London Project & Delivery Market

Beta

January 2026

This report analyzes 442 Project & Delivery job postings from 338+ companies tracked via direct employer career pages and job board aggregators. Our coverage skews toward tech-forward and scaling companies; large enterprises using enterprise hiring platforms may be underrepresented. Coverage varies by section and is noted throughout.

Market Context

1.Cross-Sector Delivery Demand in London Among tracked roles with industry data (35% coverage), Professional Services (28%), Financial Services (12%), and Fintech (11%) together account for over half of London's delivery postings, indicating that demand for project and delivery professionals extends well beyond the technology sector.

2.Programme and Project Manager Roles Near Parity Programme Manager (45%) and Project Manager (42%) roles are near-evenly split among tracked London delivery postings. This balance may reflect the mix of large-scale transformation programmes and tactical project execution across London's financial services, professional services, and technology employers.

3.AI Reshaping Project Management Workflows Across the profession, 54% of project managers now use AI for risk management and 53% for task automation, likely shifting the role toward strategic oversight and stakeholder engagement (PMI/TechTarget, 2026).

4.London Delivery Roles Favour Hybrid and Flexible Arrangements Among direct employer postings with known working arrangements, 49% of London delivery roles are hybrid and 33% are flexible, with only 5% requiring full-time onsite presence. This pattern is consistent with the nature of delivery work, which involves coordinating across distributed teams while maintaining stakeholder proximity.

5.Cautious but Specialized UK Hiring Indeed's 2026 UK Jobs and Hiring Trends report indicates that while overall hiring caution persists, specialized roles including project delivery continue to show resilience as companies prioritize execution capacity (Indeed Hiring Lab UK, December 2025).

Key Takeaways: Job Seekers

1.0Programme management experience is in high demand Programme manager roles account for 45% of tracked delivery postings, overtaking project manager at 42%. Candidates with experience coordinating multiple workstreams or managing portfolio-level delivery are likely well-positioned in the current market.

1.1Agile and stakeholder management are the two must-have skills Among roles with skills data, Agile (26%) and stakeholder management (25%) are nearly tied as the most frequently requested capabilities. Demonstrating both delivery methodology fluency and relationship management experience could strengthen applications across tracked employers.

1.2Hybrid is the default, prepare for office presence Hybrid arrangements account for 49% of ATS-sourced delivery roles, with flexible at 33% and fully remote at just 13%. Candidates seeking London delivery roles should expect some in-person presence, likely driven by the stakeholder collaboration these roles require.

1.3Junior roles exist but competition remains at senior level Junior roles account for 9% of tracked postings, and the 31% entry accessibility rate suggests moderate openings for less experienced candidates. However, the 8:1 senior-to-junior ratio means the market remains competitive for those with fewer years of experience.

1.4PRINCE2 and Waterfall still carry weight in London Despite Agile's dominance, PRINCE2 appears in 4% and Waterfall in 6% of roles with skills data, reflecting the continued relevance of structured governance methodologies in London's enterprise and public-sector delivery landscape. Holding both Agile and PRINCE2 credentials may broaden opportunities.

Key Takeaways: Hiring Managers

2.0Programme manager talent pool may be tightening With programme manager roles at 45% of tracked postings and the APM reporting that 56% of businesses anticipate difficulty attracting project management talent, competition for experienced programme managers is likely increasing. Consider whether role requirements can flex on years of experience to widen the candidate pool.

2.1Fully onsite requirements limit your candidate reach Only 5% of tracked London delivery roles require full-time onsite attendance, while 49% are hybrid and 33% flexible. Mandating fully onsite work places your roles in a small minority and may reduce the available candidate pool in a market where some form of flexibility is the default.

2.2Consumer Tech is gaining as an employer brand competitor Consumer Tech rose by 10 percentage points month-on-month among tracked roles with industry data, suggesting product-led companies are expanding delivery teams. If your organization competes for the same talent pool, consider how your employer value proposition compares to fast-growing consumer technology firms.

Industry Distribution

35% of roles with industry data

Low

High

Among the 35% of tracked roles with industry metadata, Professional Services leads at 28%, consistent with London's large consulting and advisory sector. Consumer Tech surged by 10 percentage points month-on-month to 12%, while Professional Services declined by 6 percentage points in the most recent month, though single-month movements should be interpreted cautiously. Financial Services and Fintech together account for 23%, reflecting the combined strength of London's banking and financial technology sectors in driving delivery hiring.

Company Maturity

31% of roles with company age data

31%Growth Stage

Mature (>15 yrs)63%

Growth (6-15 yrs)31%

Young (<=5 yrs)6%

Among the 31% of tracked roles with company maturity data, mature companies (over 15 years old) account for 63%, with growth-stage firms at 31% and young companies at just 6%. This distribution is consistent with the nature of delivery and programme management roles, which tend to be more prevalent in established organizations with complex, multi-workstream project portfolios.

Ownership Type

34% of roles with ownership data

38%Private

Public42%

Private38%

Subsidiary20%

Among the 34% of tracked roles with ownership data, public companies account for 42%, slightly ahead of private companies at 38%. The 20% subsidiary share may reflect the structure of large enterprise groups, such as holding companies and conglomerates, where delivery roles sit within operating subsidiaries rather than the parent entity.

Employer Size Distribution

31% of roles with company size data

73%Enterprise

Enterprise (1,000+)72%

Scale-up (50-1,000)18%

Startup (<50)10%

Among the 31% of tracked roles with company size data, enterprise employers (1,000+ employees) account for 73% of delivery postings. This concentration is consistent with the demand pattern for programme and project managers, who are more commonly needed in larger organizations managing complex, interdependent project portfolios. Scale-ups at 18% and startups at 10% make up the remainder.

Employers Hiring for Project & Delivery Roles

Low

High

Market interpretation: Google and JPMorganChase co-lead among tracked employers at 12 roles each, followed by WPP at 9. New entrants this month include Google, Turner & Townsend (a construction and infrastructure project management consultancy), and Suade (a fintech/regtech firm). The mix of technology, financial services, professional services, and built-environment employers reflects London's cross-sector demand for delivery professionals.

Role Specialization

Low

High

Programme manager leads at 45% of tracked delivery roles, narrowly ahead of project manager at 42%. The 9 percentage point month-on-month gain for programme manager may indicate growing demand for portfolio-level coordination among tracked employers, though this is based on a single month's movement. Delivery manager holds a steady 11% share, while scrum master declined by 4 percentage points to just 2%, possibly reflecting a broader shift away from dedicated Agile ceremony roles toward integrated delivery responsibilities.

Seniority Distribution

Junior: 0-2 years | Mid-Level: 3-5 years | Senior: 6-10 years | Staff/Principal: 11+ years (IC track) | Director+: Management track

Low

High

Senior-to-Junior Ratio

8:1

Senior+ roles per Junior role

Entry Accessibility Rate

31%

Junior + Mid-Level roles combined

Senior roles account for 53% of tracked postings, followed by Mid-Level (22%), Director+ (11%), Junior (9%), and Staff/Principal (5%). The 8:1 senior-to-junior ratio suggests a competitive but moderately accessible market, with the 31% entry accessibility rate indicating that nearly a third of tracked roles may be open to candidates with fewer than three years of experience.

IC vs Management Track

90%IC

Individual Contributor90%

Management10%

Individual contributor roles account for 90% of tracked delivery postings, with management at 10%. This split is typical for the Project and Delivery family, where most programme managers, project managers, and delivery managers are classified on the IC track, managing workstreams and stakeholders rather than direct reports.

Working Arrangement

Onsite: office full-time | Hybrid: mix of office and remote | Remote: work from anywhere | Flexible: employee chooses arrangement

98% of roles with known working arrangement

13%Remote

Hybrid49%

Flexible33%

Remote13%

Onsite5%

Based on 56 ATS-sourced roles with full job descriptions, hybrid leads at 49% and flexible accounts for 33%, while fully remote is limited to 13% and onsite to 5%. The low remote share among London delivery roles likely reflects the stakeholder-facing nature of programme and project management, where in-person collaboration with sponsors, steering groups, and cross-functional teams remains a common expectation.

Compensation

Compensation data excluded due to low disclosure rates in markets without pay transparency legislation.

Skills Demand

40% of roles with skills data

Low

High

Skills insight: Among the 40% of tracked roles (179 postings) with skills data, Agile (26%) and stakeholder management (25%) are nearly tied as the most requested capabilities. JIRA (16%) and risk management (15%) follow, with the top skill pairs, risk management plus stakeholder management at 12%, and Agile plus JIRA and Agile plus Scrum each at 10%, suggesting employers most value combined delivery methodology and stakeholder relationship skills. PRINCE2 persists at 4%, reflecting UK governance standards and the continued relevance of structured project methodologies in London's enterprise and public-sector delivery landscape.

Market Metrics

Market Structure

1.31

Jobs per employer

Average open roles per hiring company

Among tracked employers

11%

Top 5 concentration

Combined share of tracked postings by top 5 employers

Among tracked employers

18%

Top 15 concentration

Combined share of tracked postings by top 15 employers

Among tracked employers

Accessibility

8:1

Senior-to-Junior ratio

Senior+ roles for every junior role

Competitive but accessible

31%

Entry accessibility

Roles open to candidates with <3 years experience

Moderate entry market

10%

Management opportunity

Roles on the people management track

IC-focused

Flexibility

13%

Remote availability

Roles offering fully remote work

Limited flexibility

Methodology

This report analyzes direct employer job postings for Project & Delivery roles in London during January 2026.

Data collection:

1.Over 400 roles from 340+ employers aggregated from multiple sources
2.Recruitment agency postings identified and excluded (5% of raw data)
3.Jobs deduplicated across sources to avoid double-counting

Classification:

1.Roles classified using an LLM-powered taxonomy
2.Subfamily, seniority, skills, and working arrangement extracted
3.Employer metadata enriched from company databases where available

Limitations:

1.Not a complete census of the market - some roles may not be captured
2.Skills analysis based on 179 roles with skill data (40% coverage)
3.Salary data not included due to low disclosure rates
4.Working arrangement based on 56 ATS-sourced roles (Adzuna excluded due to truncated descriptions)

Data coverage:

55%

Seniority coverage

Roles with seniority level classified

98%

Arrangement coverage

Roles with working arrangement known

40%

Skills coverage

Roles with skills extracted from description

43%

Employer metadata

Roles with enriched company data

About

This report was created by Rich Jacobs, Data product manager focused on hiring market intelligence. Want the data? rich@richjacobs.me