Validation Job Trends

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

6 months to
15 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 154 155 192
Rank change year-on-year +1 +37 -49
Permanent jobs citing Validation 929 978 927
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.54% 1.82% 1.67%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.90% 2.01% 1.86%
Number of salaries quoted 494 358 516
10th Percentile £36,250 £37,500 £36,875
25th Percentile £41,375 £45,313 £48,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -11.54%
75th Percentile £77,500 £71,250 £74,063
90th Percentile £90,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,000 £52,550 £52,500
% change year-on-year +0.86% +0.10% -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 48,808 48,616 49,870
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 80.95% 90.71% 89.93%
Number of salaries quoted 28,796 23,669 37,967
10th Percentile £28,500 £35,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £37,500 £45,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £77,715
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £51,971
% change year-on-year -9.09% +5.83% -5.51%

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 January 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 January 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 +11 838 £60,000 +9.09% 1,022
UK excluding London +8 602 £53,000 +0.86% 954
London +36 268 £75,000 +20.00% 193
Work from Home +84 241 £60,000 +9.09% 504
South East +24 203 £49,750 -13.48% 319
North of England -17 123 £55,000 +19.29% 154
Midlands +8 84 £40,000 -23.08% 120
East of England +11 77 £60,000 +9.09% 160
North West -3 77 £54,500 +14.30% 62
South West +13 70 £55,000 +4.56% 152
West Midlands -3 52 £37,500 -28.57% 59
Yorkshire -8 36 £61,250 +51.33% 67
Scotland -10 34 £51,000 -12.12% 43
East Midlands -2 32 £42,500 -5.56% 61
North East +3 10 £31,000 -25.30% 27
Wales +7 8 £65,000 +32.37% 36
Northern Ireland -19 3 - - 14

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 24 (2.58%) Confluence
2 18 (1.94%) Apache Airflow
3 12 (1.29%) Apache Spark
4 11 (1.18%) SharePoint
5 9 (0.97%) Appian
5 9 (0.97%) CMS
6 7 (0.75%) Apache
6 7 (0.75%) SugarCRM
7 5 (0.54%) Microsoft Exchange
8 4 (0.43%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.32%) Jupyter
9 3 (0.32%) SAS
10 2 (0.22%) Kinematics
10 2 (0.22%) WordPress
11 1 (0.11%) Anypoint
11 1 (0.11%) Apache Superset
11 1 (0.11%) ArcGIS
11 1 (0.11%) FileNet
Applications
1 65 (7.00%) Microsoft Office
2 63 (6.78%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.61%) MS Visio
4 14 (1.51%) Simulink
5 8 (0.86%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 7 (0.75%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 4 (0.43%) Fusion 360
7 4 (0.43%) Mathcad
8 3 (0.32%) Oracle Smart View
9 2 (0.22%) Adobe After Effects
9 2 (0.22%) Adobe Captivate
9 2 (0.22%) Adobe Illustrator
9 2 (0.22%) Adobe Premiere
9 2 (0.22%) AutoCAD
9 2 (0.22%) Elementor
9 2 (0.22%) Photoshop
9 2 (0.22%) Revit
9 2 (0.22%) Weka
10 1 (0.11%) CATIA
10 1 (0.11%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 20 (2.15%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.18%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.75%) Workday HCM
4 5 (0.54%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.43%) Markit EDM
5 4 (0.43%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 4 (0.43%) SAP BPC
6 3 (0.32%) Oracle Assets
6 3 (0.32%) Oracle Cash Management
6 3 (0.32%) Oracle General Ledger
6 3 (0.32%) Oracle Payables
6 3 (0.32%) Oracle Receivables
6 3 (0.32%) SAP CX
7 2 (0.22%) Aladdin
7 2 (0.22%) Endur
7 2 (0.22%) IBM Planning Analytics
7 2 (0.22%) NetSuite
7 2 (0.22%) Primavera
7 2 (0.22%) SAP ERP
8 1 (0.11%) SAP MDG
Cloud Services
1 138 (14.85%) Azure
2 74 (7.97%) Power Platform
3 69 (7.43%) AWS
4 44 (4.74%) SaaS
5 39 (4.20%) Azure DevOps
6 29 (3.12%) GCP
7 26 (2.80%) Snowflake
8 21 (2.26%) Dynamics 365
9 20 (2.15%) Azure Data Factory
9 20 (2.15%) dbt
10 17 (1.83%) GitHub
10 17 (1.83%) Power Automate
11 14 (1.51%) Microsoft 365
12 12 (1.29%) Amazon S3
13 11 (1.18%) Datadog
13 11 (1.18%) Entra ID
13 11 (1.18%) Figma
14 10 (1.08%) Azure AI
15 9 (0.97%) Anthropic Claude
15 9 (0.97%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 14 (1.51%) CHAP
1 14 (1.51%) Firewall
2 13 (1.40%) LAN
3 11 (1.18%) DNS
3 11 (1.18%) WAN
4 10 (1.08%) 5G
5 8 (0.86%) HTTP
5 8 (0.86%) MQTT
5 8 (0.86%) SD-WAN
6 7 (0.75%) Modbus
6 7 (0.75%) TCP/IP
7 6 (0.65%) Wireless
8 5 (0.54%) Cisco IOS
8 5 (0.54%) Ethernet VPN
8 5 (0.54%) SMTP
8 5 (0.54%) WAAS
9 4 (0.43%) BGP
9 4 (0.43%) Internet
9 4 (0.43%) OSPF
9 4 (0.43%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (7.64%) Power BI
2 34 (3.66%) Data Warehouse
3 29 (3.12%) SQL Server
4 25 (2.69%) Metadata
5 24 (2.58%) Tableau
6 20 (2.15%) Relational Database
7 14 (1.51%) BigQuery
7 14 (1.51%) Oracle Reports
8 10 (1.08%) Data Lake
8 10 (1.08%) Spotfire
9 9 (0.97%) Amazon Redshift
9 9 (0.97%) Pinecone
10 8 (0.86%) Big Data
10 8 (0.86%) PostgreSQL
11 7 (0.75%) Looker
12 6 (0.65%) Azure SQL Database
12 6 (0.65%) GIS
12 6 (0.65%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 5 (0.54%) NoSQL
13 5 (0.54%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 75 (8.07%) JIRA
2 48 (5.17%) Rational DOORS
3 43 (4.63%) Git
4 24 (2.58%) Postman
5 19 (2.05%) Jenkins
6 14 (1.51%) Selenium
6 14 (1.51%) TestRail
7 12 (1.29%) Cucumber
7 12 (1.29%) JMeter
8 11 (1.18%) GitLab
8 11 (1.18%) LabVIEW
8 11 (1.18%) MLflow
9 10 (1.08%) SoapUI
10 8 (0.86%) Eclipse
11 7 (0.75%) LoadRunner
11 7 (0.75%) Locust
12 6 (0.65%) Zephyr
13 5 (0.54%) Charles Proxy
13 5 (0.54%) Robot Framework
13 5 (0.54%) Subversion
General
1 337 (36.28%) Social Skills
2 260 (27.99%) Finance
3 198 (21.31%) Analytical Skills
4 60 (6.46%) Electronics
5 57 (6.14%) Banking
6 46 (4.95%) Law
6 46 (4.95%) Manufacturing
7 45 (4.84%) Presentation Skills
8 44 (4.74%) Marketing
9 39 (4.20%) Financial Institution
10 37 (3.98%) Aerospace
11 36 (3.88%) Documentation Skills
12 33 (3.55%) Organisational Skills
13 32 (3.44%) Public Sector
14 30 (3.23%) Telecoms
15 28 (3.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 27 (2.91%) Retail
17 25 (2.69%) Legal
18 24 (2.58%) Pharmaceutical
19 18 (1.94%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 145 (15.61%) Analyst
2 133 (14.32%) Senior
3 95 (10.23%) Systems Engineer
4 89 (9.58%) Lead
5 52 (5.60%) Business Analyst
6 51 (5.49%) Architect
7 43 (4.63%) Test Engineer
8 36 (3.88%) Validation Engineer
9 34 (3.66%) Data Analyst
9 34 (3.66%) Data Engineer
9 34 (3.66%) Junior
10 33 (3.55%) Developer
11 32 (3.44%) Applications Engineer
11 32 (3.44%) Integration Engineer
12 31 (3.34%) Applications Support
13 30 (3.23%) Principal Engineer
14 28 (3.01%) Support Engineer
15 26 (2.80%) Applications Support Engineer
16 24 (2.58%) Solutions Architect
17 23 (2.48%) Systems Integration Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (4.74%) REST
2 28 (3.01%) Middleware
3 25 (2.69%) JSON
4 24 (2.58%) Pandas
5 21 (2.26%) pytest
6 20 (2.15%) scikit-learn
6 20 (2.15%) XML
7 17 (1.83%) PyTorch
7 17 (1.83%) TensorFlow
8 15 (1.61%) NumPy
9 14 (1.51%) CSS
9 14 (1.51%) OAuth
10 13 (1.40%) FastAPI
10 13 (1.40%) HTML
10 13 (1.40%) JWT
10 13 (1.40%) Swagger
10 13 (1.40%) Web Services
11 12 (1.29%) Flask
12 11 (1.18%) React
13 10 (1.08%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 71 (7.64%) Management Information System
2 38 (4.09%) Onboarding
3 34 (3.66%) Product Ownership
4 32 (3.44%) Life Science
5 27 (2.91%) Self-Motivation
6 21 (2.26%) Legacy Systems
7 18 (1.94%) Low-Code
7 18 (1.94%) Operational Technology
8 17 (1.83%) Algorithms
9 16 (1.72%) Data Structures
10 15 (1.61%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
10 15 (1.61%) SCADA
11 13 (1.40%) Analytical Mindset
12 12 (1.29%) Data Centre
12 12 (1.29%) Enterprise Software
13 11 (1.18%) SWIFT Messaging Network
14 10 (1.08%) Cloud Native
14 10 (1.08%) Embedded Systems
14 10 (1.08%) FPGA
15 9 (0.97%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 54 (5.81%) Windows
2 40 (4.31%) Linux
3 13 (1.40%) Windows Server
4 11 (1.18%) Android
5 9 (0.97%) Unix
6 5 (0.54%) Windows 10
7 4 (0.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.32%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.32%) CentOS
9 2 (0.22%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.11%) AIX
10 1 (0.11%) FreeRTOS
10 1 (0.11%) Robot Operating System
10 1 (0.11%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 243 (26.16%) Agile
2 216 (23.25%) Problem-Solving
3 148 (15.93%) Verification and Validation
4 134 (14.42%) Continuous Improvement
5 120 (12.92%) Data Validation
6 119 (12.81%) Migration
7 118 (12.70%) Analytics
8 105 (11.30%) Test Automation
9 102 (10.98%) Systems Engineering
10 101 (10.87%) DevOps
11 96 (10.33%) CI/CD
12 91 (9.80%) ETL
13 89 (9.58%) Business Intelligence
14 85 (9.15%) Decision-Making
14 85 (9.15%) Mentoring
15 83 (8.93%) Data Analysis
16 78 (8.40%) AI
16 78 (8.40%) Data Management
17 77 (8.29%) Roadmaps
17 77 (8.29%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 199 (21.42%) SQL
2 171 (18.41%) Python
3 35 (3.77%) C
4 33 (3.55%) C++
5 31 (3.34%) Java
6 29 (3.12%) MATLAB
7 28 (3.01%) PowerShell
8 23 (2.48%) JavaScript
9 19 (2.05%) Bash
10 12 (1.29%) TypeScript
11 11 (1.18%) C#
12 9 (0.97%) R
13 6 (0.65%) Bicep
13 6 (0.65%) PL/SQL
13 6 (0.65%) T-SQL
14 5 (0.54%) Apex Code
14 5 (0.54%) PHP
15 4 (0.43%) Go
16 3 (0.32%) GLSL
16 3 (0.32%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 275 (29.60%) Degree
2 129 (13.89%) Security Cleared
3 108 (11.63%) BPSS Clearance
4 57 (6.14%) SC Cleared
5 49 (5.27%) Master's Degree
6 40 (4.31%) Computer Science Degree
7 19 (2.05%) Cisco Certification
8 18 (1.94%) DV Cleared
8 18 (1.94%) HNC
9 16 (1.72%) CISA
9 16 (1.72%) CISSP
9 16 (1.72%) ISTQB
10 15 (1.61%) CGEIT
10 15 (1.61%) Chartered Engineer
10 15 (1.61%) CISM
10 15 (1.61%) FFIEC
10 15 (1.61%) Microsoft Certification
10 15 (1.61%) PMI Certification
10 15 (1.61%) PMP
10 15 (1.61%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 115 (12.38%) QA
2 106 (11.41%) Data Quality
3 43 (4.63%) ISO/IEC 15288
4 35 (3.77%) SLA
5 33 (3.55%) GDPR
6 32 (3.44%) Accessibility
7 21 (2.26%) GxP
8 18 (1.94%) NIST
9 17 (1.83%) ISO/IEC 12207
10 15 (1.61%) COBIT
11 12 (1.29%) WCAG
12 11 (1.18%) ISO 20022
12 11 (1.18%) SEPA
13 10 (1.08%) Good Clinical Practice
14 9 (0.97%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 9 (0.97%) GRC
14 9 (0.97%) ISO/IEC 27001
15 7 (0.75%) Sarbanes-Oxley
15 7 (0.75%) TARGET2
16 5 (0.54%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 49 (5.27%) Docker
2 25 (2.69%) Firmware
3 15 (1.61%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (1.51%) Active Directory
5 7 (0.75%) Embedded Firmware
6 3 (0.32%) vCloud
7 2 (0.22%) Ceph
7 2 (0.22%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.22%) Lustre
7 2 (0.22%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 2 (0.22%) Slurm Workload Manager
7 2 (0.22%) Virtual Servers
7 2 (0.22%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.22%) vSphere
8 1 (0.11%) Dovecot
8 1 (0.11%) iptables
8 1 (0.11%) OpenDJ
8 1 (0.11%) Postfix
8 1 (0.11%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.11%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 41 (4.41%) Kubernetes
2 21 (2.26%) Terraform
3 18 (1.94%) Grafana
4 17 (1.83%) Ansible
5 9 (0.97%) Microsoft Intune
6 8 (0.86%) Prometheus
7 7 (0.75%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 5 (0.54%) SCCM
9 4 (0.43%) Argo
9 4 (0.43%) Rancher
9 4 (0.43%) yum
10 3 (0.32%) Docker Swarm
11 2 (0.22%) BMC PATROL
11 2 (0.22%) Functional Safety
11 2 (0.22%) Kubeflow
11 2 (0.22%) Nessus
11 2 (0.22%) Puppet
11 2 (0.22%) Rundeck
12 1 (0.11%) Control-M
12 1 (0.11%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 120 (12.92%) Microsoft
2 53 (5.71%) SAP
3 35 (3.77%) Oracle
4 29 (3.12%) Salesforce
5 27 (2.91%) Cisco
6 24 (2.58%) IBM
7 20 (2.15%) VMware
8 15 (1.61%) Foundry
9 13 (1.40%) Software AG
10 11 (1.18%) CheckPoint
10 11 (1.18%) F5
10 11 (1.18%) OpenAI
10 11 (1.18%) ServiceNow
11 10 (1.08%) Adobe
12 9 (0.97%) Automation Anywhere
12 9 (0.97%) Splunk
12 9 (0.97%) UiPath
12 9 (0.97%) Workday
13 8 (0.86%) Databricks
13 8 (0.86%) Intapp