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 19 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 173 180 198
Rank change year-on-year +7 +18 -59
Permanent jobs citing Validation 847 1,031 923
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.60% 1.54% 1.77%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.87% 1.84% 1.89%
Number of salaries quoted 461 385 525
10th Percentile £37,500 £37,600 £37,441
25th Percentile £41,250 £46,250 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £56,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% -6.67% -
75th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £78,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,250 £54,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -2.29% -0.91% +10.00%

All Process and 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 45,394 56,021 48,891
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 85.81% 83.52% 93.81%
Number of salaries quoted 27,423 29,005 37,472
10th Percentile £28,250 £34,404 £32,500
25th Percentile £36,128 £45,000 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £97,500 £98,475
UK excluding London median annual salary £47,500 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -13.64% +4.76% -

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 November 2025.

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 19 November 2025. 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 +18 770 £60,000 +9.09% 1,193
UK excluding London +8 548 £53,250 -2.29% 809
London +26 250 £80,000 +14.29% 463
South East +12 204 £53,000 -18.46% 265
Work from Home +52 195 £62,500 -0.41% 524
North of England -9 112 £52,500 +15.38% 122
Midlands +57 76 £43,750 -12.50% 108
South West +21 67 £50,000 -16.67% 138
North West -19 65 £53,375 +11.94% 87
East of England -22 51 £59,000 +7.27% 147
West Midlands +39 50 £47,500 -5.00% 75
Yorkshire -2 34 £57,617 +44.04% 24
Scotland -8 30 £60,000 +6.18% 49
East Midlands +33 26 £42,500 -5.56% 32
North East -2 13 £35,000 -30.00% 12
Wales +16 10 £61,250 +31.13% 10
Northern Ireland -6 2 - - 9

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 (2.83%) Confluence
2 18 (2.13%) Apache Airflow
3 17 (2.01%) Apache Spark
4 10 (1.18%) SugarCRM
5 9 (1.06%) Apache
6 8 (0.94%) SharePoint
7 7 (0.83%) CMS
8 5 (0.59%) SAS
9 3 (0.35%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.35%) Jupyter
9 3 (0.35%) Microsoft Exchange
10 2 (0.24%) Appian
10 2 (0.24%) WordPress
11 1 (0.12%) Apache Superset
11 1 (0.12%) ArcGIS
11 1 (0.12%) FileNet
11 1 (0.12%) Luigi
Applications
1 54 (6.38%) Microsoft Excel
2 47 (5.55%) Microsoft Office
3 22 (2.60%) Simulink
4 19 (2.24%) MS Visio
5 13 (1.53%) Mathcad
6 9 (1.06%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 7 (0.83%) AutoCAD
8 5 (0.59%) Blender
9 4 (0.47%) Revit
10 3 (0.35%) Adobe Illustrator
10 3 (0.35%) Photoshop
10 3 (0.35%) SOLIDWORKS
11 2 (0.24%) Adobe After Effects
11 2 (0.24%) Adobe Captivate
11 2 (0.24%) Adobe Creative Suite
11 2 (0.24%) Adobe Premiere
11 2 (0.24%) Elementor
11 2 (0.24%) Oracle Smart View
11 2 (0.24%) Weka
12 1 (0.12%) Navisworks
Business Applications
1 27 (3.19%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (0.94%) Dynamics CRM
3 6 (0.71%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 5 (0.59%) Oracle Assets
4 5 (0.59%) Oracle Cash Management
4 5 (0.59%) Oracle General Ledger
4 5 (0.59%) Oracle Payables
4 5 (0.59%) Oracle Receivables
5 4 (0.47%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.47%) SAP BPC
5 4 (0.47%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 3 (0.35%) NetSuite
6 3 (0.35%) Oracle Financials
6 3 (0.35%) SAP CX
7 2 (0.24%) Aladdin
7 2 (0.24%) Endur
7 2 (0.24%) IBM Planning Analytics
7 2 (0.24%) Primavera
7 2 (0.24%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.24%) SAP MDG
Cloud Services
1 113 (13.34%) Azure
2 85 (10.04%) Power Platform
3 82 (9.68%) AWS
4 39 (4.60%) SaaS
5 28 (3.31%) Azure DevOps
6 24 (2.83%) GCP
7 21 (2.48%) Dynamics 365
8 19 (2.24%) Amazon S3
9 17 (2.01%) GitHub
9 17 (2.01%) Serverless
10 16 (1.89%) Snowflake
11 15 (1.77%) AWS Lambda
12 14 (1.65%) Datadog
13 13 (1.53%) dbt
14 12 (1.42%) AWS CloudFormation
15 11 (1.30%) Amazon SageMaker
16 10 (1.18%) Microsoft 365
16 10 (1.18%) Power Automate
17 9 (1.06%) Microsoft Purview
18 8 (0.94%) AWS Step Functions
Communications & Networking
1 17 (2.01%) LAN
2 13 (1.53%) Ethernet
2 13 (1.53%) Firewall
3 12 (1.42%) Modbus
4 10 (1.18%) WAN
5 8 (0.94%) 5G
5 8 (0.94%) Internet
5 8 (0.94%) Profibus
6 7 (0.83%) DNS
6 7 (0.83%) SD-WAN
7 6 (0.71%) CHAP
7 6 (0.71%) Ethernet VPN
7 6 (0.71%) TCP/IP
8 5 (0.59%) BGP
8 5 (0.59%) Network Security
8 5 (0.59%) NX-OS
8 5 (0.59%) OSPF
9 4 (0.47%) DHCP
9 4 (0.47%) MPLS
9 4 (0.47%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 80 (9.45%) Power BI
2 44 (5.19%) Tableau
3 32 (3.78%) Data Warehouse
4 24 (2.83%) SQL Server
5 21 (2.48%) Metadata
6 19 (2.24%) BigQuery
7 14 (1.65%) Relational Database
8 13 (1.53%) Big Data
9 12 (1.42%) NoSQL
10 11 (1.30%) PostgreSQL
11 10 (1.18%) Data Lake
12 8 (0.94%) Amazon Athena
12 8 (0.94%) Amazon Aurora
12 8 (0.94%) Amazon Redshift
13 7 (0.83%) MongoDB
14 6 (0.71%) BusinessObjects
14 6 (0.71%) GIS
14 6 (0.71%) Looker
14 6 (0.71%) MySQL
14 6 (0.71%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 74 (8.74%) JIRA
2 44 (5.19%) Git
3 35 (4.13%) Rational DOORS
4 27 (3.19%) Jenkins
5 20 (2.36%) Postman
6 15 (1.77%) Selenium
7 12 (1.42%) GitLab
8 11 (1.30%) Cucumber
8 11 (1.30%) JMeter
9 10 (1.18%) SoapUI
10 7 (0.83%) Cypress.io
10 7 (0.83%) Locust
10 7 (0.83%) MLflow
11 6 (0.71%) LoadRunner
11 6 (0.71%) TestRail
12 5 (0.59%) TestNG
12 5 (0.59%) Zephyr
13 4 (0.47%) SonarQube
13 4 (0.47%) Spinnaker
13 4 (0.47%) webpack
General
1 329 (38.84%) Social Skills
2 254 (29.99%) Finance
3 175 (20.66%) Analytical Skills
4 64 (7.56%) Law
5 56 (6.61%) Manufacturing
6 50 (5.90%) Documentation Skills
6 50 (5.90%) Electronics
7 48 (5.67%) Marketing
8 43 (5.08%) Banking
9 38 (4.49%) Presentation Skills
10 35 (4.13%) Aerospace
10 35 (4.13%) Retail
11 33 (3.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 33 (3.90%) Organisational Skills
12 32 (3.78%) Financial Institution
13 27 (3.19%) Influencing Skills
13 27 (3.19%) Telecoms
14 24 (2.83%) Pharmaceutical
15 23 (2.72%) Billing
16 22 (2.60%) Legal
Job Titles
1 126 (14.88%) Analyst
2 121 (14.29%) Senior
3 100 (11.81%) Lead
4 62 (7.32%) Systems Engineer
5 44 (5.19%) Data Analyst
6 41 (4.84%) Business Analyst
7 35 (4.13%) Data Engineer
8 34 (4.01%) Architect
9 32 (3.78%) Support Engineer
10 31 (3.66%) Test Engineer
11 28 (3.31%) Applications Engineer
12 27 (3.19%) Administrator
13 26 (3.07%) Applications Support
13 26 (3.07%) Developer
14 24 (2.83%) Data Quality Analyst
14 24 (2.83%) Principal Engineer
14 24 (2.83%) Quality Analyst
15 23 (2.72%) Team Leader
16 22 (2.60%) Applications Support Engineer
17 19 (2.24%) Hardware Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (3.07%) REST
2 21 (2.48%) Middleware
3 20 (2.36%) JSON
3 20 (2.36%) XML
4 18 (2.13%) scikit-learn
5 17 (2.01%) Kafka
6 16 (1.89%) Pandas
6 16 (1.89%) PyTorch
7 15 (1.77%) TensorFlow
8 11 (1.30%) React
9 10 (1.18%) HTML
10 8 (0.94%) NumPy
10 8 (0.94%) Playwright
10 8 (0.94%) PySpark
10 8 (0.94%) Web Services
11 7 (0.83%) CSS
11 7 (0.83%) Gherkin
11 7 (0.83%) pytest
12 6 (0.71%) SOAP
12 6 (0.71%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 72 (8.50%) Management Information System
2 40 (4.72%) Life Science
3 39 (4.60%) Onboarding
4 38 (4.49%) Self-Motivation
5 35 (4.13%) Product Ownership
6 29 (3.42%) Algorithms
7 27 (3.19%) Operational Technology
8 19 (2.24%) SCADA
9 16 (1.89%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
10 12 (1.42%) Analytical Mindset
10 12 (1.42%) Credit Risk
10 12 (1.42%) Data Structures
10 12 (1.42%) FPGA
11 11 (1.30%) Data Centre
11 11 (1.30%) Embedded Systems
11 11 (1.30%) Legacy Systems
11 11 (1.30%) SWIFT Messaging Network
12 10 (1.18%) Low-Code
13 9 (1.06%) Driving Licence
13 9 (1.06%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 33 (3.90%) Linux
1 33 (3.90%) Windows
2 14 (1.65%) Windows Server
3 7 (0.83%) Windows Server 2016
4 5 (0.59%) Windows 10
4 5 (0.59%) Windows Server 2019
5 3 (0.35%) Unix
6 2 (0.24%) FreeRTOS
6 2 (0.24%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.12%) AIX
7 1 (0.12%) Android
7 1 (0.12%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.12%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.12%) VMS
7 1 (0.12%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 231 (27.27%) Agile
2 227 (26.80%) Problem-Solving
3 122 (14.40%) Data Validation
4 118 (13.93%) Continuous Improvement
4 118 (13.93%) Migration
4 118 (13.93%) Verification and Validation
5 104 (12.28%) Analytics
6 97 (11.45%) Test Automation
7 94 (11.10%) Decision-Making
8 89 (10.51%) Business Intelligence
9 88 (10.39%) Data Analysis
9 88 (10.39%) Mentoring
10 85 (10.04%) Data Management
11 84 (9.92%) DevOps
12 83 (9.80%) CI/CD
12 83 (9.80%) Software Engineering
12 83 (9.80%) Systems Engineering
13 80 (9.45%) ETL
13 80 (9.45%) Stakeholder Management
14 71 (8.38%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 185 (21.84%) Python
2 174 (20.54%) SQL
3 38 (4.49%) Java
4 35 (4.13%) MATLAB
5 34 (4.01%) C++
6 33 (3.90%) C
7 20 (2.36%) JavaScript
8 17 (2.01%) PowerShell
9 14 (1.65%) R
10 12 (1.42%) Bash
11 11 (1.30%) T-SQL
12 9 (1.06%) TypeScript
13 8 (0.94%) Ladder Logic
14 6 (0.71%) C#
15 5 (0.59%) Scala
16 4 (0.47%) Go
17 3 (0.35%) Bicep
17 3 (0.35%) Google Apps Script
17 3 (0.35%) Kotlin
17 3 (0.35%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 276 (32.59%) Degree
2 79 (9.33%) BPSS Clearance
3 77 (9.09%) Security Cleared
4 62 (7.32%) Master's Degree
5 47 (5.55%) SC Cleared
6 41 (4.84%) Computer Science Degree
7 26 (3.07%) Cisco Certification
8 19 (2.24%) HNC
9 15 (1.77%) Microsoft Certification
10 14 (1.65%) CCNA
10 14 (1.65%) CCNP
10 14 (1.65%) DV Cleared
10 14 (1.65%) PhD
11 13 (1.53%) ACCA
12 12 (1.42%) CCIE
13 11 (1.30%) ISTQB
13 11 (1.30%) Numerate Degree
14 10 (1.18%) CISA
14 10 (1.18%) Network+ Certification
15 9 (1.06%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 113 (13.34%) Data Quality
2 108 (12.75%) QA
3 40 (4.72%) GxP
4 35 (4.13%) ISO/IEC 15288
5 30 (3.54%) SLA
6 29 (3.42%) Accessibility
7 26 (3.07%) GDPR
8 14 (1.65%) ISO/IEC 12207
9 11 (1.30%) ISO 20022
9 11 (1.30%) NIST
9 11 (1.30%) SEPA
10 9 (1.06%) 21 CFR Part 11
10 9 (1.06%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 7 (0.83%) COBIT
11 7 (0.83%) TARGET2
11 7 (0.83%) WCAG
12 5 (0.59%) ARP4761
12 5 (0.59%) ISO/IEC 27001
13 4 (0.47%) NCSC
14 3 (0.35%) Actionable Recommendations
System Software
1 44 (5.19%) Docker
2 30 (3.54%) VMware Infrastructure
3 26 (3.07%) Firmware
4 14 (1.65%) Active Directory
5 12 (1.42%) Embedded Firmware
6 6 (0.71%) Virtual Machines
6 6 (0.71%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.71%) vSphere
7 5 (0.59%) vCloud
8 2 (0.24%) Apache Flume
8 2 (0.24%) Ceph
8 2 (0.24%) HDFS
8 2 (0.24%) Lustre
8 2 (0.24%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 2 (0.24%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 2 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.12%) Dovecot
9 1 (0.12%) Hyper-V
9 1 (0.12%) pfSense
9 1 (0.12%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 32 (3.78%) Kubernetes
2 24 (2.83%) Terraform
3 22 (2.60%) Grafana
4 17 (2.01%) Ansible
5 11 (1.30%) Prometheus
6 5 (0.59%) Docker Swarm
6 5 (0.59%) Kubeflow
6 5 (0.59%) vCenter Server
7 4 (0.47%) Rundeck
8 3 (0.35%) Kibana
9 2 (0.24%) Functional Safety
9 2 (0.24%) logstash
9 2 (0.24%) Microsoft Intune
9 2 (0.24%) Nessus
9 2 (0.24%) Oozie
9 2 (0.24%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.12%) Control-M
10 1 (0.12%) Puppet
10 1 (0.12%) yum
10 1 (0.12%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 94 (11.10%) Microsoft
2 57 (6.73%) SAP
3 36 (4.25%) VMware
4 27 (3.19%) Cisco
5 26 (3.07%) Oracle
6 24 (2.83%) Salesforce
7 19 (2.24%) IBM
8 14 (1.65%) Foundry
9 13 (1.53%) CheckPoint
9 13 (1.53%) F5
9 13 (1.53%) MathWorks
10 12 (1.42%) Siemens
11 10 (1.18%) Allen-Bradley
12 9 (1.06%) ServiceNow
13 8 (0.94%) Databricks
13 8 (0.94%) Intapp
13 8 (0.94%) Rockwell
13 8 (0.94%) Software AG
13 8 (0.94%) Splunk
14 7 (0.83%) Informatica