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

6 months to
21 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 120 82 208
Rank change year-on-year -38 +126 -21
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,508 1,626 1,427
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.60% 3.62% 1.31%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.19% 3.91% 1.60%
Number of salaries quoted 896 462 774
10th Percentile £35,625 £40,000 £35,500
25th Percentile £42,500 £46,250 £41,438
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +4.55% -11.41%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,250 £72,433
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -4.55% +4.76% -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 68,936 41,540 89,299
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.11% 92.39% 81.68%
Number of salaries quoted 47,487 22,330 63,275
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,822 £29,750
25th Percentile £41,250 £38,824 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.54%
75th Percentile £78,750 £77,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £92,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +5.00% - -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 21 June 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 21 June 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 -37 1,365 £55,000 -3.51% 784
UK excluding London -56 1,013 £52,500 -4.55% 674
Work from Home +134 489 £55,000 -9.84% 307
London +72 388 £75,000 -3.23% 256
South East -43 309 £55,000 - 248
North of England +87 280 £55,000 +15.35% 121
North West +84 179 £55,000 +15.35% 56
Midlands -71 163 £40,000 -28.89% 100
East of England -74 106 £60,000 +5.26% 73
South West -52 98 £53,000 -3.64% 93
West Midlands -9 96 £44,000 -29.60% 55
East Midlands -84 65 £30,000 -39.70% 45
Yorkshire -4 59 £50,000 +18.69% 42
North East -11 42 £55,000 +15.79% 24
Scotland -14 39 £42,500 -26.77% 32
Wales -39 18 £47,500 -20.83% 10
Northern Ireland -28 2 - - 22

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 50 (3.32%) Apache Airflow
2 45 (2.98%) Apache Spark
3 43 (2.85%) Apache
4 26 (1.72%) Confluence
5 21 (1.39%) ArcGIS
6 17 (1.13%) SharePoint
7 15 (0.99%) Microsoft Exchange
8 11 (0.73%) Jupyter
9 9 (0.60%) SAS
10 6 (0.40%) Appian
11 5 (0.33%) Adobe Experience Manager
12 4 (0.27%) CMS
12 4 (0.27%) Kinematics
13 3 (0.20%) Artix
14 2 (0.13%) IIS
15 1 (0.066%) Oracle Workflow
15 1 (0.066%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 86 (5.70%) Microsoft Excel
2 45 (2.98%) Microsoft Office
3 24 (1.59%) Microsoft Project
4 20 (1.33%) MS Visio
5 16 (1.06%) Simulink
6 15 (0.99%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 8 (0.53%) SOLIDWORKS
7 8 (0.53%) Spreadsheet
8 5 (0.33%) AutoCAD
9 4 (0.27%) Adobe XD
9 4 (0.27%) CANalyzer
9 4 (0.27%) Sketch
10 3 (0.20%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 3 (0.20%) Autodesk Inventor
10 3 (0.20%) Productboard
10 3 (0.20%) Solid Edge
10 3 (0.20%) Stateflow
11 1 (0.066%) CATIA
11 1 (0.066%) Chatbot
11 1 (0.066%) Revit
Business Applications
1 42 (2.79%) SAP S/4HANA
2 39 (2.59%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.66%) SAP ERP
3 10 (0.66%) SAP MDG
4 8 (0.53%) Oracle EBS
4 8 (0.53%) Oracle ERP
5 7 (0.46%) iTrent
6 6 (0.40%) Elite 3E
7 5 (0.33%) Loan IQ
7 5 (0.33%) Oracle Financials
7 5 (0.33%) SAP MDG-BP
8 4 (0.27%) Oracle Applications
9 2 (0.13%) FastStats
9 2 (0.13%) NetSuite
9 2 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
9 2 (0.13%) SAP EWM
9 2 (0.13%) SAP FSCM
9 2 (0.13%) SAP MM
9 2 (0.13%) SAP PSCD
9 2 (0.13%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 218 (14.46%) Azure
2 186 (12.33%) AWS
3 141 (9.35%) Power Platform
4 81 (5.37%) GCP
5 72 (4.77%) SaaS
6 57 (3.78%) Azure DevOps
7 39 (2.59%) GitHub
8 38 (2.52%) Microsoft 365
8 38 (2.52%) Serverless
9 36 (2.39%) Amazon S3
10 33 (2.19%) Dynamics 365
11 26 (1.72%) Azure Data Factory
12 24 (1.59%) Snowflake
13 20 (1.33%) Entra ID
14 18 (1.19%) dbt
14 18 (1.19%) GitHub Actions
14 18 (1.19%) Power Automate
15 15 (0.99%) OpenShift
16 14 (0.93%) Amazon EC2
16 14 (0.93%) Amazon EMR
Communications & Networking
1 71 (4.71%) Broadband
2 46 (3.05%) Firewall
3 35 (2.32%) DNS
4 22 (1.46%) WAN
4 22 (1.46%) Wireless
5 21 (1.39%) TCP/IP
6 19 (1.26%) CHAP
7 16 (1.06%) Network Security
7 16 (1.06%) SD-WAN
8 15 (0.99%) VPN
9 14 (0.93%) 5G
10 12 (0.80%) Wi-Fi
11 11 (0.73%) HTTP
11 11 (0.73%) MQTT
12 10 (0.66%) Ethernet
12 10 (0.66%) LAN
12 10 (0.66%) Wireshark
13 9 (0.60%) NAS
14 7 (0.46%) ATM
14 7 (0.46%) Multicast
Database & Business Intelligence
1 135 (8.95%) Power BI
2 55 (3.65%) Tableau
3 54 (3.58%) PostgreSQL
4 48 (3.18%) SQL Server
5 45 (2.98%) Data Warehouse
6 34 (2.25%) MongoDB
7 31 (2.06%) Metadata
7 31 (2.06%) Relational Database
8 27 (1.79%) BigQuery
9 25 (1.66%) QGIS
10 24 (1.59%) Semantic Layer
11 23 (1.53%) Data Lake
11 23 (1.53%) GIS
12 22 (1.46%) Azure SQL Database
13 20 (1.33%) Spatial Data
14 19 (1.26%) Spark SQL
15 17 (1.13%) Oracle Database
16 16 (1.06%) Amazon Athena
16 16 (1.06%) MySQL
17 15 (0.99%) DynamoDB
Development Applications
1 78 (5.17%) JIRA
2 68 (4.51%) Git
3 47 (3.12%) Jenkins
4 35 (2.32%) GitLab
5 30 (1.99%) Rational DOORS
6 22 (1.46%) Snyk
7 16 (1.06%) Postman
8 15 (0.99%) Selenium
9 13 (0.86%) IBM UrbanCode
9 13 (0.86%) LabVIEW
10 11 (0.73%) Cucumber
10 11 (0.73%) JMeter
11 10 (0.66%) Cypress.io
11 10 (0.66%) Eclipse
11 10 (0.66%) MLflow
11 10 (0.66%) TeamCity
12 6 (0.40%) Rational Rhapsody
12 6 (0.40%) REST Assured
13 5 (0.33%) LoadRunner
13 5 (0.33%) Locust
General
1 476 (31.56%) Social Skills
2 404 (26.79%) Finance
3 332 (22.02%) Analytical Skills
4 116 (7.69%) Aerospace
5 114 (7.56%) Manufacturing
6 101 (6.70%) Electronics
7 95 (6.30%) Banking
8 89 (5.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 57 (3.78%) Legal
9 57 (3.78%) Public Sector
9 57 (3.78%) Retail
10 53 (3.51%) Law
11 44 (2.92%) Pharmaceutical
12 42 (2.79%) Marketing
13 40 (2.65%) Games
13 40 (2.65%) Organisational Skills
14 38 (2.52%) Automotive
15 32 (2.12%) Financial Institution
16 27 (1.79%) Presentation Skills
17 25 (1.66%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 256 (16.98%) Senior
2 238 (15.78%) Analyst
3 132 (8.75%) Systems Engineer
4 117 (7.76%) Lead
5 104 (6.90%) Architect
6 99 (6.56%) Test Engineer
7 82 (5.44%) Business Analyst
7 82 (5.44%) Validation Engineer
8 74 (4.91%) Data Engineer
9 69 (4.58%) Consultant
10 68 (4.51%) Developer
11 64 (4.24%) Data Analyst
12 45 (2.98%) Principal Engineer
13 43 (2.85%) Integration Engineer
14 41 (2.72%) Embedded Engineer
15 37 (2.45%) IT Manager
16 35 (2.32%) Security Architect
17 34 (2.25%) Project Manager
17 34 (2.25%) Senior Systems Engineer
17 34 (2.25%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (2.85%) RESTful
2 38 (2.52%) REST
3 34 (2.25%) PyTorch
4 33 (2.19%) JSON
5 32 (2.12%) PySpark
6 30 (1.99%) Node.js
7 28 (1.86%) Kafka
8 26 (1.72%) Middleware
9 25 (1.66%) Pandas
9 25 (1.66%) XML
10 23 (1.53%) pytest
11 22 (1.46%) .NET
12 19 (1.26%) Playwright
13 18 (1.19%) Regular Expression
13 18 (1.19%) Swagger
13 18 (1.19%) XMPP
14 15 (0.99%) LDAP
15 14 (0.93%) CSS
15 14 (0.93%) OAuth
15 14 (0.93%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 93 (6.17%) Cloud Native
2 71 (4.71%) Onboarding
3 69 (4.58%) Data Structures
4 68 (4.51%) Management Information System
5 56 (3.71%) Algorithms
6 49 (3.25%) Low-Code
7 42 (2.79%) Product Ownership
8 40 (2.65%) Embedded Systems
9 37 (2.45%) Driving Licence
10 34 (2.25%) Self-Motivation
11 33 (2.19%) Data Centre
11 33 (2.19%) Distributed Systems
12 32 (2.12%) Analytical Mindset
12 32 (2.12%) Enterprise Software
12 32 (2.12%) Legacy Systems
13 31 (2.06%) Video\Live Streaming
14 28 (1.86%) Life Science
15 24 (1.59%) FPGA
16 22 (1.46%) Robotics
17 19 (1.26%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 96 (6.37%) Linux
2 66 (4.38%) Windows
3 26 (1.72%) Windows Server
4 25 (1.66%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 23 (1.53%) Unix
6 7 (0.46%) Android
7 4 (0.27%) FreeRTOS
7 4 (0.27%) Kali Linux
7 4 (0.27%) Mac OS X
8 3 (0.20%) AIX
8 3 (0.20%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.13%) CentOS
9 2 (0.13%) Robot Operating System
9 2 (0.13%) ThreadX
10 1 (0.066%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.066%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.066%) Rocky
10 1 (0.066%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.066%) VxWorks
10 1 (0.066%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 330 (21.88%) Problem-Solving
2 318 (21.09%) Continuous Improvement
3 313 (20.76%) Agile
4 271 (17.97%) AI
5 238 (15.78%) CI/CD
6 215 (14.26%) Analytics
7 213 (14.12%) Test Automation
8 180 (11.94%) Verification and Validation
9 175 (11.60%) Migration
10 171 (11.34%) Data Validation
11 162 (10.74%) Business Intelligence
12 159 (10.54%) Stakeholder Management
13 157 (10.41%) Data Modelling
13 157 (10.41%) DevOps
14 150 (9.95%) Mentoring
15 148 (9.81%) Software Engineering
16 147 (9.75%) Machine Learning
17 145 (9.62%) Decision-Making
18 143 (9.48%) Data Analysis
19 142 (9.42%) Collaborative Working
Programming Languages
1 381 (25.27%) Python
2 309 (20.49%) SQL
3 64 (4.24%) C++
3 64 (4.24%) Java
4 62 (4.11%) C
5 49 (3.25%) Go
6 41 (2.72%) C#
7 31 (2.06%) JavaScript
8 27 (1.79%) MATLAB
9 25 (1.66%) Bash
10 24 (1.59%) PowerShell
11 21 (1.39%) T-SQL
12 20 (1.33%) Embedded C
13 18 (1.19%) Embedded C++
14 13 (0.86%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 13 (0.86%) Scala
15 11 (0.73%) TypeScript
16 10 (0.66%) ABAP
17 9 (0.60%) VBA
18 7 (0.46%) R
Qualifications
1 291 (19.30%) Degree
2 169 (11.21%) Security Cleared
3 108 (7.16%) BPSS Clearance
4 79 (5.24%) SC Cleared
5 72 (4.77%) Master's Degree
6 46 (3.05%) DV Cleared
7 40 (2.65%) Computer Science Degree
8 35 (2.32%) Chartered Engineer
9 29 (1.92%) CISA
9 29 (1.92%) CISSP
9 29 (1.92%) SANS
10 27 (1.79%) HNC
11 26 (1.72%) CISM
12 22 (1.46%) HND
13 20 (1.33%) PMI Certification
14 19 (1.26%) ACCA
14 19 (1.26%) CGEIT
14 19 (1.26%) CIMA
14 19 (1.26%) FFIEC
15 17 (1.13%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 244 (16.18%) Data Quality
2 174 (11.54%) QA
3 60 (3.98%) Accessibility
4 57 (3.78%) GDPR
5 40 (2.65%) GRC
6 27 (1.79%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 23 (1.53%) NIST
8 22 (1.46%) IEC 61508
8 22 (1.46%) ISO/IEC 15288
9 19 (1.26%) COBIT
9 19 (1.26%) IFRS
10 16 (1.06%) ISO 9001
11 15 (0.99%) PMO
12 14 (0.93%) SLA
13 13 (0.86%) GAAP
14 11 (0.73%) ISO 26262
14 11 (0.73%) SOC 2
15 9 (0.60%) GMP
15 9 (0.60%) GxP
15 9 (0.60%) WCAG
System Software
1 70 (4.64%) Docker
2 43 (2.85%) Firmware
3 37 (2.45%) Active Directory
4 22 (1.46%) Virtual Machines
5 20 (1.33%) vSphere
6 19 (1.26%) Embedded Firmware
7 15 (0.99%) VMware Infrastructure
8 6 (0.40%) KVM
9 5 (0.33%) Hyper-V
10 2 (0.13%) Terminal Services
10 2 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.066%) OpenAM
11 1 (0.066%) OpenDJ
11 1 (0.066%) OpenIDM
Systems Management
1 71 (4.71%) Kubernetes
2 63 (4.18%) Terraform
3 30 (1.99%) Grafana
4 23 (1.53%) Functional Safety
5 20 (1.33%) Ansible
6 15 (0.99%) Prometheus
7 10 (0.66%) Cilium
8 9 (0.60%) Puppet
9 8 (0.53%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
10 7 (0.46%) Kibana
10 7 (0.46%) SCCM
11 3 (0.20%) FortiGate
11 3 (0.20%) HP Fortify
12 2 (0.13%) Argo
12 2 (0.13%) BMC PATROL
12 2 (0.13%) Computer Incident Response Team
12 2 (0.13%) Microsoft Intune
12 2 (0.13%) Rancher
12 2 (0.13%) yum
13 1 (0.066%) MOM
Vendors
1 192 (12.73%) Microsoft
2 95 (6.30%) SAP
3 94 (6.23%) Oracle
4 52 (3.45%) Salesforce
5 39 (2.59%) Databricks
6 35 (2.32%) ServiceNow
7 34 (2.25%) Red Hat
8 33 (2.19%) VMware
9 29 (1.92%) CrowdStrike
10 25 (1.66%) Google
11 23 (1.53%) Palo Alto
12 22 (1.46%) Cisco
12 22 (1.46%) Tenable
13 20 (1.33%) Adobe
14 15 (0.99%) Foundry
15 14 (0.93%) Citrix
15 14 (0.93%) McAfee
16 12 (0.80%) OpenAI
17 10 (0.66%) Splunk
18 9 (0.60%) IBM