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 15 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 117 87 209
Rank change year-on-year -30 +122 -15
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,644 1,647 1,352
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.66% 3.35% 1.34%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.26% 3.72% 1.63%
Number of salaries quoted 989 486 726
10th Percentile £35,000 £39,000 £35,500
25th Percentile £42,500 £46,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,649 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -1.17% +1.18% -12.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,250 £71,915
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,000 £54,250 £52,500
% change year-on-year -2.30% +3.33% -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 72,817 44,332 83,106
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.70% 90.20% 82.17%
Number of salaries quoted 50,259 24,803 58,175
10th Percentile £30,250 £28,750 £29,750
25th Percentile £41,250 £38,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -8.84%
75th Percentile £78,750 £77,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £98,750 £92,500
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 15 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 15 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 -30 1,493 £55,000 -0.06% 1,199
UK excluding London -49 1,102 £53,000 -2.30% 1,028
Work from Home +114 524 £55,000 -8.33% 766
London +69 430 £75,000 -3.23% 377
South East -44 323 £55,000 - 299
North of England +95 311 £55,000 +15.35% 218
North West +74 193 £55,000 +15.35% 112
Midlands -58 179 £42,500 -22.73% 155
South West -40 114 £52,500 -0.19% 119
East of England -81 107 £62,500 +9.65% 118
West Midlands +2 103 £44,000 -29.60% 72
East Midlands -75 74 £34,500 -27.37% 83
Yorkshire +4 63 £44,000 +4.45% 73
North East -11 55 £55,000 +22.22% 33
Scotland +6 42 £50,000 -13.84% 83
Wales -36 26 £47,500 -13.64% 34
Northern Ireland -56 2 - - 23

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 54 (3.28%) Apache Airflow
2 50 (3.04%) Apache Spark
3 48 (2.92%) Apache
4 28 (1.70%) Confluence
5 27 (1.64%) SharePoint
6 21 (1.28%) ArcGIS
7 18 (1.09%) Jupyter
8 15 (0.91%) Microsoft Exchange
9 12 (0.73%) SAS
10 5 (0.30%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 5 (0.30%) CMS
11 4 (0.24%) Kinematics
12 3 (0.18%) Appian
12 3 (0.18%) Artix
13 2 (0.12%) IIS
13 2 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
14 1 (0.061%) Oracle Workflow
14 1 (0.061%) Palantir Foundry
14 1 (0.061%) WebSphere
Applications
1 87 (5.29%) Microsoft Excel
2 53 (3.22%) Microsoft Office
3 26 (1.58%) Microsoft Project
4 21 (1.28%) MS Visio
5 19 (1.16%) Simulink
6 16 (0.97%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 12 (0.73%) Spreadsheet
8 8 (0.49%) SOLIDWORKS
9 5 (0.30%) AutoCAD
9 5 (0.30%) LaTeX
10 4 (0.24%) Adobe XD
10 4 (0.24%) CANalyzer
10 4 (0.24%) Sketch
11 3 (0.18%) Autodesk Inventor
11 3 (0.18%) Productboard
11 3 (0.18%) Stateflow
12 2 (0.12%) Solid Edge
13 1 (0.061%) Revit
13 1 (0.061%) Siemens NX
13 1 (0.061%) Trello
Business Applications
1 46 (2.80%) SAP S/4HANA
2 41 (2.49%) Dynamics CRM
3 11 (0.67%) SAP MDG
4 10 (0.61%) SAP ERP
5 9 (0.55%) iTrent
5 9 (0.55%) Oracle EBS
6 8 (0.49%) Oracle ERP
7 7 (0.43%) Oracle Applications
8 6 (0.36%) Elite 3E
9 5 (0.30%) Loan IQ
9 5 (0.30%) Oracle Financials
9 5 (0.30%) SAP MDG-BP
10 4 (0.24%) SAP MM
11 2 (0.12%) FastStats
11 2 (0.12%) NetSuite
11 2 (0.12%) SAP Business One
11 2 (0.12%) SAP EWM
11 2 (0.12%) SAP FSCM
11 2 (0.12%) SAP PSCD
11 2 (0.12%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 243 (14.78%) Azure
2 220 (13.38%) AWS
3 161 (9.79%) Power Platform
4 81 (4.93%) SaaS
5 80 (4.87%) GCP
6 64 (3.89%) Azure DevOps
7 49 (2.98%) Serverless
8 46 (2.80%) Microsoft 365
9 41 (2.49%) GitHub
10 40 (2.43%) Amazon S3
11 30 (1.82%) Dynamics 365
12 24 (1.46%) Azure Data Factory
13 22 (1.34%) GitHub Actions
13 22 (1.34%) Snowflake
14 21 (1.28%) Entra ID
15 20 (1.22%) Cloud Computing
16 19 (1.16%) Amazon EC2
16 19 (1.16%) Power Automate
17 18 (1.09%) Microsoft Copilot
17 18 (1.09%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 71 (4.32%) Broadband
2 50 (3.04%) Firewall
3 34 (2.07%) DNS
4 25 (1.52%) TCP/IP
4 25 (1.52%) Wireless
5 22 (1.34%) WAN
6 19 (1.16%) Network Security
7 17 (1.03%) VPN
8 15 (0.91%) CHAP
9 14 (0.85%) Internet
9 14 (0.85%) SD-WAN
10 13 (0.79%) Ethernet
10 13 (0.79%) MQTT
10 13 (0.79%) Wi-Fi
10 13 (0.79%) Wireshark
11 11 (0.67%) HTTP
12 10 (0.61%) 5G
12 10 (0.61%) LAN
13 9 (0.55%) NAS
14 8 (0.49%) NGN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 147 (8.94%) Power BI
2 59 (3.59%) PostgreSQL
3 58 (3.53%) Tableau
4 52 (3.16%) Data Warehouse
5 50 (3.04%) SQL Server
6 40 (2.43%) Metadata
7 34 (2.07%) MongoDB
8 31 (1.89%) Data Lake
9 29 (1.76%) Relational Database
10 26 (1.58%) BigQuery
11 25 (1.52%) QGIS
11 25 (1.52%) Semantic Layer
12 23 (1.40%) GIS
13 22 (1.34%) Azure SQL Database
14 20 (1.22%) Amazon Athena
14 20 (1.22%) DynamoDB
14 20 (1.22%) MySQL
14 20 (1.22%) Spatial Data
15 19 (1.16%) Spark SQL
16 17 (1.03%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 100 (6.08%) JIRA
2 84 (5.11%) Git
3 52 (3.16%) Jenkins
4 45 (2.74%) GitLab
5 30 (1.82%) Rational DOORS
6 22 (1.34%) Snyk
7 19 (1.16%) Selenium
8 17 (1.03%) Postman
9 15 (0.91%) LabVIEW
10 13 (0.79%) Cypress.io
10 13 (0.79%) IBM UrbanCode
10 13 (0.79%) JMeter
11 12 (0.73%) Cucumber
12 10 (0.61%) TeamCity
13 8 (0.49%) Burp Suite
13 8 (0.49%) REST Assured
14 7 (0.43%) MLflow
14 7 (0.43%) Rational Rhapsody
15 6 (0.36%) GDB
15 6 (0.36%) Zephyr
General
1 535 (32.54%) Social Skills
2 435 (26.46%) Finance
3 369 (22.45%) Analytical Skills
4 123 (7.48%) Aerospace
5 122 (7.42%) Manufacturing
6 118 (7.18%) Electronics
7 100 (6.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 91 (5.54%) Banking
9 70 (4.26%) Retail
10 64 (3.89%) Public Sector
11 53 (3.22%) Legal
11 53 (3.22%) Organisational Skills
12 51 (3.10%) Law
12 51 (3.10%) Pharmaceutical
13 45 (2.74%) Marketing
14 42 (2.55%) Games
15 41 (2.49%) Automotive
16 30 (1.82%) Financial Institution
17 29 (1.76%) Documentation Skills
18 26 (1.58%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 290 (17.64%) Senior
2 247 (15.02%) Analyst
3 131 (7.97%) Lead
4 123 (7.48%) Systems Engineer
5 109 (6.63%) Test Engineer
6 104 (6.33%) Architect
7 85 (5.17%) Data Engineer
8 83 (5.05%) Consultant
9 77 (4.68%) Business Analyst
9 77 (4.68%) Validation Engineer
10 75 (4.56%) Developer
11 70 (4.26%) Data Analyst
12 44 (2.68%) Embedded Engineer
13 43 (2.62%) Support Engineer
14 42 (2.55%) Principal Engineer
15 41 (2.49%) IT Manager
15 41 (2.49%) Software Engineer
16 39 (2.37%) Senior Systems Engineer
17 36 (2.19%) Project Manager
18 35 (2.13%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (2.80%) RESTful
2 38 (2.31%) Node.js
3 36 (2.19%) PySpark
4 34 (2.07%) JSON
5 33 (2.01%) Kafka
5 33 (2.01%) REST
6 32 (1.95%) PyTorch
7 31 (1.89%) XML
8 26 (1.58%) Pandas
9 24 (1.46%) .NET
9 24 (1.46%) Middleware
10 22 (1.34%) Playwright
11 19 (1.16%) Regular Expression
11 19 (1.16%) XMPP
12 18 (1.09%) CSS
12 18 (1.09%) React
13 17 (1.03%) HTML
13 17 (1.03%) pytest
14 16 (0.97%) FastAPI
14 16 (0.97%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 107 (6.51%) Cloud Native
2 98 (5.96%) Onboarding
3 73 (4.44%) Data Structures
4 72 (4.38%) Management Information System
5 62 (3.77%) Algorithms
6 56 (3.41%) Product Ownership
7 50 (3.04%) Embedded Systems
8 46 (2.80%) Data Centre
8 46 (2.80%) Low-Code
9 44 (2.68%) Driving Licence
10 43 (2.62%) Distributed Systems
11 41 (2.49%) Enterprise Software
12 37 (2.25%) Analytical Mindset
13 34 (2.07%) Self-Motivation
14 31 (1.89%) Legacy Systems
14 31 (1.89%) Video\Live Streaming
15 30 (1.82%) Life Science
16 24 (1.46%) FPGA
16 24 (1.46%) IoT
16 24 (1.46%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 112 (6.81%) Linux
2 80 (4.87%) Windows
3 30 (1.82%) Windows Server
4 25 (1.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 21 (1.28%) Unix
6 7 (0.43%) Android
7 6 (0.36%) FreeRTOS
8 5 (0.30%) Embedded Linux
9 4 (0.24%) Kali Linux
9 4 (0.24%) Mac OS X
9 4 (0.24%) Robot Operating System
10 3 (0.18%) AIX
10 3 (0.18%) Mac OS
11 2 (0.12%) Apple iOS
11 2 (0.12%) ThreadX
12 1 (0.061%) CentOS
12 1 (0.061%) Rocky
12 1 (0.061%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.061%) VxWorks
12 1 (0.061%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 371 (22.57%) Problem-Solving
2 349 (21.23%) Continuous Improvement
3 344 (20.92%) Agile
4 309 (18.80%) AI
5 263 (16.00%) CI/CD
6 235 (14.29%) Analytics
7 227 (13.81%) Test Automation
8 210 (12.77%) Migration
9 190 (11.56%) Stakeholder Management
10 177 (10.77%) Mentoring
11 175 (10.64%) Business Intelligence
12 173 (10.52%) Data Validation
13 169 (10.28%) Decision-Making
13 169 (10.28%) Verification and Validation
14 168 (10.22%) DevOps
15 162 (9.85%) Data Analysis
16 161 (9.79%) Data Modelling
16 161 (9.79%) Software Engineering
17 152 (9.25%) Machine Learning
18 148 (9.00%) Data Governance
Programming Languages
1 429 (26.09%) Python
2 349 (21.23%) SQL
3 75 (4.56%) C++
4 72 (4.38%) C
5 68 (4.14%) Java
6 50 (3.04%) Go
7 47 (2.86%) C#
8 38 (2.31%) JavaScript
9 33 (2.01%) MATLAB
10 28 (1.70%) PowerShell
11 26 (1.58%) Bash
12 24 (1.46%) T-SQL
13 21 (1.28%) Embedded C
14 18 (1.09%) Embedded C++
15 16 (0.97%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 15 (0.91%) TypeScript
17 14 (0.85%) Scala
18 10 (0.61%) ABAP
19 9 (0.55%) VBA
20 8 (0.49%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 325 (19.77%) Degree
2 180 (10.95%) Security Cleared
3 109 (6.63%) BPSS Clearance
4 87 (5.29%) SC Cleared
5 76 (4.62%) Master's Degree
6 50 (3.04%) DV Cleared
7 41 (2.49%) Computer Science Degree
8 31 (1.89%) Chartered Engineer
9 28 (1.70%) HNC
10 25 (1.52%) CISA
10 25 (1.52%) CISSP
10 25 (1.52%) SANS
11 22 (1.34%) CISM
12 21 (1.28%) PhD
13 20 (1.22%) ACCA
13 20 (1.22%) CIMA
14 19 (1.16%) AWS Certification
14 19 (1.16%) HND
15 15 (0.91%) FFIEC
15 15 (0.91%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 275 (16.73%) Data Quality
2 217 (13.20%) QA
3 62 (3.77%) Accessibility
4 60 (3.65%) GDPR
5 38 (2.31%) GRC
6 26 (1.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 22 (1.34%) IEC 61508
8 20 (1.22%) NIST
9 18 (1.09%) IFRS
10 17 (1.03%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 16 (0.97%) ISO 9001
11 16 (0.97%) PMO
11 16 (0.97%) SLA
12 15 (0.91%) COBIT
13 13 (0.79%) GAAP
13 13 (0.79%) ISO 26262
14 12 (0.73%) WCAG
15 11 (0.67%) SOC 2
16 10 (0.61%) GxP
17 9 (0.55%) MISRA
System Software
1 68 (4.14%) Docker
2 56 (3.41%) Firmware
3 38 (2.31%) Active Directory
4 26 (1.58%) Virtual Machines
5 25 (1.52%) Embedded Firmware
6 21 (1.28%) vSphere
7 15 (0.91%) VMware Infrastructure
8 6 (0.36%) KVM
9 5 (0.30%) Hyper-V
10 2 (0.12%) Terminal Services
10 2 (0.12%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 72 (4.38%) Terraform
2 67 (4.08%) Kubernetes
3 38 (2.31%) Grafana
4 23 (1.40%) Ansible
4 23 (1.40%) Functional Safety
5 15 (0.91%) Prometheus
6 12 (0.73%) Puppet
7 10 (0.61%) Cilium
8 7 (0.43%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 7 (0.43%) Kibana
9 6 (0.36%) SCCM
10 3 (0.18%) Argo
10 3 (0.18%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.18%) HP Fortify
10 3 (0.18%) Nessus
10 3 (0.18%) Nmap
10 3 (0.18%) Rancher
10 3 (0.18%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.18%) yum
11 2 (0.12%) Computer Incident Response Team
Vendors
1 220 (13.38%) Microsoft
2 105 (6.39%) SAP
3 99 (6.02%) Oracle
4 51 (3.10%) Salesforce
5 44 (2.68%) Databricks
6 34 (2.07%) Red Hat
6 34 (2.07%) VMware
7 33 (2.01%) ServiceNow
8 29 (1.76%) Cisco
8 29 (1.76%) CrowdStrike
9 27 (1.64%) Google
10 23 (1.40%) Palo Alto
11 22 (1.34%) Tenable
12 17 (1.03%) Adobe
13 16 (0.97%) Foundry
13 16 (0.97%) IBM
14 15 (0.91%) McAfee
15 14 (0.85%) Citrix
16 13 (0.79%) EMC
17 12 (0.73%) Informatica