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 29 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 128 78 204
Rank change year-on-year -50 +126 -14
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,462 1,591 1,397
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.57% 3.71% 1.40%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.12% 3.98% 1.67%
Number of salaries quoted 836 426 770
10th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £35,500
25th Percentile £42,500 £46,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,550 £57,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -2.54% +3.64% -11.71%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,250 £72,250
90th Percentile £90,000 £93,750 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -4.55% +4.76% -4.62%

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 68,838 39,983 83,789
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.88% 93.25% 83.85%
Number of salaries quoted 44,890 21,039 60,407
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,750 £29,250
25th Percentile £41,000 £40,903 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £58,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.45% +5.45% -9.84%
75th Percentile £78,750 £78,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £101,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £51,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +2.94% +2.00% -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 29 May 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 29 May 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 -54 1,311 £57,500 +2.68% 618
UK excluding London -67 963 £52,500 -4.55% 545
Work from Home +137 464 £55,000 -8.33% 248
London +64 380 £75,000 +5.26% 166
South East -46 293 £55,000 +4.76% 178
North of England +59 261 £55,000 +15.35% 118
Midlands -79 165 £40,000 -30.43% 85
North West +59 163 £55,000 +15.35% 66
West Midlands -9 102 £44,000 -32.31% 55
East of England -85 100 £60,000 +5.26% 71
South West -51 90 £52,500 -2.78% 80
Yorkshire -20 61 £50,000 +5.26% 35
East Midlands -90 61 £30,000 -42.31% 30
Scotland -15 39 £42,000 -27.63% 19
North East -4 37 £52,500 -25.00% 18
Wales -30 14 £44,000 -26.67% 12
Northern Ireland -38 3 - - 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 48 (3.28%) Apache Airflow
2 35 (2.39%) Apache Spark
3 34 (2.33%) Apache
4 27 (1.85%) Confluence
5 21 (1.44%) ArcGIS
6 16 (1.09%) Microsoft Exchange
7 14 (0.96%) SharePoint
8 9 (0.62%) Appian
9 8 (0.55%) CMS
10 7 (0.48%) Jupyter
11 6 (0.41%) Kinematics
11 6 (0.41%) SAS
12 5 (0.34%) Adobe Experience Manager
13 3 (0.21%) Artix
14 2 (0.14%) IIS
15 1 (0.068%) Anypoint
15 1 (0.068%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 94 (6.43%) Microsoft Excel
2 55 (3.76%) Microsoft Office
3 22 (1.50%) MS Visio
4 17 (1.16%) Microsoft Project
5 16 (1.09%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 14 (0.96%) Simulink
7 8 (0.55%) SOLIDWORKS
8 7 (0.48%) Spreadsheet
9 5 (0.34%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 5 (0.34%) AutoCAD
10 4 (0.27%) Adobe XD
10 4 (0.27%) CANalyzer
10 4 (0.27%) Sketch
11 3 (0.21%) Autodesk Inventor
11 3 (0.21%) Fusion 360
11 3 (0.21%) Productboard
11 3 (0.21%) Solid Edge
12 2 (0.14%) CATIA
12 2 (0.14%) Stateflow
13 1 (0.068%) Oracle Smart View
Business Applications
1 39 (2.67%) SAP S/4HANA
2 29 (1.98%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.68%) SAP ERP
4 9 (0.62%) Oracle ERP
5 7 (0.48%) SAP MDG
6 6 (0.41%) Elite 3E
6 6 (0.41%) Loan IQ
7 5 (0.34%) iTrent
7 5 (0.34%) Oracle EBS
7 5 (0.34%) SAP MDG-BP
8 3 (0.21%) Markit EDM
8 3 (0.21%) Oracle Applications
8 3 (0.21%) Oracle Financials
9 2 (0.14%) Oracle Payables
9 2 (0.14%) Oracle Receivables
9 2 (0.14%) SAP EWM
9 2 (0.14%) SAP FSCM
9 2 (0.14%) SAP MM
9 2 (0.14%) SAP PSCD
9 2 (0.14%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 209 (14.30%) Azure
2 167 (11.42%) AWS
3 132 (9.03%) Power Platform
4 69 (4.72%) GCP
5 61 (4.17%) SaaS
6 50 (3.42%) Azure DevOps
7 39 (2.67%) GitHub
8 38 (2.60%) Microsoft 365
8 38 (2.60%) Serverless
9 34 (2.33%) Amazon S3
10 32 (2.19%) Azure Data Factory
11 30 (2.05%) Dynamics 365
12 29 (1.98%) Snowflake
13 25 (1.71%) Entra ID
14 22 (1.50%) dbt
15 21 (1.44%) Power Automate
16 16 (1.09%) OpenShift
17 14 (0.96%) Azure AI
17 14 (0.96%) GitHub Actions
18 12 (0.82%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 58 (3.97%) Broadband
2 40 (2.74%) Firewall
3 26 (1.78%) DNS
4 25 (1.71%) WAN
5 24 (1.64%) Wireless
6 23 (1.57%) CHAP
7 20 (1.37%) TCP/IP
8 18 (1.23%) 5G
8 18 (1.23%) SD-WAN
9 14 (0.96%) Network Security
10 12 (0.82%) HTTP
10 12 (0.82%) VPN
11 11 (0.75%) MQTT
12 10 (0.68%) Wi-Fi
12 10 (0.68%) Wireshark
13 9 (0.62%) LAN
13 9 (0.62%) NAS
14 8 (0.55%) Ethernet
15 7 (0.48%) ATM
15 7 (0.48%) Multicast
Database & Business Intelligence
1 125 (8.55%) Power BI
2 53 (3.63%) Tableau
3 49 (3.35%) SQL Server
4 44 (3.01%) PostgreSQL
5 40 (2.74%) Data Warehouse
6 31 (2.12%) Relational Database
7 30 (2.05%) Metadata
8 25 (1.71%) MongoDB
8 25 (1.71%) QGIS
9 23 (1.57%) GIS
10 22 (1.50%) BigQuery
11 21 (1.44%) Azure SQL Database
11 21 (1.44%) Data Lake
12 20 (1.37%) Semantic Layer
12 20 (1.37%) Spatial Data
13 18 (1.23%) Spark SQL
14 17 (1.16%) Oracle Reports
15 16 (1.09%) Oracle Database
16 15 (1.03%) MySQL
17 14 (0.96%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 71 (4.86%) Git
2 65 (4.45%) JIRA
3 42 (2.87%) Jenkins
4 33 (2.26%) Rational DOORS
5 30 (2.05%) GitLab
6 22 (1.50%) Snyk
7 17 (1.16%) LabVIEW
8 15 (1.03%) Postman
9 13 (0.89%) IBM UrbanCode
9 13 (0.89%) MLflow
10 12 (0.82%) Selenium
11 11 (0.75%) Cucumber
12 10 (0.68%) Eclipse
12 10 (0.68%) JMeter
13 9 (0.62%) TeamCity
14 8 (0.55%) Cypress.io
15 7 (0.48%) TestRail
16 6 (0.41%) Rational Rhapsody
16 6 (0.41%) Robot Framework
17 5 (0.34%) SpecFlow
General
1 461 (31.53%) Social Skills
2 386 (26.40%) Finance
3 324 (22.16%) Analytical Skills
4 113 (7.73%) Manufacturing
5 107 (7.32%) Aerospace
6 105 (7.18%) Electronics
7 91 (6.22%) Banking
8 87 (5.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 61 (4.17%) Legal
10 55 (3.76%) Retail
11 53 (3.63%) Public Sector
12 49 (3.35%) Law
13 47 (3.21%) Marketing
14 44 (3.01%) Pharmaceutical
15 37 (2.53%) Organisational Skills
16 33 (2.26%) Presentation Skills
17 32 (2.19%) Financial Institution
18 31 (2.12%) Games
19 30 (2.05%) Automotive
20 24 (1.64%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 242 (16.55%) Senior
2 239 (16.35%) Analyst
3 152 (10.40%) Systems Engineer
4 101 (6.91%) Lead
5 95 (6.50%) Architect
6 92 (6.29%) Test Engineer
7 87 (5.95%) Business Analyst
8 82 (5.61%) Validation Engineer
9 71 (4.86%) Consultant
10 63 (4.31%) Data Engineer
11 62 (4.24%) Data Analyst
12 59 (4.04%) Developer
13 51 (3.49%) Integration Engineer
14 47 (3.21%) Principal Engineer
15 44 (3.01%) Junior
16 39 (2.67%) Embedded Engineer
17 37 (2.53%) Senior Systems Engineer
18 35 (2.39%) Systems Integration Engineer
18 35 (2.39%) Verification Engineer
19 32 (2.19%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 47 (3.21%) REST
2 36 (2.46%) PyTorch
3 32 (2.19%) RESTful
4 31 (2.12%) JSON
5 29 (1.98%) Pandas
6 28 (1.92%) PySpark
7 27 (1.85%) Middleware
7 27 (1.85%) pytest
8 23 (1.57%) .NET
8 23 (1.57%) Kafka
9 22 (1.50%) Node.js
10 20 (1.37%) XML
11 18 (1.23%) CSS
11 18 (1.23%) Playwright
11 18 (1.23%) Swagger
12 17 (1.16%) OAuth
13 16 (1.09%) TensorFlow
14 15 (1.03%) JWT
14 15 (1.03%) NumPy
15 14 (0.96%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 81 (5.54%) Management Information System
2 68 (4.65%) Onboarding
3 64 (4.38%) Cloud Native
4 57 (3.90%) Data Structures
5 46 (3.15%) Algorithms
6 43 (2.94%) Low-Code
7 39 (2.67%) Product Ownership
8 35 (2.39%) Embedded Systems
9 33 (2.26%) Self-Motivation
10 32 (2.19%) Analytical Mindset
10 32 (2.19%) Data Centre
11 31 (2.12%) Legacy Systems
12 29 (1.98%) Driving Licence
13 27 (1.85%) Enterprise Software
13 27 (1.85%) Life Science
14 23 (1.57%) FPGA
15 22 (1.50%) Video\Live Streaming
16 21 (1.44%) Distributed Systems
16 21 (1.44%) Robotics
17 17 (1.16%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 82 (5.61%) Linux
2 67 (4.58%) Windows
3 24 (1.64%) Unix
4 23 (1.57%) Windows Server
5 21 (1.44%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 13 (0.89%) Android
7 5 (0.34%) Apple iOS
8 4 (0.27%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.27%) Mac OS X
9 3 (0.21%) AIX
9 3 (0.21%) CentOS
9 3 (0.21%) Kali Linux
9 3 (0.21%) Robot Operating System
10 2 (0.14%) ThreadX
11 1 (0.068%) Embedded Linux
11 1 (0.068%) Mac OS
11 1 (0.068%) Rocky
11 1 (0.068%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.068%) VxWorks
11 1 (0.068%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 329 (22.50%) Problem-Solving
2 297 (20.31%) Agile
3 279 (19.08%) Continuous Improvement
4 241 (16.48%) AI
5 219 (14.98%) CI/CD
6 216 (14.77%) Analytics
7 201 (13.75%) Test Automation
8 197 (13.47%) Verification and Validation
9 164 (11.22%) Data Validation
10 160 (10.94%) Migration
11 154 (10.53%) Business Intelligence
12 148 (10.12%) Data Modelling
13 145 (9.92%) Decision-Making
14 142 (9.71%) DevOps
15 138 (9.44%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 138 (9.44%) Stakeholder Management
16 137 (9.37%) Software Engineering
17 136 (9.30%) Mentoring
18 132 (9.03%) Data Governance
19 131 (8.96%) Machine Learning
Programming Languages
1 351 (24.01%) Python
2 297 (20.31%) SQL
3 61 (4.17%) Java
4 60 (4.10%) C++
5 53 (3.63%) C
6 40 (2.74%) Go
7 37 (2.53%) C#
8 34 (2.33%) PowerShell
9 33 (2.26%) JavaScript
10 28 (1.92%) Bash
11 27 (1.85%) MATLAB
12 18 (1.23%) T-SQL
13 17 (1.16%) Embedded C
14 14 (0.96%) TypeScript
15 13 (0.89%) Embedded C++
16 12 (0.82%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 10 (0.68%) VBA
18 9 (0.62%) ABAP
18 9 (0.62%) Scala
19 8 (0.55%) R
Qualifications
1 314 (21.48%) Degree
2 170 (11.63%) Security Cleared
3 115 (7.87%) BPSS Clearance
4 74 (5.06%) SC Cleared
5 69 (4.72%) Master's Degree
6 43 (2.94%) Computer Science Degree
7 40 (2.74%) DV Cleared
8 37 (2.53%) Chartered Engineer
9 33 (2.26%) CISA
9 33 (2.26%) CISSP
10 31 (2.12%) SANS
11 30 (2.05%) CISM
12 27 (1.85%) HNC
13 25 (1.71%) HND
14 23 (1.57%) CGEIT
14 23 (1.57%) FFIEC
14 23 (1.57%) PMI Certification
15 20 (1.37%) PMP
16 13 (0.89%) ACCA
16 13 (0.89%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 215 (14.71%) Data Quality
2 155 (10.60%) QA
3 60 (4.10%) Accessibility
3 60 (4.10%) GDPR
4 45 (3.08%) GRC
5 29 (1.98%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 28 (1.92%) ISO/IEC 15288
7 25 (1.71%) NIST
8 23 (1.57%) COBIT
9 20 (1.37%) IEC 61508
10 19 (1.30%) IFRS
11 17 (1.16%) SLA
12 14 (0.96%) ISO 9001
12 14 (0.96%) PMO
13 13 (0.89%) GMP
14 12 (0.82%) GAAP
15 10 (0.68%) Good Clinical Practice
15 10 (0.68%) GxP
15 10 (0.68%) SOC 2
15 10 (0.68%) WCAG
System Software
1 67 (4.58%) Docker
2 45 (3.08%) Firmware
3 36 (2.46%) Active Directory
4 22 (1.50%) Virtual Machines
5 15 (1.03%) vSphere
6 14 (0.96%) Embedded Firmware
6 14 (0.96%) VMware Infrastructure
7 6 (0.41%) KVM
8 5 (0.34%) Hyper-V
9 2 (0.14%) Terminal Services
9 2 (0.14%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.068%) OpenAM
10 1 (0.068%) OpenDJ
10 1 (0.068%) OpenIDM
Systems Management
1 71 (4.86%) Kubernetes
2 56 (3.83%) Terraform
3 30 (2.05%) Grafana
4 23 (1.57%) Ansible
5 18 (1.23%) Functional Safety
6 16 (1.09%) Prometheus
7 14 (0.96%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 11 (0.75%) SCCM
9 9 (0.62%) Cilium
9 9 (0.62%) Puppet
10 8 (0.55%) Microsoft Intune
11 5 (0.34%) Kibana
12 3 (0.21%) Argo
12 3 (0.21%) FortiGate
12 3 (0.21%) HP Fortify
12 3 (0.21%) Rancher
12 3 (0.21%) yum
13 2 (0.14%) BMC PATROL
13 2 (0.14%) Computer Incident Response Team
14 1 (0.068%) MOM
Vendors
1 191 (13.06%) Microsoft
2 88 (6.02%) Oracle
3 84 (5.75%) SAP
4 51 (3.49%) Salesforce
5 31 (2.12%) Databricks
6 30 (2.05%) Red Hat
7 28 (1.92%) VMware
8 27 (1.85%) CrowdStrike
8 27 (1.85%) ServiceNow
9 24 (1.64%) Cisco
9 24 (1.64%) Palo Alto
10 22 (1.50%) Adobe
10 22 (1.50%) Google
10 22 (1.50%) Tenable
11 15 (1.03%) Foundry
11 15 (1.03%) OpenAI
12 14 (0.96%) Citrix
13 12 (0.82%) IBM
14 10 (0.68%) Splunk
15 9 (0.62%) McAfee