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 4 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 136 168 186
Rank change year-on-year +32 +18 -22
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,226 759 1,442
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.52% 1.85% 1.58%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.99% 1.99% 1.84%
Number of salaries quoted 696 381 790
10th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £35,000
25th Percentile £43,750 £46,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £56,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% +1.82% -8.33%
75th Percentile £77,500 £71,250 £72,433
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,500 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -2.73% +4.76% -4.55%

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 61,485 38,072 78,558
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 76.40% 93.03% 86.34%
Number of salaries quoted 37,986 22,481 58,309
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £29,241
25th Percentile £40,000 £43,750 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,500 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -7.50% +9.09% -11.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £80,000 £73,000
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,500 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £54,321 £50,000
% change year-on-year -7.95% +8.64% -8.41%

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 4 April 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 4 April 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 +32 1,070 £60,000 +7.14% 872
UK excluding London +10 785 £53,500 -2.73% 714
Work from Home +104 354 £57,500 +0.88% 341
London +54 331 £75,000 +7.14% 268
South East +36 248 £55,000 +7.32% 215
North of England +2 175 £60,000 +25.83% 152
Midlands -29 131 £37,500 -31.82% 118
North West +15 111 £60,000 +25.83% 74
East of England -2 93 £57,500 +4.55% 96
West Midlands -8 79 £44,000 -32.31% 77
South West -24 78 £53,750 -2.27% 89
East Midlands -36 50 £34,500 -32.35% 41
Scotland -21 44 £42,000 -27.63% 42
Yorkshire -32 43 £60,000 +26.32% 51
North East -5 21 £50,000 -11.89% 27
Wales -23 15 £55,000 +12.01% 16
Northern Ireland -41 3 - - 5

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 42 (3.43%) Apache Airflow
2 27 (2.20%) Apache Spark
3 23 (1.88%) Apache
4 20 (1.63%) ArcGIS
4 20 (1.63%) Confluence
5 16 (1.31%) Microsoft Exchange
6 12 (0.98%) Appian
6 12 (0.98%) CMS
7 9 (0.73%) SharePoint
8 6 (0.49%) Kinematics
9 4 (0.33%) Headless CMS
10 2 (0.16%) WordPress
11 1 (0.082%) Anypoint
11 1 (0.082%) IIS
11 1 (0.082%) Jupyter
11 1 (0.082%) Palantir Foundry
11 1 (0.082%) SAS
Applications
1 88 (7.18%) Microsoft Excel
2 59 (4.81%) Microsoft Office
3 18 (1.47%) MS Visio
4 17 (1.39%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.57%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 6 (0.49%) Simulink
7 5 (0.41%) Spreadsheet
8 4 (0.33%) CANalyzer
8 4 (0.33%) Fusion 360
8 4 (0.33%) Microsoft Project
9 3 (0.24%) Solid Edge
9 3 (0.24%) SOLIDWORKS
10 2 (0.16%) Adobe After Effects
10 2 (0.16%) Adobe Captivate
10 2 (0.16%) Adobe Illustrator
10 2 (0.16%) Adobe Premiere
10 2 (0.16%) CATIA
10 2 (0.16%) Oracle Smart View
10 2 (0.16%) Photoshop
10 2 (0.16%) Weka
Business Applications
1 21 (1.71%) SAP S/4HANA
2 17 (1.39%) Dynamics CRM
3 8 (0.65%) Oracle ERP
4 7 (0.57%) Workday HCM
5 5 (0.41%) Elite 3E
5 5 (0.41%) Loan IQ
6 4 (0.33%) Markit EDM
6 4 (0.33%) SAP BPC
6 4 (0.33%) SAP ERP
7 3 (0.24%) SAP MDG
8 2 (0.16%) IBM Planning Analytics
8 2 (0.16%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
8 2 (0.16%) SAP CX
8 2 (0.16%) SAP FSCM
9 1 (0.082%) Endur
9 1 (0.082%) Magento
9 1 (0.082%) NetSuite
9 1 (0.082%) Oracle Applications
9 1 (0.082%) Oracle Financials
9 1 (0.082%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 183 (14.93%) Azure
2 121 (9.87%) AWS
3 111 (9.05%) Power Platform
4 59 (4.81%) SaaS
5 44 (3.59%) GCP
6 42 (3.43%) Azure DevOps
7 32 (2.61%) Dynamics 365
8 31 (2.53%) dbt
9 30 (2.45%) Azure Data Factory
10 29 (2.37%) Power Automate
10 29 (2.37%) Snowflake
11 24 (1.96%) Amazon S3
12 23 (1.88%) GitHub
13 22 (1.79%) Entra ID
14 20 (1.63%) Microsoft 365
15 18 (1.47%) Datadog
16 16 (1.31%) OpenShift
17 15 (1.22%) Azure AI
18 14 (1.14%) Serverless
19 13 (1.06%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 25 (2.04%) CHAP
2 21 (1.71%) Broadband
3 17 (1.39%) Firewall
3 17 (1.39%) WAN
4 15 (1.22%) TCP/IP
5 14 (1.14%) DNS
5 14 (1.14%) SD-WAN
5 14 (1.14%) Wireless
6 12 (0.98%) 5G
7 9 (0.73%) HTTP
7 9 (0.73%) Multicast
8 8 (0.65%) Modbus
9 7 (0.57%) LAN
9 7 (0.57%) MQTT
9 7 (0.57%) Wireshark
10 6 (0.49%) ATM
10 6 (0.49%) NAS
10 6 (0.49%) tcpdump
10 6 (0.49%) VPN
11 5 (0.41%) WAAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 104 (8.48%) Power BI
2 44 (3.59%) SQL Server
3 43 (3.51%) Tableau
4 31 (2.53%) Data Warehouse
5 30 (2.45%) Relational Database
6 26 (2.12%) Metadata
7 25 (2.04%) GIS
7 25 (2.04%) PostgreSQL
8 20 (1.63%) QGIS
8 20 (1.63%) Spatial Data
9 17 (1.39%) Oracle Reports
10 15 (1.22%) Spark SQL
11 14 (1.14%) Azure SQL Database
11 14 (1.14%) Oracle Database
12 13 (1.06%) Apache Hive
12 13 (1.06%) Impala
12 13 (1.06%) MySQL
12 13 (1.06%) Parquet
12 13 (1.06%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 12 (0.98%) Data Lake
Development Applications
1 68 (5.55%) Git
2 65 (5.30%) JIRA
3 42 (3.43%) Rational DOORS
4 22 (1.79%) Jenkins
5 18 (1.47%) JMeter
5 18 (1.47%) Postman
6 17 (1.39%) Cucumber
7 16 (1.31%) LabVIEW
8 15 (1.22%) GitLab
9 14 (1.14%) MLflow
9 14 (1.14%) Selenium
9 14 (1.14%) TestRail
10 13 (1.06%) IBM UrbanCode
11 12 (0.98%) Locust
12 11 (0.90%) Eclipse
13 7 (0.57%) SoapUI
14 6 (0.49%) LoadRunner
14 6 (0.49%) Subversion
15 5 (0.41%) Robot Framework
15 5 (0.41%) SpecFlow
General
1 429 (34.99%) Social Skills
2 322 (26.26%) Finance
3 274 (22.35%) Analytical Skills
4 84 (6.85%) Banking
5 80 (6.53%) Manufacturing
6 71 (5.79%) Electronics
7 70 (5.71%) Aerospace
8 58 (4.73%) Legal
9 51 (4.16%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 46 (3.75%) Retail
11 43 (3.51%) Law
11 43 (3.51%) Public Sector
12 40 (3.26%) Financial Institution
12 40 (3.26%) Marketing
13 39 (3.18%) Presentation Skills
14 30 (2.45%) Organisational Skills
15 28 (2.28%) Pharmaceutical
16 24 (1.96%) Automotive
16 24 (1.96%) Telecoms
17 22 (1.79%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 208 (16.97%) Analyst
2 189 (15.42%) Senior
3 145 (11.83%) Systems Engineer
4 93 (7.59%) Lead
5 79 (6.44%) Business Analyst
6 73 (5.95%) Validation Engineer
7 68 (5.55%) Test Engineer
8 62 (5.06%) Architect
9 59 (4.81%) Consultant
10 55 (4.49%) Integration Engineer
11 53 (4.32%) Data Analyst
12 45 (3.67%) Developer
13 42 (3.43%) Junior
13 42 (3.43%) Principal Engineer
13 42 (3.43%) Senior Systems Engineer
14 39 (3.18%) Systems Integration Engineer
15 38 (3.10%) Data Engineer
16 35 (2.85%) Software Validation Engineer
16 35 (2.85%) Verification Engineer
17 31 (2.53%) Principal Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 59 (4.81%) REST
2 39 (3.18%) PyTorch
3 37 (3.02%) Pandas
4 34 (2.77%) JSON
5 29 (2.37%) Middleware
6 26 (2.12%) pytest
7 25 (2.04%) XML
8 20 (1.63%) PySpark
9 19 (1.55%) OAuth
10 18 (1.47%) .NET
10 18 (1.47%) JWT
10 18 (1.47%) NumPy
10 18 (1.47%) Swagger
10 18 (1.47%) TensorFlow
11 16 (1.31%) RESTful
12 15 (1.22%) Kafka
12 15 (1.22%) React
12 15 (1.22%) scikit-learn
12 15 (1.22%) Web Services
13 14 (1.14%) CSS
Miscellaneous
1 71 (5.79%) Management Information System
2 56 (4.57%) Onboarding
3 48 (3.92%) Data Structures
4 37 (3.02%) Low-Code
5 34 (2.77%) Product Ownership
6 33 (2.69%) Algorithms
6 33 (2.69%) Legacy Systems
7 29 (2.37%) Self-Motivation
8 25 (2.04%) Analytical Mindset
9 24 (1.96%) Life Science
10 19 (1.55%) Cloud Native
10 19 (1.55%) Embedded Systems
11 18 (1.47%) Enterprise Software
12 16 (1.31%) Robotics
13 15 (1.22%) SCADA
14 14 (1.14%) Blockchain
14 14 (1.14%) Data Centre
15 13 (1.06%) IoT
15 13 (1.06%) Reinsurance
16 11 (0.90%) Hackathon
Operating Systems
1 65 (5.30%) Linux
2 57 (4.65%) Windows
3 17 (1.39%) Unix
4 16 (1.31%) Windows Server
5 15 (1.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 12 (0.98%) Android
7 4 (0.33%) Apple iOS
7 4 (0.33%) CentOS
8 3 (0.24%) Robot Operating System
9 2 (0.16%) AIX
9 2 (0.16%) FreeRTOS
9 2 (0.16%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.16%) VxWorks
10 1 (0.082%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.082%) Kali Linux
10 1 (0.082%) Rocky
10 1 (0.082%) ThreadX
10 1 (0.082%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.082%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 289 (23.57%) Agile
2 267 (21.78%) Problem-Solving
3 238 (19.41%) Continuous Improvement
4 199 (16.23%) Verification and Validation
5 190 (15.50%) Analytics
6 161 (13.13%) AI
7 158 (12.89%) Data Validation
8 153 (12.48%) Test Automation
9 144 (11.75%) CI/CD
10 135 (11.01%) Business Intelligence
10 135 (11.01%) Systems Engineering
11 130 (10.60%) Migration
12 128 (10.44%) Stakeholder Management
13 124 (10.11%) Data Modelling
14 123 (10.03%) DevOps
15 118 (9.62%) Mentoring
16 116 (9.46%) User Acceptance Testing
17 115 (9.38%) Decision-Making
18 111 (9.05%) ETL
19 107 (8.73%) Data Governance
Programming Languages
1 274 (22.35%) Python
2 248 (20.23%) SQL
3 51 (4.16%) Java
4 40 (3.26%) C++
5 37 (3.02%) PowerShell
6 35 (2.85%) C
7 30 (2.45%) JavaScript
8 25 (2.04%) Bash
9 20 (1.63%) C#
10 19 (1.55%) T-SQL
11 18 (1.47%) Go
12 17 (1.39%) MATLAB
13 14 (1.14%) TypeScript
14 11 (0.90%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 11 (0.90%) R
15 9 (0.73%) VBA
16 8 (0.65%) Embedded C
17 7 (0.57%) Apex Code
17 7 (0.57%) VB
18 6 (0.49%) PHP
Qualifications
1 278 (22.68%) Degree
2 156 (12.72%) Security Cleared
3 130 (10.60%) BPSS Clearance
4 58 (4.73%) SC Cleared
5 54 (4.40%) Master's Degree
6 40 (3.26%) Computer Science Degree
7 32 (2.61%) CISA
7 32 (2.61%) CISSP
8 31 (2.53%) CISM
8 31 (2.53%) DV Cleared
9 28 (2.28%) Chartered Engineer
10 25 (2.04%) CGEIT
10 25 (2.04%) FFIEC
10 25 (2.04%) SANS
11 24 (1.96%) HNC
12 21 (1.71%) PMI Certification
13 20 (1.63%) PMP
14 18 (1.47%) HND
15 17 (1.39%) ISTQB
16 11 (0.90%) ACCA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 157 (12.81%) Data Quality
2 144 (11.75%) QA
3 65 (5.30%) GDPR
4 64 (5.22%) Accessibility
5 41 (3.34%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 26 (2.12%) NIST
7 25 (2.04%) COBIT
8 19 (1.55%) GRC
8 19 (1.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 18 (1.47%) SLA
10 17 (1.39%) WCAG
11 16 (1.31%) IFRS
12 13 (1.06%) ISO 9001
13 11 (0.90%) IEC 61508
13 11 (0.90%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 10 (0.82%) GAAP
14 10 (0.82%) Good Clinical Practice
15 9 (0.73%) 21 CFR Part 11
16 8 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 12207
16 8 (0.65%) PMO
System Software
1 71 (5.79%) Docker
2 27 (2.20%) Active Directory
3 26 (2.12%) Firmware
4 15 (1.22%) VMware Infrastructure
5 9 (0.73%) vSphere
6 6 (0.49%) Hyper-V
6 6 (0.49%) KVM
7 4 (0.33%) Embedded Firmware
7 4 (0.33%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.24%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.16%) Ceph
9 2 (0.16%) Lustre
9 2 (0.16%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 2 (0.16%) Terminal Services
10 1 (0.082%) iptables
10 1 (0.082%) OpenAM
10 1 (0.082%) OpenDJ
10 1 (0.082%) OpenIDM
10 1 (0.082%) pfSense
10 1 (0.082%) vCloud
Systems Management
1 69 (5.63%) Kubernetes
2 49 (4.00%) Terraform
3 33 (2.69%) Grafana
4 25 (2.04%) Ansible
5 16 (1.31%) Prometheus
6 12 (0.98%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
7 10 (0.82%) SCCM
8 8 (0.65%) Puppet
9 7 (0.57%) Functional Safety
9 7 (0.57%) Microsoft Intune
10 5 (0.41%) Argo
10 5 (0.41%) Rancher
10 5 (0.41%) yum
11 2 (0.16%) BMC PATROL
11 2 (0.16%) Cilium
11 2 (0.16%) Nessus
11 2 (0.16%) PowerCLI
12 1 (0.082%) Control-M
12 1 (0.082%) Istio
12 1 (0.082%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 158 (12.89%) Microsoft
2 64 (5.22%) Oracle
3 53 (4.32%) SAP
4 47 (3.83%) Salesforce
5 23 (1.88%) Red Hat
5 23 (1.88%) VMware
6 20 (1.63%) Foundry
6 20 (1.63%) IBM
7 19 (1.55%) Cisco
7 19 (1.55%) Databricks
8 16 (1.31%) Adobe
8 16 (1.31%) OpenAI
9 15 (1.22%) Google
9 15 (1.22%) ServiceNow
10 13 (1.06%) Workday
11 12 (0.98%) Automation Anywhere
11 12 (0.98%) UiPath
12 10 (0.82%) Citrix
12 10 (0.82%) Intapp
12 10 (0.82%) Siemens