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

6 months to
19 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 78 88 180
Rank change year-on-year +10 +92 +32
Permanent jobs citing Validation 2,458 1,629 1,162
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 2.12% 3.30% 1.49%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.90% 3.71% 1.83%
Number of salaries quoted 1,456 465 449
10th Percentile £35,875 £38,750 £39,000
25th Percentile £42,750 £41,250 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,490 £55,000 £58,033
Median % change year-on-year +8.16% -5.23% -7.15%
75th Percentile £70,156 £75,900 £76,250
90th Percentile £86,250 £88,750 £93,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £52,600 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.56% -4.36% -0.42%

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 84,848 43,853 63,499
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.08% 88.72% 81.26%
Number of salaries quoted 58,707 24,746 35,929
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £32,000
25th Percentile £41,585 £36,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £80,000 £75,000 £77,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £96,750 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £47,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year +15.79% -9.52% -2.78%

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 19 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Validation in the UK

Validation
Top 18 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 19 September 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 +10 2,269 £57,500 +4.55% 4,061
UK excluding London -10 1,798 £55,000 +4.56% 2,451
Work from Home +115 642 £60,000 - 1,519
London +72 570 £70,000 -12.50% 1,942
South East -14 498 £62,500 +16.28% 644
North of England +102 470 £52,500 +10.53% 413
North West +116 288 £55,000 +10.00% 232
Midlands -29 270 £50,000 -9.09% 344
South West +15 239 £58,750 +11.90% 324
East of England -46 189 £55,000 -8.33% 366
West Midlands +38 155 £50,000 -9.09% 238
East Midlands -51 115 £48,372 +13.82% 106
Yorkshire +17 92 £42,500 - 120
North East 0 90 £55,000 +57.14% 63
Scotland +38 83 £70,000 +20.62% 283
Wales -38 42 £70,000 +30.23% 58
Northern Ireland -68 5 - - 49
Isle of Man - 5 £38,500 - 1

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 (1.95%) Apache Spark
2 45 (1.83%) Apache Airflow
3 41 (1.67%) Apache
4 36 (1.46%) Confluence
5 35 (1.42%) SharePoint
6 20 (0.81%) Jupyter
7 13 (0.53%) SAS
8 10 (0.41%) Microsoft Exchange
9 9 (0.37%) WinCC
10 5 (0.20%) Adobe Experience Manager
11 4 (0.16%) CMS
12 3 (0.12%) Artix
12 3 (0.12%) OpenStack
12 3 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
13 2 (0.081%) Cloud Foundry
13 2 (0.081%) IIS
13 2 (0.081%) Kinematics
13 2 (0.081%) nginx
14 1 (0.041%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
14 1 (0.041%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 137 (5.57%) Microsoft Excel
2 71 (2.89%) Microsoft Office
3 52 (2.12%) Simulink
4 37 (1.51%) Microsoft Project
5 22 (0.90%) Spreadsheet
6 20 (0.81%) SOLIDWORKS
7 18 (0.73%) AutoCAD
8 16 (0.65%) MS Visio
9 11 (0.45%) Revit
10 9 (0.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
11 7 (0.28%) Navisworks
12 6 (0.24%) EPLAN
12 6 (0.24%) OrCAD
13 5 (0.20%) CANalyzer
13 5 (0.20%) LaTeX
13 5 (0.20%) Mathcad
14 3 (0.12%) Adobe XD
14 3 (0.12%) Autodesk Inventor
14 3 (0.12%) Productboard
14 3 (0.12%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 44 (1.79%) Dynamics CRM
1 44 (1.79%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (0.45%) SAP MDG
3 9 (0.37%) iTrent
3 9 (0.37%) Oracle EBS
3 9 (0.37%) Workday HCM
4 8 (0.33%) NetSuite
4 8 (0.33%) Oracle Applications
5 7 (0.28%) SAP ERP
5 7 (0.28%) Teamcenter
6 6 (0.24%) Elite 3E
7 5 (0.20%) Infor M3
7 5 (0.20%) Oracle Financials
7 5 (0.20%) SAP MDG-BP
8 4 (0.16%) Maximo
8 4 (0.16%) SAP MM
9 3 (0.12%) Dynamics NAV
9 3 (0.12%) Oracle ERP
9 3 (0.12%) Oracle Payables
9 3 (0.12%) Oracle Receivables
Cloud Services
1 317 (12.90%) Azure
2 266 (10.82%) AWS
3 178 (7.24%) Power Platform
4 98 (3.99%) GCP
5 80 (3.25%) Azure DevOps
6 71 (2.89%) SaaS
7 70 (2.85%) GitHub
8 65 (2.64%) Microsoft 365
9 64 (2.60%) Serverless
10 44 (1.79%) Amazon S3
11 40 (1.63%) Dynamics 365
12 35 (1.42%) Entra ID
12 35 (1.42%) GitHub Actions
13 33 (1.34%) Microsoft Copilot
14 29 (1.18%) Azure Data Factory
15 28 (1.14%) Microsoft Purview
16 26 (1.06%) Cloud Computing
17 25 (1.02%) Amazon EMR
18 24 (0.98%) PowerApps
19 23 (0.94%) AWS Lambda
Communications & Networking
1 70 (2.85%) DNS
2 68 (2.77%) Firewall
3 57 (2.32%) Broadband
4 41 (1.67%) Wireless
5 38 (1.55%) TCP/IP
5 38 (1.55%) VPN
6 37 (1.51%) Network Security
6 37 (1.51%) WAN
7 34 (1.38%) Ethernet
8 29 (1.18%) LAN
8 29 (1.18%) Modbus
9 28 (1.14%) VLAN
10 26 (1.06%) OSPF
11 23 (0.94%) SD-WAN
12 22 (0.90%) BGP
12 22 (0.90%) MQTT
12 22 (0.90%) Wireshark
13 19 (0.77%) 5G
14 17 (0.69%) HTTP
14 17 (0.69%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 163 (6.63%) Power BI
2 64 (2.60%) Metadata
3 60 (2.44%) Data Warehouse
4 55 (2.24%) Data Lake
5 50 (2.03%) SQL Server
6 47 (1.91%) PostgreSQL
7 42 (1.71%) Tableau
8 38 (1.55%) Amazon Athena
9 35 (1.42%) Relational Database
10 31 (1.26%) MongoDB
11 28 (1.14%) Big Data
11 28 (1.14%) BigQuery
12 25 (1.02%) DynamoDB
13 24 (0.98%) NoSQL
14 22 (0.90%) Azure SQL Database
14 22 (0.90%) SQL Server Integration Services
15 21 (0.85%) Semantic Layer
16 20 (0.81%) Amazon Redshift
17 19 (0.77%) Delta Lake
18 18 (0.73%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 141 (5.74%) JIRA
2 126 (5.13%) Git
3 63 (2.56%) Jenkins
4 54 (2.20%) GitLab
5 45 (1.83%) Rational DOORS
6 33 (1.34%) Selenium
7 28 (1.14%) LabVIEW
8 25 (1.02%) Postman
9 22 (0.90%) Snyk
10 21 (0.85%) Cypress.io
11 14 (0.57%) Burp Suite
11 14 (0.57%) JMeter
12 12 (0.49%) REST Assured
13 11 (0.45%) Claude Code
13 11 (0.45%) Cucumber
14 10 (0.41%) Eclipse
14 10 (0.41%) TeamCity
15 9 (0.37%) Gatling
15 9 (0.37%) MLflow
15 9 (0.37%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 817 (33.24%) Social Skills
2 631 (25.67%) Finance
3 580 (23.60%) Analytical Skills
4 243 (9.89%) Aerospace
5 235 (9.56%) Manufacturing
6 225 (9.15%) Electronics
7 205 (8.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 142 (5.78%) Law
9 108 (4.39%) Organisational Skills
10 104 (4.23%) Banking
10 104 (4.23%) Retail
11 103 (4.19%) Public Sector
12 91 (3.70%) Marketing
13 90 (3.66%) Telecoms
14 85 (3.46%) Pharmaceutical
15 76 (3.09%) Automotive
16 61 (2.48%) Legal
17 49 (1.99%) Influencing Skills
18 44 (1.79%) Documentation Skills
18 44 (1.79%) Military
Job Titles
1 432 (17.58%) Senior
2 316 (12.86%) Systems Engineer
3 274 (11.15%) Analyst
4 212 (8.62%) Lead
5 134 (5.45%) Test Engineer
6 121 (4.92%) Architect
6 121 (4.92%) Data Engineer
7 101 (4.11%) Developer
8 97 (3.95%) Consultant
9 85 (3.46%) Business Analyst
10 83 (3.38%) Software Engineer
11 77 (3.13%) Principal Engineer
12 73 (2.97%) Electronics Engineer
13 71 (2.89%) Data Analyst
14 64 (2.60%) Validation Engineer
15 57 (2.32%) Network Engineer
16 50 (2.03%) Embedded Engineer
17 48 (1.95%) Data Scientist
17 48 (1.95%) Support Engineer
18 45 (1.83%) Automation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 82 (3.34%) Terraform
2 55 (2.24%) RESTful
3 54 (2.20%) Kafka
4 50 (2.03%) REST
5 49 (1.99%) Node.js
6 43 (1.75%) Playwright
6 43 (1.75%) PySpark
7 38 (1.55%) .NET
8 35 (1.42%) XML
9 34 (1.38%) JSON
10 29 (1.18%) CSS
11 28 (1.14%) FastAPI
11 28 (1.14%) React
12 27 (1.10%) HTML
13 25 (1.02%) LDAP
13 25 (1.02%) Middleware
14 22 (0.90%) Swagger
15 21 (0.85%) ModSecurity
16 19 (0.77%) pytest
17 18 (0.73%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 164 (6.67%) Cloud Native
2 132 (5.37%) Management Information System
3 122 (4.96%) Onboarding
4 85 (3.46%) Product Ownership
5 82 (3.34%) Data Centre
6 70 (2.85%) Embedded Systems
7 66 (2.69%) Driving Licence
8 59 (2.40%) Data Structures
8 59 (2.40%) Enterprise Software
9 57 (2.32%) Distributed Systems
10 55 (2.24%) Algorithms
11 50 (2.03%) AI Agents
12 48 (1.95%) Life Science
13 47 (1.91%) SCADA
14 42 (1.71%) Analytical Mindset
15 40 (1.63%) IoT
15 40 (1.63%) Low-Code
16 39 (1.59%) Robotics
17 38 (1.55%) Legacy Systems
18 34 (1.38%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 136 (5.53%) Linux
2 93 (3.78%) Windows
3 31 (1.26%) Windows Server
4 25 (1.02%) Unix
5 16 (0.65%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 10 (0.41%) Android
7 8 (0.33%) Embedded Linux
7 8 (0.33%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.24%) FreeRTOS
9 5 (0.20%) Kali Linux
10 4 (0.16%) Mac OS X
11 3 (0.12%) Apple iOS
12 2 (0.081%) Robot Operating System
12 2 (0.081%) VMS
12 2 (0.081%) Windows 10
13 1 (0.041%) AIX
13 1 (0.041%) OpenWrt
13 1 (0.041%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 628 (25.55%) Problem-Solving
2 555 (22.58%) Continuous Improvement
3 451 (18.35%) Agile
4 449 (18.27%) Verification and Validation
5 415 (16.88%) AI
6 341 (13.87%) CI/CD
7 325 (13.22%) Stakeholder Management
8 306 (12.45%) Test Automation
9 304 (12.37%) Migration
10 261 (10.62%) Analytics
11 258 (10.50%) Mentoring
12 240 (9.76%) Software Engineering
13 237 (9.64%) Decision-Making
14 229 (9.32%) DevOps
15 222 (9.03%) Data Analysis
15 222 (9.03%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 205 (8.34%) Business Intelligence
17 197 (8.01%) Machine Learning
18 194 (7.89%) Data Migration
18 194 (7.89%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 504 (20.50%) Python
2 433 (17.62%) SQL
3 105 (4.27%) Java
4 94 (3.82%) C++
5 85 (3.46%) C
6 74 (3.01%) JavaScript
7 68 (2.77%) MATLAB
8 64 (2.60%) C#
9 50 (2.03%) Go
10 36 (1.46%) Bash
11 32 (1.30%) Embedded C
12 29 (1.18%) TypeScript
13 28 (1.14%) PowerShell
14 25 (1.02%) R
14 25 (1.02%) Scala
15 18 (0.73%) Embedded C++
16 14 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 11 (0.45%) Shell Script
17 11 (0.45%) T-SQL
18 9 (0.37%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 537 (21.85%) Security Cleared
2 533 (21.68%) Degree
3 401 (16.31%) SC Cleared
4 127 (5.17%) BPSS Clearance
5 108 (4.39%) DV Cleared
6 96 (3.91%) Master's Degree
7 54 (2.20%) Computer Science Degree
8 42 (1.71%) HND
8 42 (1.71%) PhD
9 41 (1.67%) Chartered Engineer
10 36 (1.46%) HNC
11 35 (1.42%) PMI Certification
12 32 (1.30%) CISSP
13 28 (1.14%) ACCA
14 27 (1.10%) Azure Certification
15 26 (1.06%) AWS Certification
16 25 (1.02%) CIMA
17 22 (0.90%) CISM
17 22 (0.90%) PMP
18 21 (0.85%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 361 (14.69%) Data Quality
2 307 (12.49%) QA
3 82 (3.34%) Accessibility
4 60 (2.44%) GDPR
5 37 (1.51%) GRC
6 32 (1.30%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 28 (1.14%) GxP
8 23 (0.94%) IEC 61508
8 23 (0.94%) SLA
9 22 (0.90%) NIST
10 15 (0.61%) GMP
10 15 (0.61%) ISO 26262
10 15 (0.61%) ISO 9001
10 15 (0.61%) PMO
11 14 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 15288
12 13 (0.53%) SOC 2
12 13 (0.53%) WCAG
13 11 (0.45%) ISO 19650
14 9 (0.37%) Def Stans
14 9 (0.37%) JTAG
System Software
1 97 (3.95%) Firmware
2 91 (3.70%) Docker
3 45 (1.83%) Active Directory
4 43 (1.75%) Embedded Firmware
5 28 (1.14%) Virtual Machines
6 18 (0.73%) vSphere
7 8 (0.33%) VMware Infrastructure
8 5 (0.20%) Hyper-V
9 3 (0.12%) KVM
10 2 (0.081%) iptables
10 2 (0.081%) ProxySG
10 2 (0.081%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.041%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.041%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 83 (3.38%) Kubernetes
2 42 (1.71%) Grafana
3 33 (1.34%) Ansible
3 33 (1.34%) Functional Safety
4 18 (0.73%) Prometheus
5 15 (0.61%) Single Sign-On
6 10 (0.41%) Cilium
7 8 (0.33%) Microsoft Intune
7 8 (0.33%) Nessus
7 8 (0.33%) Nmap
7 8 (0.33%) Puppet
8 7 (0.28%) BMC PATROL
8 7 (0.28%) Kibana
9 5 (0.20%) WMI
10 4 (0.16%) Argo
10 4 (0.16%) FortiGate
10 4 (0.16%) HP Fortify
10 4 (0.16%) Kubeflow
10 4 (0.16%) SCCM
11 3 (0.12%) yum
Vendors
1 308 (12.53%) Microsoft
2 132 (5.37%) SAP
3 104 (4.23%) Oracle
4 67 (2.73%) Databricks
5 61 (2.48%) Salesforce
6 56 (2.28%) ServiceNow
7 54 (2.20%) Cisco
8 53 (2.16%) EMC
9 41 (1.67%) Google
10 31 (1.26%) CrowdStrike
11 28 (1.14%) Palo Alto
12 24 (0.98%) Sage
12 24 (0.98%) VMware
13 23 (0.94%) Tenable
13 23 (0.94%) Thales
14 22 (0.90%) IBM
15 20 (0.81%) Red Hat
16 19 (0.77%) Siemens
17 18 (0.73%) Informatica
17 18 (0.73%) Splunk