Project manager job adverts: APM catches PRINCE2
The UK lost 51,517 job adverts in a week while project manager adverts held; nearly 1 in 3 adverts with a project title was a training course; a £5bn Network Rail track contract is coming.
Issue 8. 29 October 2026.
The number
The UK lost 1 job advert in 12 in a single week. Project manager adverts lost 1 in 75. Project roles have never been a bigger share of the market.
▼ 51,517 fewer live job adverts in the UK this week. ▼ 510 fewer live project manager job adverts. Project roles are 6.9% of every vacancy in the country.
The whole market. Live vacancies fell from 609,541 to 558,024 in 7 days, 8.5%. That is the biggest weekly fall since the index began, nearly 3 times the next biggest. Since 15 September the market has lost 121,730 adverts, 17.9%.
Project manager jobs. Live project manager adverts fell from 38,753 to 38,243, 1.3%. They are still 726 higher than on 15 September, up 1.9%. Project roles are 6.9% of every vacancy, up from 6.4%, the highest share since the index began.
Pay. The average advertised project manager salary for September is £62,444, up 9.5% on October 2025. PMO adverts averaged £73,769 and programme manager adverts £63,348. The October figures arrive next month.
This week's job adverts. 165 project roles were posted between 23 and 29 October, up from 155 last week. 73 more adverts with a project title were training courses, 30.7% of the feed. Contract roles fell from 52 to 35.
The crowd. The most applied-for advert was a remote project manager contract with a London agency at £500 to £750 a day: 129 applicants. The median advert has 7. All 6 of the most crowded adverts were contract or temporary roles in London.
Get The PM Index by email every Thursday, free
Movement
Permanent, posted this week
| Rung | Adverts | Median salary | Middle half of adverts | Last week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project support | 15 | £31,250 | £28,375 to £38,750 | £30,000 |
| PMO | 7, a signal | £67,500 | £61,250 to £76,250 | £50,000 |
| Project manager | 73 | £54,000 | £46,738 to £70,000 | £53,393 |
| Programme manager | 12, a signal | £81,250 | £77,500 to £107,500 | £77,500 |
| All rungs | 107 | £55,000 | £50,000 |
Project manager pay. £54,000 on 73 adverts, up £607 on last week. It is the highest weekly median in 3 weeks. The middle half is £46,738 to £70,000, almost the same as last week.
The small rungs. Programme manager £81,250 on 12 adverts, with 2 M&A and business systems programme managers in Birmingham and Redditch at up to £120,000 and £130,000. PMO is 7 adverts, and 3 showed pay. The 4-week table below is the number to use for both.
Contract, posted this week
| Rung | Adverts | Median day rate | Last week |
|---|---|---|---|
| PMO | 4, a signal | £525 | £355 |
| Project manager | 24, a signal | £506 | £550 |
| Programme manager | 1, a signal | £500 | £513 |
| All rungs | 35 | £500 | £500 |
Day rates. 35 contract adverts, down from 52. The project manager rate is £506 on the 12 adverts that showed one, so it is a signal. A cyber security project manager in London was advertised at £650 a day.
What people are being paid
| Job | Pay | Adverts |
|---|---|---|
| Project manager, permanent | £52,500 | 194 |
| Senior project manager, permanent | £70,000 | 38 |
| Programme manager, permanent | £77,500 | 23, a signal |
| Project manager, contract | £500 a day | 65 |
| Programme manager, contract | £638 a day | 12, a signal |
The last 4 weeks, pooled. 694 adverts posted from 2 to 29 October. The project manager row held at £52,500 and the senior row at £70,000. The programme manager row rose from £65,000 to £77,500, on 23 adverts.
Pay by sector. Rail and infrastructure project managers are advertised at £55,000 on 21 adverts, a signal. Construction is £52,500 on 112 adverts. IT and digital is £51,250 on 28, and NHS and health £45,000 on 19, both signals.
What the extra £10,000 buys. Of 194 mid-level project manager adverts, 52 pay £62,500 or more. Those 52 are 3 times as likely to be in London, 12% against 4%. 71% of them are construction, against 53% of the rest.
Where the roles are
| Region | Live project manager adverts | Share | Change on last week |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 11,322 | 29.6% | down 187 |
| South East | 4,934 | 12.9% | down 40 |
| North West | 4,013 | 10.5% | up 16 |
| South West | 3,229 | 8.4% | down 20 |
| West Midlands | 3,013 | 7.9% | down 67 |
| Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland | 3,931 | 10.3% | down 133 |
| All UK | 38,243 | down 510 |
The North West was the only large region to add project manager adverts this week, up 16. London lost 187 and the 3 nations together lost 133.
Who is hiring
| Employer | Live project manager adverts | Change on last week |
|---|---|---|
| AECOM | 1,640 | up 64 |
| Stantec | 734 | up 34 |
| AtkinsRéalis | 584 | up 10 |
| WSP | 438 | down 18 |
| Amazon | 378 | down 59 |
The 3 engineering consultancies at the top added 108 adverts in a week when the UK lost 51,517. Amazon fell to 378, its lowest since the index began. Of this week's new adverts, Brandon James posted 10, Hays 9 and Ernest Gordon 5.
Hybrid and remote. Hybrid 31.5% of adverts, down from 41.9%. Fully remote 1.2%, 2 adverts.
Same advert, posted again. 16 of this week's 165 adverts were exact repeats: the same advertiser, the same title and the same text, posted more than once. Last week it was 8 of 155. One agency posted the same programme lead advert 5 times.
Cleared roles
| Role | Where | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Senior project manager, MOD SC | London | £650 to £700 a day |
| Technical project manager | Greater London | £600 to £650 a day |
| Project manager, eDV | Cheltenham | £550 to £700 a day |
| Project manager, SC | Remote | £550 to £700 a day |
| Senior project and contracts manager | Birmingham and Warton | £550 to £650 a day |
| Project manager, eDV | North London | £500 to £650 a day |
| Senior planner | Reading | £49,830 to £78,770 |
| Project planner, DV | Farnborough | £60,000 to £65,000 |
| Senior project manager | Greater London | £55,000 to £62,000 |
38 cleared project, programme and PMO roles in this week's alerts, 26 of them new, against 30 last week. The cleared day rates shown run from £466 to £700, with the middle at about £625, against £506 on the open market.
Training adverts posing as vacancies. 73 this week, 30.7% of adverts with a project title. Last week 45, 22.5%. 1 company posted 71 of the 73, and every one is excluded from the figures in this issue.
Applications
| Advert | Type | Pay shown | Applicants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project manager, remote, London agency | Contract | £500 to £750 a day | 129 |
| Project support, London | Temporary | £18 to £20 an hour | 72 |
| Senior IT infrastructure project manager, London | Contract | Not shown | 67 |
| Programme coordinator, London | Temporary | £23 an hour | 61 |
| Project manager, London | Contract | Not shown | 47 |
| Project support officer, London | Contract | Not shown | 39 |
The median advert had 7 applications by Wednesday. 4 adverts had more than 50, down from 8, and all 4 were in London. A permanent job outside London that showed the salary typically had 6 applicants, on 69 adverts.
Signal
What the 165 adverts ask for, as a share of adverts.
Methods and qualifications
| Requirement | All rungs | Project manager | Last week, all rungs | Civil Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRINCE2 | 12.7% | 14.8% | 14.8% | 27.1% |
| Agile | 7.9% | 7.4% | 14.2% | 16.7% |
| APM | 18.2% | 21.3% | 9.0% | 27.1% |
| PMP | 6.1% | 8.3% | 6.5% | 0.0% |
| MSP | 6.7% | 3.7% | 3.2% | 14.6% |
| Degree | 21.8% | 28.7% | 20.0% | 6.2% |
Certificates. For the first time in 8 weeks, PRINCE2 is not the most named qualification. APM is in 18.2% of adverts and PRINCE2 in 12.7%. Over the last 4 weeks, 54 permanent project manager adverts named APM and 51 named PRINCE2, out of 289. Those that named PRINCE2 carried a median of £55,000, against £54,500 for the rest, on 36 adverts with pay. The gap was £2,000 last week and is £500 now.
APM catches PRINCE2. For 7 weeks PRINCE2 was the qualification project manager adverts named most. This week APM was named in 23 project manager adverts and PRINCE2 in 16. 10 of the 23 came from one agency posting the same construction consultancy template for 4 cities, so this week alone overstates it. The 4-week count does not depend on one agency: APM 54, PRINCE2 51. Most adverts that name one name both, as "PRINCE2, APM or equivalent". What has changed is construction. Construction consultancies ask for APM membership or chartered status, ChPP, alongside RICS. Construction is now 56.5% of project manager adverts, and APM rises with it.
Degree. 21.8% of adverts, up from 20.0%, and 28.7% of project manager adverts. The Civil Service asks for one in 6.2% of project vacancies.
What is climbing. APM, as above. Construction 41.8% of adverts and 56.5% of project manager adverts, up from 34.8% and 46.4%. Budget ownership 50.9%, up from 45.2%. MSP 6.7%, up from 3.2%.
What is not moving. Stakeholder management 77.0%, the most named requirement of any kind for the eighth week. PMP 6.1%. NEC 6.1%. Microsoft Project 6.7%. Security clearance 6.1%. Business case and benefits management are named in 31.2% and 25.0% of Civil Service project posts, and in 4.8% and 2.4% of private adverts.
The Civil Service this week
| Department | Vacancies | Posts | Highest grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Defence | 12 | 16 | SCS Pay Band 1 |
| HM Prison and Probation Service | 4 | 5 | Own grades, to £56,111 |
| Ofwat | 3 | 3 | Director, to £110,000 |
| UK Health Security Agency | 3 | 9 | Grade 7 |
| Homes England | 3 | 4 | Own grades, to £71,738 |
| Ministry of Justice | 2 | 11 | SEO |
| All departments | 48 | 75 | SCS Pay Band 2 |
The count. 48 live vacancies with project, programme, PMO or portfolio in the title, 75 posts, 18 new since last Wednesday. Last week 44 and 68. Up 9.1% in a week.
By grade. Grade 7 13, SEO 10, HEO 9, SCS 3, Grade 6 2, EO 2, 9 on departmental grades. Grade 7 project posts are advertised at a median £59,955 to £66,581; SEO at £45,970 to £47,408.
New this week. Ofwat has opened 3 posts for its Major Water Infrastructure Programme: a director of financing strategy at £91,257 to £110,000, closing 16 November, a programme PMO manager and a digital project manager, both at £40,024 to £50,000 and closing 8 November. The Ministry of Defence wants a deputy director for air capability and programmes at £86,000 and a project director for the Clyde transformation programme at £72,840, both closing 15 November, plus 3 programme delivery managers at Grade 7, £61,630. The UK Health Security Agency wants 7 assistant project managers and portfolio analysts at HEO, £33,422 to £45,353, closing 6 November. The Forestry Commission, a head of nature recovery programme delivery at up to £68,433. The Department for Transport, a senior project manager at £59,816. Still open: the Ministry of Defence's AUKUS submarine programme director at up to £117,800 until 1 November, and the Ministry of Justice's 10 project managers until 11 November.
The pattern. Ofwat is hiring the client side of a major water programme while the water companies go to market. Welsh Water's £556m Cwm Taf scheme is in this week's Pipeline. Water is the sector to watch for programme roles in 2027.
Pipeline
92 public contracts that need project people were posted in the last 7 days.
28 are open for bids, 23 are coming and 41 have been awarded. That is out of 2,233 contracts posted on Find a Tender in the same week.
The biggest is Network Rail's £5bn track focused railway systems contract, at market engagement now.
The reference numbers are shown below. Paid subscribers get the live links in the full list.
Awarded
These firms just won the work. They will need to staff it.
| Ref | Buyer | Won by | Value | Starts | Why it matters for hiring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100763-2026 | Trafford Council | 31ten Consulting and 51 others | £3.4bn | 30 Nov 2026 | 8-year heat network consultancy framework. 52 firms on it, all able to win call-offs. |
| 101071-2026 | Bank of England | Sir Robert McAlpine | £133.0m | 20 Nov 2026 | Refurbishment of the Threadneedle Street estate. A construction programme team in the City. |
| 102172-2026 | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | Currie & Brown and 2 others | Not stated | Not stated | Client-side support for the high-rise remediation programme. Bought as client-side project support by name. |
Open for bids
| Ref | Buyer | Contract | Value | Deadline | Why it matters for hiring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 102302-2026 | Defence Infrastructure Organisation | MOD Feltham development agreement | £475.0m | Not stated | A development partner for the Feltham barracks site in west London. Years of delivery work. |
| 100669-2026 | Peterborough City Council | Multi-disciplinary consultancy framework | £30.0m | 30 Nov 2026 | Consultancy lots across the council's housing stock, CDM and retrofit included. |
| 101485-2026 | Mining Remediation Authority | Construction, environmental and technical professional services | £9.4m | 6 Nov 2026 | Engineering and environmental consultants, with secondment support in scope. |
Coming
Market engagement now. Tenders follow. Hiring follows the award, often 3 to 6 months later.
| Ref | Buyer | Contract | Value | Why it matters for hiring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 099851-2026 | Network Rail | Track focused railway systems contract | £5bn | Track renewals from design to close-out. The alliances will staff planning and delivery teams. |
| 102059-2026 | Welsh Water | Cwm Taf water supply strategy | £556.0m | Meet the buyer on 10 November. Procurement planned for early 2027. |
| 101995-2026 | Intellectual Property Office | One IPO phase 2, client-side delivery partner | Not stated | Planning, programme controls, risk and assurance named in the scope. |
The move
If you're applying this week: if you hold APM membership, a PMQ or ChPP, put it in your CV summary next to PRINCE2. Construction adverts now ask for it by name, and construction is more than half of all project manager adverts.
If you're bidding: Peterborough City Council's £30m multi-disciplinary consultancy framework, 100669-2026, closes on 30 November. It covers CDM, retrofit and surveying across the council's housing stock.
If you're hiring or running a PMO: the market lost 1 advert in 12 this week and project manager adverts lost 1 in 75. Before you cut a project role, look at who is still hiring for them: the engineering consultancies added 108 adverts in the same week.
The full list
92 public contracts that need project people were posted this week. The 9 in the tables above are the ones we think matter most for hiring. The other 83 are in the full list.
Bid managers and bid teams. You find out about a tender when your portal alert fires, and the alert only catches the words you set. The full list is every notice that needs project people this week, with the deadline and a link. You see the ones your alerts missed.
Directors and associate directors who bring in work. You are measured on new business, but you only see the tenders the bid team passes up. Some never reach you. The full list is the whole week, sorted by your sector, in 5 minutes.
Recruitment consultants. By the time a role is advertised, every agency is calling the same hiring manager. The full list shows every contract just awarded, with the winner's name and the start date. 52 firms just won places on a £3.4bn heat network framework, and every one of them has to staff it. You call them first.
This is what you get each Thursday:
All 92 contracts in one table, sorted by sector, then open, coming and awarded:
And a spreadsheet to download, with filters and a link to every notice:
The PM Index is free, and so are these. The full tender list is for paid readers.
PRINCE2 is named in 1 in 6 project manager adverts this month. Would you pass it today? 4 official timed papers tell you in an hour. https://jamesbailey.uk/exams
Bold, italic and bullets for LinkedIn, with the real character count. https://jamesbailey.uk/format
Education, experience, skills or exposure: 14 questions tell you which one is blocking your next move. https://jamesbailey.uk/check
Get every issue by email, free: https://thepmindex.substack.com