6 3 (25.00%) NIST
6 3 (25.00%) Objectives and Key Results
6 3 (25.00%) PCI DSS
6 3 (25.00%) Penetration Testing
6 3 (25.00%) Project Delivery
6 3 (25.00%) Security Operations
6 3 (25.00%) Service Management
6 3 (25.00%) SIEM
6 3 (25.00%) SOAR
6 3 (25.00%) Supplier Management
6 3 (25.00%) Threat and Vulnerability Management

Head of Service Operations Skill Set
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:

Cloud Services
1 3 (25.00%) Azure
2 1 (8.33%) SaaS
General
1 5 (41.67%) Social Skills
2 4 (33.33%) Influencing Skills
3 1 (8.33%) Advertising
3 1 (8.33%) Analytical Skills
3 1 (8.33%) Finance
3 1 (8.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
Miscellaneous
1 2 (16.67%) Cyberattack
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (66.67%) People Management
2 7 (58.33%) Budget Management
2 7 (58.33%) Risk Management
3 6 (50.00%) Budgeting and Forecasting
3 6 (50.00%) Continuous Improvement
3 6 (50.00%) Cost Control
3 6 (50.00%) Cybersecurity
3 6 (50.00%) Service Delivery
4 5 (41.67%) Stakeholder Management
5 4 (33.33%) Business Strategy
6 3 (25.00%) Commercial Awareness
6 3 (25.00%) Economics
6 3 (25.00%) GTM Strategy
6 3 (25.00%) Objectives and Key Results
6 3 (25.00%) Penetration Testing
6 3 (25.00%) Project Delivery
6 3 (25.00%) Service Management
6 3 (25.00%) SOAR
6 3 (25.00%) Supplier Management
6 3 (25.00%) Threat and Vulnerability Management
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (25.00%) GDPR
1 3 (25.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 3 (25.00%) NIST
1 3 (25.00%) PCI DSS
2 1 (8.33%) COBIT
2 1 (8.33%) SLA
Vendors
1 6 (50.00%) Microsoft
2 1 (8.33%) ServiceNow