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

6 months to
28 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 134 114 201
Rank change year-on-year -20 +87 -16
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,336 1,134 1,444
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.49% 2.68% 1.51%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.99% 2.89% 1.77%
Number of salaries quoted 759 414 780
10th Percentile £34,500 £40,000 £35,475
25th Percentile £43,250 £46,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £56,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +6.19% +2.73% -12.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £71,250 £72,433
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £53,300 £52,500
% change year-on-year +3.19% +1.52% -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 67,035 39,288 81,690
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 74.86% 92.85% 85.64%
Number of salaries quoted 41,557 22,685 59,435
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,000 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,500 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.17% +9.09% -10.93%
75th Percentile £77,500 £80,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £98,750 £102,500 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +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 28 April 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 28 April 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 -17 1,186 £60,000 +7.14% 723
UK excluding London -39 873 £55,000 +3.19% 613
Work from Home +96 397 £60,000 +5.26% 318
London +75 350 £77,500 +10.71% 259
South East -25 274 £55,000 +7.84% 233
North of England +36 214 £58,000 +21.64% 106
Midlands -60 146 £37,500 -33.33% 86
North West +30 132 £60,000 +25.83% 64
East of England -64 99 £60,000 +5.26% 77
West Midlands -10 93 £44,000 -33.58% 55
South West -47 86 £55,000 +0.92% 83
Yorkshire -29 55 £60,000 +26.32% 31
East Midlands -82 51 £30,000 -41.18% 31
Scotland -21 41 £42,000 -27.63% 30
North East -18 27 £51,500 -9.25% 13
Wales -28 13 £44,000 -15.47% 9
Northern Ireland -41 2 - - 10

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 44 (3.29%) Apache Airflow
2 28 (2.10%) Apache Spark
3 25 (1.87%) Confluence
4 23 (1.72%) Apache
5 21 (1.57%) ArcGIS
6 17 (1.27%) Microsoft Exchange
7 12 (0.90%) Appian
7 12 (0.90%) CMS
8 8 (0.60%) SharePoint
9 6 (0.45%) Kinematics
10 4 (0.30%) Headless CMS
11 2 (0.15%) IIS
12 1 (0.075%) Anypoint
12 1 (0.075%) Artix
12 1 (0.075%) Jupyter
12 1 (0.075%) Palantir Foundry
12 1 (0.075%) SAS
12 1 (0.075%) WordPress
Applications
1 94 (7.04%) Microsoft Excel
2 65 (4.87%) Microsoft Office
3 21 (1.57%) MS Visio
4 16 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.52%) Simulink
6 6 (0.45%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 5 (0.37%) Microsoft Project
7 5 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
8 4 (0.30%) CANalyzer
8 4 (0.30%) Fusion 360
9 3 (0.22%) Solid Edge
9 3 (0.22%) SOLIDWORKS
10 2 (0.15%) AutoCAD
10 2 (0.15%) CATIA
10 2 (0.15%) Oracle Smart View
11 1 (0.075%) Adobe Captivate
11 1 (0.075%) Adobe Illustrator
11 1 (0.075%) Adobe Premiere
11 1 (0.075%) Photoshop
11 1 (0.075%) Revit
Business Applications
1 33 (2.47%) SAP S/4HANA
2 19 (1.42%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.75%) SAP ERP
4 9 (0.67%) Oracle ERP
5 7 (0.52%) Workday HCM
6 6 (0.45%) Elite 3E
6 6 (0.45%) SAP MDG
7 5 (0.37%) Loan IQ
8 4 (0.30%) Markit EDM
8 4 (0.30%) SAP MDG-BP
9 3 (0.22%) iTrent
9 3 (0.22%) Oracle Applications
9 3 (0.22%) Oracle EBS
10 2 (0.15%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
10 2 (0.15%) SAP FSCM
11 1 (0.075%) Magento
11 1 (0.075%) NetSuite
11 1 (0.075%) Oracle Receivables
11 1 (0.075%) SAP EHS
11 1 (0.075%) SAP PSCD
Cloud Services
1 200 (14.97%) Azure
2 126 (9.43%) AWS
3 121 (9.06%) Power Platform
4 54 (4.04%) SaaS
5 48 (3.59%) GCP
6 44 (3.29%) Azure DevOps
7 36 (2.69%) Dynamics 365
8 34 (2.54%) Azure Data Factory
9 30 (2.25%) Serverless
9 30 (2.25%) Snowflake
10 27 (2.02%) GitHub
10 27 (2.02%) Microsoft 365
11 26 (1.95%) Power Automate
12 25 (1.87%) Amazon S3
12 25 (1.87%) dbt
13 24 (1.80%) Entra ID
14 16 (1.20%) OpenShift
15 15 (1.12%) Anthropic Claude
15 15 (1.12%) Azure AI
16 12 (0.90%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 29 (2.17%) CHAP
1 29 (2.17%) Firewall
2 26 (1.95%) Broadband
3 21 (1.57%) DNS
3 21 (1.57%) WAN
4 18 (1.35%) TCP/IP
4 18 (1.35%) Wireless
5 17 (1.27%) SD-WAN
6 13 (0.97%) 5G
7 11 (0.82%) HTTP
8 10 (0.75%) LAN
9 9 (0.67%) Modbus
9 9 (0.67%) Multicast
9 9 (0.67%) Wireshark
10 8 (0.60%) NAS
10 8 (0.60%) VPN
11 7 (0.52%) Ethernet
11 7 (0.52%) MQTT
11 7 (0.52%) Network Security
12 6 (0.45%) Cisco ISE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 114 (8.53%) Power BI
2 46 (3.44%) SQL Server
3 45 (3.37%) Tableau
4 35 (2.62%) Metadata
5 34 (2.54%) Data Warehouse
6 33 (2.47%) Relational Database
7 29 (2.17%) PostgreSQL
8 25 (1.87%) QGIS
9 23 (1.72%) GIS
10 20 (1.50%) Data Lake
10 20 (1.50%) Spatial Data
11 18 (1.35%) Oracle Reports
12 17 (1.27%) Spark SQL
13 15 (1.12%) Azure SQL Database
13 15 (1.12%) Oracle Database
14 14 (1.05%) MySQL
14 14 (1.05%) Parquet
15 13 (0.97%) Apache Hive
15 13 (0.97%) Impala
15 13 (0.97%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 66 (4.94%) Git
2 62 (4.64%) JIRA
3 40 (2.99%) Rational DOORS
4 22 (1.65%) Jenkins
5 17 (1.27%) GitLab
5 17 (1.27%) Postman
6 16 (1.20%) LabVIEW
6 16 (1.20%) Snyk
7 15 (1.12%) MLflow
7 15 (1.12%) Selenium
8 13 (0.97%) IBM UrbanCode
9 12 (0.90%) JMeter
10 11 (0.82%) Cucumber
10 11 (0.82%) TestRail
11 10 (0.75%) Eclipse
12 7 (0.52%) LoadRunner
13 5 (0.37%) Cypress.io
13 5 (0.37%) SpecFlow
13 5 (0.37%) Subversion
13 5 (0.37%) Visual Studio
General
1 449 (33.61%) Social Skills
2 366 (27.40%) Finance
3 293 (21.93%) Analytical Skills
4 102 (7.63%) Manufacturing
5 93 (6.96%) Aerospace
6 87 (6.51%) Banking
7 84 (6.29%) Electronics
8 64 (4.79%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 60 (4.49%) Legal
10 47 (3.52%) Public Sector
11 45 (3.37%) Retail
12 43 (3.22%) Law
13 41 (3.07%) Marketing
14 40 (2.99%) Financial Institution
15 38 (2.84%) Pharmaceutical
16 37 (2.77%) Presentation Skills
17 30 (2.25%) Organisational Skills
18 29 (2.17%) Automotive
19 25 (1.87%) Aviation
20 22 (1.65%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 222 (16.62%) Analyst
2 214 (16.02%) Senior
3 160 (11.98%) Systems Engineer
4 94 (7.04%) Lead
5 85 (6.36%) Test Engineer
6 82 (6.14%) Business Analyst
7 80 (5.99%) Architect
7 80 (5.99%) Validation Engineer
8 64 (4.79%) Consultant
9 59 (4.42%) Data Analyst
10 53 (3.97%) Integration Engineer
11 47 (3.52%) Data Engineer
12 45 (3.37%) Developer
12 45 (3.37%) Junior
13 44 (3.29%) Senior Systems Engineer
14 38 (2.84%) Principal Engineer
14 38 (2.84%) Verification Engineer
15 36 (2.69%) Software Validation Engineer
15 36 (2.69%) Systems Integration Engineer
16 32 (2.40%) Auditor
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (4.19%) REST
2 39 (2.92%) PyTorch
3 35 (2.62%) JSON
3 35 (2.62%) Pandas
4 29 (2.17%) Middleware
5 26 (1.95%) pytest
6 23 (1.72%) XML
7 22 (1.65%) PySpark
8 20 (1.50%) OAuth
9 19 (1.42%) .NET
9 19 (1.42%) Swagger
10 18 (1.35%) JWT
10 18 (1.35%) TensorFlow
11 17 (1.27%) React
11 17 (1.27%) RESTful
12 16 (1.20%) Kafka
12 16 (1.20%) NumPy
12 16 (1.20%) Playwright
13 15 (1.12%) CSS
13 15 (1.12%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 80 (5.99%) Management Information System
2 55 (4.12%) Onboarding
3 49 (3.67%) Data Structures
4 37 (2.77%) Algorithms
5 36 (2.69%) Product Ownership
6 35 (2.62%) Self-Motivation
7 34 (2.54%) Legacy Systems
7 34 (2.54%) Low-Code
8 28 (2.10%) Analytical Mindset
9 26 (1.95%) Data Centre
10 25 (1.87%) Life Science
11 24 (1.80%) Cloud Native
12 22 (1.65%) Embedded Systems
13 20 (1.50%) Enterprise Software
14 18 (1.35%) SCADA
15 17 (1.27%) Robotics
16 15 (1.12%) Blockchain
16 15 (1.12%) Driving Licence
17 14 (1.05%) IoT
17 14 (1.05%) Reinsurance
Operating Systems
1 74 (5.54%) Linux
2 62 (4.64%) Windows
3 19 (1.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 19 (1.42%) Unix
3 19 (1.42%) Windows Server
4 12 (0.90%) Android
5 4 (0.30%) Apple iOS
5 4 (0.30%) CentOS
5 4 (0.30%) FreeRTOS
5 4 (0.30%) Mac OS X
6 3 (0.22%) AIX
6 3 (0.22%) Kali Linux
6 3 (0.22%) Robot Operating System
7 2 (0.15%) ThreadX
7 2 (0.15%) VxWorks
8 1 (0.075%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.075%) Rocky
8 1 (0.075%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.075%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 301 (22.53%) Problem-Solving
2 278 (20.81%) Agile
3 253 (18.94%) Continuous Improvement
4 207 (15.49%) Analytics
5 206 (15.42%) Verification and Validation
6 187 (14.00%) AI
7 165 (12.35%) Data Validation
8 163 (12.20%) CI/CD
9 159 (11.90%) Test Automation
10 148 (11.08%) Migration
11 143 (10.70%) Business Intelligence
12 138 (10.33%) Stakeholder Management
13 136 (10.18%) Data Modelling
14 132 (9.88%) User Acceptance Testing
15 130 (9.73%) Decision-Making
16 129 (9.66%) Systems Engineering
17 127 (9.51%) Data Governance
18 122 (9.13%) Mentoring
19 120 (8.98%) Stakeholder Engagement
20 118 (8.83%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 283 (21.18%) Python
2 265 (19.84%) SQL
3 45 (3.37%) C++
4 44 (3.29%) Java
5 37 (2.77%) PowerShell
6 35 (2.62%) C
7 29 (2.17%) JavaScript
8 23 (1.72%) Bash
9 22 (1.65%) C#
10 21 (1.57%) Go
11 18 (1.35%) MATLAB
11 18 (1.35%) T-SQL
12 16 (1.20%) TypeScript
13 12 (0.90%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 11 (0.82%) Embedded C
15 10 (0.75%) R
16 9 (0.67%) VBA
17 7 (0.52%) ABAP
17 7 (0.52%) Apex Code
17 7 (0.52%) VB
Qualifications
1 299 (22.38%) Degree
2 160 (11.98%) Security Cleared
3 125 (9.36%) BPSS Clearance
4 64 (4.79%) Master's Degree
5 56 (4.19%) SC Cleared
6 42 (3.14%) Computer Science Degree
7 39 (2.92%) CISSP
8 38 (2.84%) CISA
9 36 (2.69%) CISM
10 35 (2.62%) DV Cleared
11 33 (2.47%) Chartered Engineer
11 33 (2.47%) SANS
12 29 (2.17%) CGEIT
12 29 (2.17%) FFIEC
13 28 (2.10%) HNC
14 24 (1.80%) HND
15 23 (1.72%) PMI Certification
16 20 (1.50%) PMP
17 12 (0.90%) ISTQB
18 10 (0.75%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 181 (13.55%) Data Quality
2 141 (10.55%) QA
3 66 (4.94%) GDPR
4 61 (4.57%) Accessibility
5 37 (2.77%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 34 (2.54%) GRC
7 31 (2.32%) NIST
8 29 (2.17%) COBIT
9 21 (1.57%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 17 (1.27%) IFRS
11 16 (1.20%) IEC 61508
12 15 (1.12%) SLA
13 13 (0.97%) ISO 9001
14 12 (0.90%) GAAP
15 11 (0.82%) GMP
16 10 (0.75%) Good Clinical Practice
16 10 (0.75%) PMO
16 10 (0.75%) WCAG
17 9 (0.67%) 21 CFR Part 11
18 7 (0.52%) GxP
System Software
1 63 (4.72%) Docker
2 34 (2.54%) Active Directory
3 26 (1.95%) Firmware
4 17 (1.27%) Virtual Machines
5 15 (1.12%) VMware Infrastructure
6 13 (0.97%) vSphere
7 6 (0.45%) Hyper-V
7 6 (0.45%) KVM
8 5 (0.37%) Embedded Firmware
9 3 (0.22%) VMware ESXi
10 2 (0.15%) Terminal Services
11 1 (0.075%) iptables
11 1 (0.075%) OpenAM
11 1 (0.075%) OpenDJ
11 1 (0.075%) OpenIDM
11 1 (0.075%) pfSense
Systems Management
1 64 (4.79%) Kubernetes
2 45 (3.37%) Terraform
3 30 (2.25%) Grafana
4 24 (1.80%) Ansible
5 16 (1.20%) Prometheus
6 14 (1.05%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
7 12 (0.90%) Functional Safety
8 10 (0.75%) SCCM
9 9 (0.67%) Puppet
10 7 (0.52%) Microsoft Intune
11 4 (0.30%) Argo
11 4 (0.30%) Cilium
11 4 (0.30%) Rancher
11 4 (0.30%) yum
12 3 (0.22%) HP Fortify
12 3 (0.22%) Kibana
13 2 (0.15%) BMC PATROL
13 2 (0.15%) Computer Incident Response Team
13 2 (0.15%) PowerCLI
14 1 (0.075%) SQL Sentry
Vendors
1 177 (13.25%) Microsoft
2 74 (5.54%) Oracle
3 63 (4.72%) SAP
4 45 (3.37%) Salesforce
5 27 (2.02%) Red Hat
5 27 (2.02%) VMware
6 24 (1.80%) Databricks
7 23 (1.72%) Cisco
8 18 (1.35%) CrowdStrike
8 18 (1.35%) IBM
8 18 (1.35%) Palo Alto
9 17 (1.27%) Foundry
9 17 (1.27%) Google
10 16 (1.20%) OpenAI
10 16 (1.20%) Tenable
11 15 (1.12%) Adobe
11 15 (1.12%) ServiceNow
12 13 (0.97%) Citrix
13 12 (0.90%) Automation Anywhere
13 12 (0.90%) UiPath