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

6 months to
2 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 106 88 208
Rank change year-on-year -18 +120 -15
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,831 1,677 1,089
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.77% 3.38% 1.30%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.40% 3.77% 1.60%
Number of salaries quoted 1,067 512 540
10th Percentile £35,000 £38,775 £36,250
25th Percentile £42,215 £42,500 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £59,017
Median % change year-on-year - -6.81% -6.32%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,250 £74,063
90th Percentile £90,000 £91,350 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £52,600 £54,500
% change year-on-year -0.19% -3.49% -1.66%

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 76,271 44,428 67,881
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.70% 89.49% 81.01%
Number of salaries quoted 52,568 25,332 44,788
10th Percentile £30,750 £28,500 £31,199
25th Percentile £41,250 £37,500 £41,000
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 £75,000
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 2 August 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 2 August 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 -19 1,666 £55,000 - 1,538
UK excluding London -37 1,246 £52,500 -0.19% 1,031
Work from Home +125 579 £56,000 -6.67% 597
London +78 471 £75,000 -3.23% 646
South East -37 369 £55,000 - 306
North of England +109 355 £54,875 +15.53% 198
North West +94 208 £55,000 +15.35% 118
Midlands -53 192 £42,837 -22.12% 156
South West -25 133 £51,750 -1.62% 153
East of England -81 113 £62,500 +9.65% 136
West Midlands -4 104 £44,000 -23.48% 95
East Midlands -75 87 £42,500 - 61
Yorkshire +7 74 £43,000 +1.18% 40
North East +5 73 £55,000 +57.14% 43
Scotland +13 55 £52,500 -9.53% 62
Wales -44 29 £47,500 -11.63% 37
Northern Ireland -72 2 - - 6

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 61 (3.33%) Apache Airflow
2 58 (3.17%) Apache Spark
3 56 (3.06%) Apache
4 34 (1.86%) Confluence
5 31 (1.69%) SharePoint
6 21 (1.15%) ArcGIS
7 20 (1.09%) Jupyter
8 13 (0.71%) Microsoft Exchange
9 12 (0.66%) SAS
10 5 (0.27%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 5 (0.27%) CMS
11 4 (0.22%) Kinematics
12 3 (0.16%) Artix
12 3 (0.16%) Oracle SOA Suite
13 2 (0.11%) Cloud Foundry
13 2 (0.11%) IIS
13 2 (0.11%) WinCC
14 1 (0.055%) Oracle Workflow
14 1 (0.055%) Palantir Foundry
14 1 (0.055%) WebSphere
Applications
1 108 (5.90%) Microsoft Excel
2 62 (3.39%) Microsoft Office
3 30 (1.64%) Microsoft Project
4 27 (1.47%) MS Visio
5 26 (1.42%) Simulink
6 14 (0.76%) Spreadsheet
7 13 (0.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
8 10 (0.55%) SOLIDWORKS
9 5 (0.27%) AutoCAD
9 5 (0.27%) LaTeX
10 4 (0.22%) Adobe XD
10 4 (0.22%) CANalyzer
10 4 (0.22%) Mathcad
10 4 (0.22%) Sketch
11 3 (0.16%) Autodesk Inventor
11 3 (0.16%) Productboard
11 3 (0.16%) Stateflow
12 2 (0.11%) OrCAD
12 2 (0.11%) Solid Edge
13 1 (0.055%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 50 (2.73%) SAP S/4HANA
2 41 (2.24%) Dynamics CRM
3 11 (0.60%) SAP MDG
4 10 (0.55%) SAP ERP
5 9 (0.49%) Elite 3E
5 9 (0.49%) iTrent
5 9 (0.49%) Oracle EBS
6 8 (0.44%) Oracle Applications
6 8 (0.44%) Oracle ERP
7 5 (0.27%) Loan IQ
7 5 (0.27%) NetSuite
7 5 (0.27%) SAP MDG-BP
8 4 (0.22%) Oracle Financials
8 4 (0.22%) SAP MM
8 4 (0.22%) Teamcenter
8 4 (0.22%) Workday HCM
9 2 (0.11%) Oracle Payables
9 2 (0.11%) SAP FI
9 2 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
9 2 (0.11%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 279 (15.24%) Azure
2 260 (14.20%) AWS
3 168 (9.18%) Power Platform
4 87 (4.75%) GCP
5 81 (4.42%) SaaS
6 69 (3.77%) Azure DevOps
7 53 (2.89%) Microsoft 365
8 50 (2.73%) Serverless
9 49 (2.68%) GitHub
10 44 (2.40%) Amazon S3
11 39 (2.13%) Dynamics 365
12 25 (1.37%) Entra ID
13 24 (1.31%) GitHub Actions
13 24 (1.31%) Microsoft Copilot
14 22 (1.20%) Amazon EC2
14 22 (1.20%) Cloud Computing
14 22 (1.20%) Snowflake
15 21 (1.15%) Amazon EMR
16 20 (1.09%) PowerApps
17 19 (1.04%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 71 (3.88%) Broadband
2 52 (2.84%) Firewall
3 44 (2.40%) DNS
4 30 (1.64%) TCP/IP
4 30 (1.64%) Wireless
5 24 (1.31%) Network Security
6 23 (1.26%) VPN
6 23 (1.26%) WAN
7 17 (0.93%) Ethernet
8 16 (0.87%) Wi-Fi
9 15 (0.82%) MQTT
9 15 (0.82%) SD-WAN
9 15 (0.82%) Wireshark
10 14 (0.76%) Internet
11 12 (0.66%) HTTP
11 12 (0.66%) LAN
12 11 (0.60%) 5G
12 11 (0.60%) CHAP
12 11 (0.60%) NGN
13 10 (0.55%) BGP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 152 (8.30%) Power BI
2 58 (3.17%) Data Warehouse
2 58 (3.17%) Tableau
3 57 (3.11%) PostgreSQL
4 49 (2.68%) SQL Server
5 48 (2.62%) Metadata
6 38 (2.08%) Data Lake
7 34 (1.86%) MongoDB
8 28 (1.53%) Relational Database
9 27 (1.47%) BigQuery
10 25 (1.37%) QGIS
11 24 (1.31%) Semantic Layer
12 23 (1.26%) DynamoDB
12 23 (1.26%) GIS
13 22 (1.20%) Amazon Athena
14 21 (1.15%) Azure SQL Database
14 21 (1.15%) MySQL
15 20 (1.09%) Spark SQL
15 20 (1.09%) Spatial Data
15 20 (1.09%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 119 (6.50%) JIRA
2 103 (5.63%) Git
3 51 (2.79%) Jenkins
4 46 (2.51%) GitLab
5 34 (1.86%) Rational DOORS
6 24 (1.31%) Selenium
7 22 (1.20%) Snyk
8 21 (1.15%) Postman
9 17 (0.93%) Cypress.io
10 15 (0.82%) LabVIEW
11 14 (0.76%) JMeter
12 13 (0.71%) Cucumber
12 13 (0.71%) IBM UrbanCode
13 10 (0.55%) REST Assured
13 10 (0.55%) TeamCity
14 9 (0.49%) Burp Suite
15 8 (0.44%) Rational Rhapsody
16 7 (0.38%) Zephyr
17 6 (0.33%) GDB
17 6 (0.33%) Hudson
General
1 622 (33.97%) Social Skills
2 514 (28.07%) Finance
3 452 (24.69%) Analytical Skills
4 162 (8.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 161 (8.79%) Aerospace
6 154 (8.41%) Manufacturing
7 134 (7.32%) Electronics
8 102 (5.57%) Banking
9 94 (5.13%) Law
10 73 (3.99%) Public Sector
11 72 (3.93%) Retail
12 63 (3.44%) Organisational Skills
12 63 (3.44%) Pharmaceutical
13 58 (3.17%) Legal
14 56 (3.06%) Marketing
15 46 (2.51%) Automotive
15 46 (2.51%) Games
16 35 (1.91%) Telecoms
17 33 (1.80%) Documentation Skills
18 31 (1.69%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 337 (18.41%) Senior
2 261 (14.25%) Analyst
3 165 (9.01%) Lead
4 127 (6.94%) Systems Engineer
5 112 (6.12%) Test Engineer
6 111 (6.06%) Architect
7 102 (5.57%) Consultant
8 100 (5.46%) Data Engineer
9 86 (4.70%) Developer
10 83 (4.53%) Business Analyst
11 70 (3.82%) Data Analyst
12 67 (3.66%) Validation Engineer
13 59 (3.22%) Software Engineer
14 54 (2.95%) Principal Engineer
15 45 (2.46%) Embedded Engineer
15 45 (2.46%) Support Engineer
16 41 (2.24%) Data Scientist
17 39 (2.13%) IT Manager
18 37 (2.02%) Project Manager
18 37 (2.02%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 47 (2.57%) RESTful
2 42 (2.29%) Kafka
3 39 (2.13%) Node.js
3 39 (2.13%) PySpark
4 36 (1.97%) REST
5 34 (1.86%) JSON
6 31 (1.69%) PyTorch
6 31 (1.69%) XML
7 26 (1.42%) .NET
7 26 (1.42%) Middleware
7 26 (1.42%) Playwright
8 25 (1.37%) Pandas
9 21 (1.15%) CSS
10 20 (1.09%) HTML
10 20 (1.09%) LDAP
11 19 (1.04%) React
11 19 (1.04%) Regular Expression
11 19 (1.04%) XMPP
12 17 (0.93%) Oracle Fusion
13 16 (0.87%) FastAPI
Miscellaneous
1 132 (7.21%) Cloud Native
2 124 (6.77%) Onboarding
3 91 (4.97%) Management Information System
4 70 (3.82%) Algorithms
5 67 (3.66%) Data Structures
6 66 (3.60%) Product Ownership
7 60 (3.28%) Data Centre
8 49 (2.68%) Distributed Systems
9 48 (2.62%) Embedded Systems
9 48 (2.62%) Enterprise Software
10 47 (2.57%) Driving Licence
11 45 (2.46%) Low-Code
12 38 (2.08%) Analytical Mindset
13 33 (1.80%) AI Agents
13 33 (1.80%) Legacy Systems
13 33 (1.80%) Video\Live Streaming
14 32 (1.75%) Life Science
15 29 (1.58%) Self-Motivation
16 28 (1.53%) IoT
17 27 (1.47%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 119 (6.50%) Linux
2 86 (4.70%) Windows
3 32 (1.75%) Windows Server
4 25 (1.37%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 19 (1.04%) Unix
6 6 (0.33%) Android
6 6 (0.33%) Embedded Linux
6 6 (0.33%) FreeRTOS
7 4 (0.22%) Kali Linux
7 4 (0.22%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.22%) Mac OS X
8 2 (0.11%) AIX
8 2 (0.11%) Robot Operating System
8 2 (0.11%) ThreadX
8 2 (0.11%) VMS
8 2 (0.11%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.055%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 466 (25.45%) Problem-Solving
2 458 (25.01%) Continuous Improvement
3 399 (21.79%) Agile
4 356 (19.44%) AI
5 296 (16.17%) CI/CD
6 262 (14.31%) Analytics
7 240 (13.11%) Stakeholder Management
8 239 (13.05%) Test Automation
9 238 (13.00%) Migration
10 219 (11.96%) Mentoring
11 205 (11.20%) Decision-Making
12 191 (10.43%) Data Analysis
13 187 (10.21%) DevOps
13 187 (10.21%) Verification and Validation
14 186 (10.16%) Software Engineering
15 182 (9.94%) Business Intelligence
16 178 (9.72%) Machine Learning
17 171 (9.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 169 (9.23%) User Acceptance Testing
19 167 (9.12%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 473 (25.83%) Python
2 380 (20.75%) SQL
3 84 (4.59%) Java
4 82 (4.48%) C++
5 74 (4.04%) C
6 55 (3.00%) Go
7 54 (2.95%) JavaScript
8 49 (2.68%) C#
9 40 (2.18%) MATLAB
10 29 (1.58%) PowerShell
11 28 (1.53%) Bash
12 23 (1.26%) Embedded C
13 21 (1.15%) T-SQL
14 20 (1.09%) Scala
15 19 (1.04%) TypeScript
16 18 (0.98%) Embedded C++
17 15 (0.82%) Data Analysis Expressions
18 12 (0.66%) R
19 10 (0.55%) ABAP
19 10 (0.55%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 374 (20.43%) Degree
2 247 (13.49%) Security Cleared
3 134 (7.32%) SC Cleared
4 128 (6.99%) BPSS Clearance
5 80 (4.37%) DV Cleared
6 75 (4.10%) Master's Degree
7 42 (2.29%) Computer Science Degree
8 32 (1.75%) Chartered Engineer
9 29 (1.58%) CISSP
10 28 (1.53%) PhD
11 27 (1.47%) HNC
12 26 (1.42%) PMI Certification
13 25 (1.37%) ACCA
13 25 (1.37%) CIMA
14 23 (1.26%) AWS Certification
14 23 (1.26%) CISM
15 21 (1.15%) CISA
15 21 (1.15%) SANS
16 20 (1.09%) HND
17 18 (0.98%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 311 (16.99%) Data Quality
2 255 (13.93%) QA
3 81 (4.42%) Accessibility
4 58 (3.17%) GDPR
5 38 (2.08%) GRC
6 24 (1.31%) IEC 61508
6 24 (1.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 21 (1.15%) NIST
8 20 (1.09%) SLA
9 17 (0.93%) PMO
10 15 (0.82%) GxP
10 15 (0.82%) IFRS
10 15 (0.82%) ISO 26262
10 15 (0.82%) WCAG
11 14 (0.76%) GAAP
12 13 (0.71%) ISO 9001
13 12 (0.66%) GMP
13 12 (0.66%) ISO/IEC 15288
14 11 (0.60%) COBIT
14 11 (0.60%) SOC 2
System Software
1 78 (4.26%) Docker
2 63 (3.44%) Firmware
3 42 (2.29%) Active Directory
4 28 (1.53%) Virtual Machines
5 27 (1.47%) Embedded Firmware
6 22 (1.20%) vSphere
7 18 (0.98%) VMware Infrastructure
8 8 (0.44%) KVM
9 5 (0.27%) Hyper-V
10 2 (0.11%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.055%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.055%) iptables
11 1 (0.055%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.055%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 79 (4.31%) Kubernetes
2 76 (4.15%) Terraform
3 41 (2.24%) Grafana
4 27 (1.47%) Ansible
5 25 (1.37%) Functional Safety
6 17 (0.93%) Prometheus
7 12 (0.66%) Puppet
8 10 (0.55%) Cilium
9 8 (0.44%) SCCM
9 8 (0.44%) Single Sign-On
10 7 (0.38%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
10 7 (0.38%) Kibana
11 5 (0.27%) Microsoft Intune
12 4 (0.22%) Argo
12 4 (0.22%) Nessus
12 4 (0.22%) Nmap
12 4 (0.22%) WMI
13 3 (0.16%) FortiGate
13 3 (0.16%) HP Fortify
13 3 (0.16%) yum
Vendors
1 255 (13.93%) Microsoft
2 118 (6.44%) SAP
3 102 (5.57%) Oracle
4 60 (3.28%) Salesforce
5 49 (2.68%) Databricks
6 41 (2.24%) ServiceNow
7 37 (2.02%) Google
7 37 (2.02%) VMware
8 34 (1.86%) Red Hat
9 33 (1.80%) Cisco
10 29 (1.58%) CrowdStrike
11 24 (1.31%) Palo Alto
12 22 (1.20%) Tenable
13 17 (0.93%) IBM
14 16 (0.87%) EMC
15 15 (0.82%) McAfee
16 14 (0.76%) Adobe
16 14 (0.76%) Foundry
17 13 (0.71%) Splunk
17 13 (0.71%) Workday