Validation
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Validation skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 31 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 106 87 207
Rank change year-on-year -19 +120 -13
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,802 1,672 1,141
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.75% 3.38% 1.31%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.38% 3.77% 1.61%
Number of salaries quoted 1,057 508 581
10th Percentile £35,000 £38,925 £36,250
25th Percentile £42,215 £42,500 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year - -4.35% -8.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £91,500 £87,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,750 £52,600 £54,500
% change year-on-year +0.29% -3.49% -0.99%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Validation 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 75,768 44,292 70,756
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.64% 89.63% 81.31%
Number of salaries quoted 52,326 25,118 47,262
10th Percentile £30,500 £28,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £37,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £78,750 £76,250 £73,886
90th Percentile £100,000 £97,500 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +10.00% - -9.09%

Validation
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Validation job vacancy trend in the UK

Validation
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Validation.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Validation

Validation
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Validation over the 6 months to 31 July 2026.

Salary histogram for Validation in the UK

Validation
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Validation within the UK over the 6 months to 31 July 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 -21 1,640 £55,000 - 1,202
UK excluding London -38 1,225 £52,750 +0.29% 826
Work from Home +127 573 £56,000 -6.67% 430
London +77 464 £75,000 -4.76% 500
South East -37 362 £56,000 +1.82% 260
North of England +104 348 £55,000 +15.79% 167
North West +92 207 £55,000 +15.35% 93
Midlands -61 191 £42,500 -22.73% 122
South West -27 131 £51,750 -1.62% 120
East of England -75 112 £62,500 +9.17% 107
West Midlands +13 104 £44,000 -23.48% 72
East Midlands -66 86 £42,500 - 50
Yorkshire +9 73 £43,000 +1.18% 38
North East +4 68 £55,000 +57.14% 39
Scotland +13 52 £50,000 -13.84% 50
Wales -39 29 £47,500 -11.63% 18
Northern Ireland -64 2 - - 3

Validation
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 59 (3.27%) Apache Airflow
2 57 (3.16%) Apache Spark
3 55 (3.05%) Apache
4 32 (1.78%) Confluence
5 31 (1.72%) SharePoint
6 21 (1.17%) ArcGIS
7 19 (1.05%) Jupyter
8 13 (0.72%) Microsoft Exchange
9 12 (0.67%) SAS
10 5 (0.28%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 5 (0.28%) CMS
11 4 (0.22%) Kinematics
12 3 (0.17%) Artix
12 3 (0.17%) Oracle SOA Suite
13 2 (0.11%) IIS
13 2 (0.11%) WinCC
14 1 (0.055%) Cloud Foundry
14 1 (0.055%) Oracle Workflow
14 1 (0.055%) Palantir Foundry
14 1 (0.055%) WebSphere
Applications
1 102 (5.66%) Microsoft Excel
2 60 (3.33%) Microsoft Office
3 29 (1.61%) Microsoft Project
4 25 (1.39%) MS Visio
4 25 (1.39%) Simulink
5 13 (0.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 13 (0.72%) Spreadsheet
6 9 (0.50%) SOLIDWORKS
7 5 (0.28%) AutoCAD
7 5 (0.28%) LaTeX
8 4 (0.22%) Adobe XD
8 4 (0.22%) CANalyzer
8 4 (0.22%) Mathcad
8 4 (0.22%) Sketch
9 3 (0.17%) Autodesk Inventor
9 3 (0.17%) Productboard
9 3 (0.17%) Stateflow
10 2 (0.11%) OrCAD
10 2 (0.11%) Solid Edge
11 1 (0.055%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 50 (2.77%) SAP S/4HANA
2 41 (2.28%) Dynamics CRM
3 11 (0.61%) SAP MDG
4 10 (0.55%) SAP ERP
5 9 (0.50%) Elite 3E
5 9 (0.50%) iTrent
5 9 (0.50%) Oracle EBS
6 8 (0.44%) Oracle Applications
6 8 (0.44%) Oracle ERP
7 5 (0.28%) Loan IQ
7 5 (0.28%) NetSuite
7 5 (0.28%) SAP MDG-BP
8 4 (0.22%) Oracle Financials
8 4 (0.22%) SAP MM
9 3 (0.17%) Teamcenter
9 3 (0.17%) Workday HCM
10 2 (0.11%) FastStats
10 2 (0.11%) SAP CO
10 2 (0.11%) SAP FSCM
10 2 (0.11%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 271 (15.04%) Azure
2 251 (13.93%) AWS
3 166 (9.21%) Power Platform
4 85 (4.72%) GCP
5 81 (4.50%) SaaS
6 68 (3.77%) Azure DevOps
7 52 (2.89%) Microsoft 365
8 50 (2.77%) Serverless
9 47 (2.61%) GitHub
10 43 (2.39%) Amazon S3
11 39 (2.16%) Dynamics 365
12 25 (1.39%) Entra ID
13 24 (1.33%) GitHub Actions
14 23 (1.28%) Microsoft Copilot
15 22 (1.22%) Cloud Computing
15 22 (1.22%) Snowflake
16 21 (1.17%) Amazon EC2
17 20 (1.11%) Amazon EMR
17 20 (1.11%) PowerApps
18 19 (1.05%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 71 (3.94%) Broadband
2 51 (2.83%) Firewall
3 43 (2.39%) DNS
4 30 (1.66%) TCP/IP
4 30 (1.66%) Wireless
5 24 (1.33%) Network Security
6 23 (1.28%) WAN
7 22 (1.22%) VPN
8 17 (0.94%) Ethernet
9 15 (0.83%) MQTT
9 15 (0.83%) SD-WAN
9 15 (0.83%) Wi-Fi
9 15 (0.83%) Wireshark
10 14 (0.78%) Internet
11 12 (0.67%) HTTP
11 12 (0.67%) LAN
12 11 (0.61%) 5G
12 11 (0.61%) CHAP
13 10 (0.55%) NGN
13 10 (0.55%) RS-232
Database & Business Intelligence
1 150 (8.32%) Power BI
2 57 (3.16%) Data Warehouse
2 57 (3.16%) PostgreSQL
2 57 (3.16%) Tableau
3 48 (2.66%) SQL Server
4 46 (2.55%) Metadata
5 37 (2.05%) Data Lake
6 34 (1.89%) MongoDB
7 29 (1.61%) Relational Database
8 27 (1.50%) BigQuery
9 25 (1.39%) QGIS
10 24 (1.33%) Semantic Layer
11 23 (1.28%) GIS
12 22 (1.22%) DynamoDB
13 21 (1.17%) Amazon Athena
13 21 (1.17%) Azure SQL Database
14 20 (1.11%) MySQL
14 20 (1.11%) Spark SQL
14 20 (1.11%) Spatial Data
15 19 (1.05%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 114 (6.33%) JIRA
2 97 (5.38%) Git
3 51 (2.83%) Jenkins
4 45 (2.50%) GitLab
5 33 (1.83%) Rational DOORS
6 24 (1.33%) Selenium
7 22 (1.22%) Snyk
8 21 (1.17%) Postman
9 16 (0.89%) Cypress.io
10 15 (0.83%) LabVIEW
11 14 (0.78%) JMeter
12 13 (0.72%) Cucumber
12 13 (0.72%) IBM UrbanCode
13 10 (0.55%) REST Assured
13 10 (0.55%) TeamCity
14 9 (0.50%) Burp Suite
15 8 (0.44%) Rational Rhapsody
16 6 (0.33%) GDB
16 6 (0.33%) Hudson
16 6 (0.33%) Zephyr
General
1 608 (33.74%) Social Skills
2 503 (27.91%) Finance
3 437 (24.25%) Analytical Skills
4 158 (8.77%) Aerospace
5 152 (8.44%) Manufacturing
6 150 (8.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 133 (7.38%) Electronics
8 101 (5.60%) Banking
9 89 (4.94%) Law
10 72 (4.00%) Public Sector
10 72 (4.00%) Retail
11 62 (3.44%) Organisational Skills
11 62 (3.44%) Pharmaceutical
12 57 (3.16%) Legal
13 52 (2.89%) Marketing
14 46 (2.55%) Automotive
15 45 (2.50%) Games
16 35 (1.94%) Telecoms
17 32 (1.78%) Documentation Skills
18 30 (1.66%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 330 (18.31%) Senior
2 258 (14.32%) Analyst
3 158 (8.77%) Lead
4 127 (7.05%) Systems Engineer
5 112 (6.22%) Architect
5 112 (6.22%) Test Engineer
6 101 (5.60%) Consultant
7 96 (5.33%) Data Engineer
8 85 (4.72%) Developer
9 81 (4.50%) Business Analyst
10 70 (3.88%) Data Analyst
11 68 (3.77%) Validation Engineer
12 56 (3.11%) Software Engineer
13 52 (2.89%) Principal Engineer
14 45 (2.50%) Embedded Engineer
15 44 (2.44%) Support Engineer
16 40 (2.22%) Data Scientist
17 39 (2.16%) IT Manager
18 38 (2.11%) Senior Systems Engineer
19 37 (2.05%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 47 (2.61%) RESTful
2 41 (2.28%) Kafka
3 38 (2.11%) Node.js
3 38 (2.11%) PySpark
4 35 (1.94%) REST
5 34 (1.89%) JSON
6 31 (1.72%) PyTorch
6 31 (1.72%) XML
7 26 (1.44%) .NET
8 25 (1.39%) Middleware
8 25 (1.39%) Pandas
8 25 (1.39%) Playwright
9 20 (1.11%) CSS
9 20 (1.11%) LDAP
10 19 (1.05%) HTML
10 19 (1.05%) React
10 19 (1.05%) Regular Expression
10 19 (1.05%) XMPP
11 17 (0.94%) Oracle Fusion
12 16 (0.89%) FastAPI
Miscellaneous
1 130 (7.21%) Cloud Native
2 116 (6.44%) Onboarding
3 88 (4.88%) Management Information System
4 69 (3.83%) Algorithms
5 66 (3.66%) Data Structures
6 64 (3.55%) Product Ownership
7 58 (3.22%) Data Centre
8 48 (2.66%) Distributed Systems
8 48 (2.66%) Embedded Systems
8 48 (2.66%) Enterprise Software
9 47 (2.61%) Driving Licence
10 45 (2.50%) Low-Code
11 38 (2.11%) Analytical Mindset
12 33 (1.83%) Video\Live Streaming
13 32 (1.78%) AI Agents
13 32 (1.78%) Legacy Systems
14 31 (1.72%) Life Science
15 29 (1.61%) Self-Motivation
16 27 (1.50%) IoT
17 26 (1.44%) FPGA
Operating Systems
1 117 (6.49%) Linux
2 85 (4.72%) Windows
3 32 (1.78%) Windows Server
4 25 (1.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 19 (1.05%) Unix
6 6 (0.33%) Android
6 6 (0.33%) FreeRTOS
7 5 (0.28%) Embedded Linux
8 4 (0.22%) Kali Linux
8 4 (0.22%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.22%) Mac OS X
9 2 (0.11%) AIX
9 2 (0.11%) Robot Operating System
9 2 (0.11%) ThreadX
9 2 (0.11%) VMS
9 2 (0.11%) Windows 10
10 1 (0.055%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 453 (25.14%) Problem-Solving
2 443 (24.58%) Continuous Improvement
3 384 (21.31%) Agile
4 345 (19.15%) AI
5 287 (15.93%) CI/CD
6 256 (14.21%) Analytics
7 235 (13.04%) Stakeholder Management
8 234 (12.99%) Migration
8 234 (12.99%) Test Automation
9 212 (11.76%) Mentoring
10 200 (11.10%) Decision-Making
11 188 (10.43%) Verification and Validation
12 185 (10.27%) Data Analysis
13 181 (10.04%) DevOps
14 180 (9.99%) Software Engineering
15 179 (9.93%) Business Intelligence
16 173 (9.60%) Machine Learning
17 170 (9.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 165 (9.16%) Data Validation
19 164 (9.10%) User Acceptance Testing
Programming Languages
1 463 (25.69%) Python
2 376 (20.87%) SQL
3 81 (4.50%) C++
4 80 (4.44%) Java
5 74 (4.11%) C
6 52 (2.89%) Go
7 51 (2.83%) JavaScript
8 49 (2.72%) C#
9 39 (2.16%) MATLAB
10 29 (1.61%) PowerShell
11 28 (1.55%) Bash
12 23 (1.28%) Embedded C
13 21 (1.17%) T-SQL
14 19 (1.05%) Scala
15 18 (1.00%) Embedded C++
15 18 (1.00%) TypeScript
16 15 (0.83%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 12 (0.67%) R
18 10 (0.55%) ABAP
18 10 (0.55%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 365 (20.26%) Degree
2 234 (12.99%) Security Cleared
3 124 (6.88%) BPSS Clearance
3 124 (6.88%) SC Cleared
4 77 (4.27%) DV Cleared
5 75 (4.16%) Master's Degree
6 40 (2.22%) Computer Science Degree
7 31 (1.72%) Chartered Engineer
8 29 (1.61%) CISSP
9 28 (1.55%) PhD
10 27 (1.50%) HNC
11 25 (1.39%) PMI Certification
12 24 (1.33%) ACCA
12 24 (1.33%) CIMA
13 23 (1.28%) CISM
14 22 (1.22%) AWS Certification
15 21 (1.17%) CISA
15 21 (1.17%) SANS
16 20 (1.11%) HND
17 18 (1.00%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 306 (16.98%) Data Quality
2 245 (13.60%) QA
3 79 (4.38%) Accessibility
4 57 (3.16%) GDPR
5 38 (2.11%) GRC
6 24 (1.33%) IEC 61508
6 24 (1.33%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 21 (1.17%) NIST
8 20 (1.11%) SLA
9 17 (0.94%) PMO
10 15 (0.83%) IFRS
10 15 (0.83%) ISO 26262
10 15 (0.83%) WCAG
11 14 (0.78%) GAAP
11 14 (0.78%) GxP
12 13 (0.72%) ISO 9001
13 12 (0.67%) GMP
13 12 (0.67%) ISO/IEC 15288
14 11 (0.61%) COBIT
14 11 (0.61%) SOC 2
System Software
1 76 (4.22%) Docker
2 63 (3.50%) Firmware
3 42 (2.33%) Active Directory
4 28 (1.55%) Virtual Machines
5 27 (1.50%) Embedded Firmware
6 22 (1.22%) vSphere
7 18 (1.00%) VMware Infrastructure
8 8 (0.44%) KVM
9 5 (0.28%) Hyper-V
10 2 (0.11%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.055%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.055%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.055%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 78 (4.33%) Kubernetes
2 74 (4.11%) Terraform
3 41 (2.28%) Grafana
4 27 (1.50%) Ansible
5 25 (1.39%) Functional Safety
6 17 (0.94%) Prometheus
7 12 (0.67%) Puppet
8 10 (0.55%) Cilium
9 8 (0.44%) SCCM
9 8 (0.44%) Single Sign-On
10 7 (0.39%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
10 7 (0.39%) Kibana
11 5 (0.28%) Microsoft Intune
12 4 (0.22%) Argo
12 4 (0.22%) Nessus
12 4 (0.22%) Nmap
12 4 (0.22%) WMI
13 3 (0.17%) FortiGate
13 3 (0.17%) Rancher
13 3 (0.17%) yum
Vendors
1 252 (13.98%) Microsoft
2 117 (6.49%) SAP
3 101 (5.60%) Oracle
4 58 (3.22%) Salesforce
5 47 (2.61%) Databricks
6 40 (2.22%) ServiceNow
7 37 (2.05%) VMware
8 35 (1.94%) Google
9 34 (1.89%) Red Hat
10 32 (1.78%) Cisco
11 29 (1.61%) CrowdStrike
12 24 (1.33%) Palo Alto
13 22 (1.22%) Tenable
14 16 (0.89%) EMC
14 16 (0.89%) IBM
15 15 (0.83%) McAfee
16 14 (0.78%) Adobe
16 14 (0.78%) Foundry
17 13 (0.72%) Splunk
18 12 (0.67%) Workday