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

6 months to
4 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 101 86 206
Rank change year-on-year -15 +120 -10
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,856 1,675 1,094
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.79% 3.38% 1.31%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.43% 3.77% 1.61%
Number of salaries quoted 1,076 509 532
10th Percentile £34,875 £38,750 £36,250
25th Percentile £42,215 £42,500 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year - -8.33% -4.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £90,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £52,600 £54,500
% change year-on-year -0.19% -3.49% -0.99%

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 76,247 44,374 67,952
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.60% 89.45% 81.06%
Number of salaries quoted 52,515 25,244 44,456
10th Percentile £30,750 £28,500 £31,246
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% - -8.71%
75th Percentile £78,750 £75,246 £75,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £97,500 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £49,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +12.24% -2.00% -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 4 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 4 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 -16 1,690 £55,000 - 1,552
UK excluding London -37 1,268 £52,500 -0.19% 1,008
Work from Home +123 580 £56,000 -6.67% 597
London +84 473 £74,627 -3.71% 656
South East -36 380 £55,000 - 309
North of England +108 355 £52,500 +10.53% 190
North West +88 206 £55,000 +15.35% 108
Midlands -57 195 £44,000 -20.00% 155
South West -21 138 £51,000 -3.04% 158
East of England -83 116 £62,500 +9.65% 133
West Midlands +4 107 £44,360 -22.85% 98
East Midlands -61 87 £42,500 - 57
Yorkshire +9 75 £43,000 +1.18% 45
North East +8 74 £55,000 +57.14% 40
Scotland +13 55 £52,500 -9.53% 64
Wales -32 29 £47,500 -11.63% 16
Northern Ireland -75 2 - - 4

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 60 (3.23%) Apache Airflow
2 57 (3.07%) Apache Spark
3 55 (2.96%) Apache
4 34 (1.83%) Confluence
5 31 (1.67%) SharePoint
6 21 (1.13%) ArcGIS
7 20 (1.08%) Jupyter
8 12 (0.65%) Microsoft Exchange
8 12 (0.65%) SAS
9 5 (0.27%) Adobe Experience Manager
9 5 (0.27%) CMS
10 4 (0.22%) Kinematics
11 3 (0.16%) Artix
11 3 (0.16%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 3 (0.16%) WinCC
12 2 (0.11%) Cloud Foundry
12 2 (0.11%) IIS
13 1 (0.054%) Oracle Workflow
13 1 (0.054%) Palantir Foundry
13 1 (0.054%) WebSphere
Applications
1 112 (6.03%) Microsoft Excel
2 65 (3.50%) Microsoft Office
3 31 (1.67%) Microsoft Project
4 27 (1.45%) MS Visio
5 26 (1.40%) Simulink
6 16 (0.86%) Spreadsheet
7 15 (0.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
8 11 (0.59%) 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 (0.054%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 50 (2.69%) SAP S/4HANA
2 41 (2.21%) Dynamics CRM
3 11 (0.59%) SAP MDG
4 10 (0.54%) SAP ERP
5 9 (0.48%) Elite 3E
5 9 (0.48%) iTrent
5 9 (0.48%) Oracle EBS
6 8 (0.43%) Oracle Applications
6 8 (0.43%) 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%) SAP Business One
9 2 (0.11%) SAP CO
9 2 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
9 2 (0.11%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 286 (15.41%) Azure
2 264 (14.22%) AWS
3 165 (8.89%) Power Platform
4 88 (4.74%) GCP
5 81 (4.36%) SaaS
6 68 (3.66%) Azure DevOps
7 53 (2.86%) GitHub
7 53 (2.86%) Microsoft 365
8 50 (2.69%) Serverless
9 44 (2.37%) Amazon S3
10 39 (2.10%) Dynamics 365
11 27 (1.45%) Entra ID
11 27 (1.45%) GitHub Actions
12 26 (1.40%) Microsoft Copilot
13 22 (1.19%) Amazon EC2
13 22 (1.19%) Cloud Computing
14 21 (1.13%) Amazon EMR
15 20 (1.08%) PowerApps
15 20 (1.08%) Snowflake
16 19 (1.02%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 71 (3.83%) Broadband
2 53 (2.86%) Firewall
3 45 (2.42%) DNS
4 32 (1.72%) Wireless
5 30 (1.62%) TCP/IP
6 26 (1.40%) Network Security
7 25 (1.35%) WAN
8 24 (1.29%) VPN
9 18 (0.97%) Ethernet
10 17 (0.92%) SD-WAN
11 16 (0.86%) Wi-Fi
12 15 (0.81%) MQTT
13 14 (0.75%) Internet
13 14 (0.75%) LAN
13 14 (0.75%) Wireshark
14 12 (0.65%) HTTP
15 11 (0.59%) 5G
15 11 (0.59%) BGP
15 11 (0.59%) NGN
15 11 (0.59%) RS-232
Database & Business Intelligence
1 149 (8.03%) Power BI
2 58 (3.13%) Tableau
3 57 (3.07%) Data Warehouse
4 56 (3.02%) PostgreSQL
5 49 (2.64%) SQL Server
6 48 (2.59%) Metadata
7 38 (2.05%) Data Lake
8 34 (1.83%) MongoDB
9 31 (1.67%) Relational Database
10 27 (1.45%) BigQuery
11 25 (1.35%) QGIS
12 23 (1.24%) DynamoDB
12 23 (1.24%) GIS
12 23 (1.24%) Semantic Layer
13 22 (1.19%) Amazon Athena
14 21 (1.13%) MySQL
15 20 (1.08%) Azure SQL Database
15 20 (1.08%) Power Query
15 20 (1.08%) Spatial Data
15 20 (1.08%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 120 (6.47%) JIRA
2 106 (5.71%) Git
3 52 (2.80%) Jenkins
4 46 (2.48%) GitLab
5 34 (1.83%) Rational DOORS
6 24 (1.29%) Selenium
7 22 (1.19%) Snyk
8 21 (1.13%) Postman
9 17 (0.92%) Cypress.io
10 16 (0.86%) LabVIEW
11 14 (0.75%) JMeter
12 13 (0.70%) Cucumber
12 13 (0.70%) IBM UrbanCode
13 10 (0.54%) REST Assured
13 10 (0.54%) TeamCity
14 9 (0.48%) Burp Suite
15 8 (0.43%) Rational Rhapsody
16 7 (0.38%) Zephyr
17 6 (0.32%) GDB
17 6 (0.32%) Hudson
General
1 632 (34.05%) Social Skills
2 526 (28.34%) Finance
3 459 (24.73%) Analytical Skills
4 168 (9.05%) Aerospace
4 168 (9.05%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 160 (8.62%) Manufacturing
6 141 (7.60%) Electronics
7 102 (5.50%) Banking
8 97 (5.23%) Law
9 76 (4.09%) Public Sector
10 72 (3.88%) Retail
11 64 (3.45%) Organisational Skills
11 64 (3.45%) Pharmaceutical
12 61 (3.29%) Marketing
13 58 (3.13%) Legal
14 47 (2.53%) Automotive
15 46 (2.48%) Games
16 37 (1.99%) Telecoms
17 34 (1.83%) Documentation Skills
18 33 (1.78%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 342 (18.43%) Senior
2 263 (14.17%) Analyst
3 168 (9.05%) Lead
4 127 (6.84%) Systems Engineer
5 113 (6.09%) Architect
6 112 (6.03%) Test Engineer
7 103 (5.55%) Consultant
8 99 (5.33%) Data Engineer
9 86 (4.63%) Developer
10 83 (4.47%) Business Analyst
11 68 (3.66%) Data Analyst
12 66 (3.56%) Validation Engineer
13 63 (3.39%) Software Engineer
14 55 (2.96%) Principal Engineer
15 46 (2.48%) Embedded Engineer
16 45 (2.42%) Support Engineer
17 42 (2.26%) Data Scientist
18 39 (2.10%) IT Manager
19 37 (1.99%) Project Manager
19 37 (1.99%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 47 (2.53%) RESTful
2 42 (2.26%) Kafka
3 39 (2.10%) Node.js
3 39 (2.10%) PySpark
4 37 (1.99%) REST
5 33 (1.78%) JSON
6 32 (1.72%) PyTorch
7 30 (1.62%) XML
8 28 (1.51%) .NET
9 26 (1.40%) Middleware
9 26 (1.40%) Playwright
10 24 (1.29%) Pandas
11 21 (1.13%) CSS
11 21 (1.13%) LDAP
12 20 (1.08%) HTML
13 19 (1.02%) React
13 19 (1.02%) Regular Expression
13 19 (1.02%) XMPP
14 17 (0.92%) Oracle Fusion
15 16 (0.86%) FastAPI
Miscellaneous
1 133 (7.17%) Cloud Native
2 128 (6.90%) Onboarding
3 92 (4.96%) Management Information System
4 70 (3.77%) Algorithms
5 69 (3.72%) Product Ownership
6 65 (3.50%) Data Structures
7 64 (3.45%) Data Centre
8 51 (2.75%) Embedded Systems
9 49 (2.64%) Distributed Systems
9 49 (2.64%) Enterprise Software
10 47 (2.53%) Driving Licence
11 46 (2.48%) Low-Code
12 38 (2.05%) Analytical Mindset
13 36 (1.94%) Legacy Systems
14 34 (1.83%) AI Agents
15 33 (1.78%) Video\Live Streaming
16 32 (1.72%) Life Science
17 29 (1.56%) Robotics
17 29 (1.56%) Self-Motivation
18 28 (1.51%) FPGA
Operating Systems
1 119 (6.41%) Linux
2 87 (4.69%) Windows
3 33 (1.78%) Windows Server
4 24 (1.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 19 (1.02%) Unix
6 6 (0.32%) Android
6 6 (0.32%) Embedded Linux
6 6 (0.32%) 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 (0.054%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 476 (25.65%) Problem-Solving
2 466 (25.11%) Continuous Improvement
3 407 (21.93%) Agile
4 360 (19.40%) AI
5 299 (16.11%) CI/CD
6 263 (14.17%) Analytics
7 247 (13.31%) Stakeholder Management
8 240 (12.93%) Migration
8 240 (12.93%) Test Automation
9 226 (12.18%) Mentoring
10 209 (11.26%) Decision-Making
11 196 (10.56%) Data Analysis
12 193 (10.40%) Software Engineering
13 189 (10.18%) DevOps
14 188 (10.13%) Verification and Validation
15 181 (9.75%) Machine Learning
16 179 (9.64%) Business Intelligence
17 170 (9.16%) ERP
17 170 (9.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 170 (9.16%) User Acceptance Testing
Programming Languages
1 474 (25.54%) Python
2 380 (20.47%) SQL
3 85 (4.58%) Java
4 83 (4.47%) C++
5 76 (4.09%) C
6 55 (2.96%) Go
6 55 (2.96%) JavaScript
7 50 (2.69%) C#
8 40 (2.16%) MATLAB
9 30 (1.62%) PowerShell
10 28 (1.51%) Bash
11 23 (1.24%) Embedded C
12 20 (1.08%) Scala
12 20 (1.08%) T-SQL
13 19 (1.02%) TypeScript
14 18 (0.97%) Embedded C++
15 15 (0.81%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 12 (0.65%) R
17 10 (0.54%) ABAP
17 10 (0.54%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 382 (20.58%) Degree
2 252 (13.58%) Security Cleared
3 137 (7.38%) SC Cleared
4 129 (6.95%) BPSS Clearance
5 84 (4.53%) DV Cleared
6 75 (4.04%) Master's Degree
7 42 (2.26%) Computer Science Degree
8 32 (1.72%) Chartered Engineer
9 29 (1.56%) CISSP
10 28 (1.51%) HNC
10 28 (1.51%) PhD
10 28 (1.51%) PMI Certification
11 25 (1.35%) ACCA
11 25 (1.35%) CIMA
12 23 (1.24%) AWS Certification
12 23 (1.24%) CISM
13 22 (1.19%) HND
14 20 (1.08%) CISA
14 20 (1.08%) SANS
15 19 (1.02%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 307 (16.54%) Data Quality
2 260 (14.01%) QA
3 81 (4.36%) Accessibility
4 56 (3.02%) GDPR
5 38 (2.05%) GRC
6 25 (1.35%) IEC 61508
7 24 (1.29%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 22 (1.19%) SLA
9 20 (1.08%) NIST
10 18 (0.97%) PMO
11 16 (0.86%) GxP
12 15 (0.81%) IFRS
12 15 (0.81%) ISO 26262
12 15 (0.81%) WCAG
13 14 (0.75%) GAAP
14 13 (0.70%) ISO 9001
15 12 (0.65%) GMP
15 12 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 15288
16 11 (0.59%) SOC 2
17 10 (0.54%) COBIT
System Software
1 77 (4.15%) Docker
2 72 (3.88%) Firmware
3 42 (2.26%) Active Directory
4 29 (1.56%) Embedded Firmware
5 28 (1.51%) Virtual Machines
6 22 (1.19%) vSphere
7 18 (0.97%) VMware Infrastructure
8 8 (0.43%) KVM
9 6 (0.32%) Hyper-V
10 2 (0.11%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.054%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.054%) iptables
11 1 (0.054%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.054%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 79 (4.26%) Kubernetes
2 77 (4.15%) Terraform
3 42 (2.26%) Grafana
4 27 (1.45%) Ansible
5 25 (1.35%) Functional Safety
6 18 (0.97%) Prometheus
7 11 (0.59%) Puppet
8 10 (0.54%) Cilium
9 9 (0.48%) Single Sign-On
10 8 (0.43%) SCCM
11 7 (0.38%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
11 7 (0.38%) Kibana
12 5 (0.27%) Microsoft Intune
13 4 (0.22%) Argo
13 4 (0.22%) FortiGate
13 4 (0.22%) Nessus
13 4 (0.22%) Nmap
13 4 (0.22%) WMI
14 3 (0.16%) Rancher
14 3 (0.16%) yum
Vendors
1 264 (14.22%) Microsoft
2 119 (6.41%) SAP
3 103 (5.55%) Oracle
4 59 (3.18%) Salesforce
5 49 (2.64%) Databricks
6 43 (2.32%) ServiceNow
7 38 (2.05%) Google
8 37 (1.99%) VMware
9 35 (1.89%) Cisco
9 35 (1.89%) Red Hat
10 29 (1.56%) CrowdStrike
11 25 (1.35%) Palo Alto
12 22 (1.19%) Tenable
13 19 (1.02%) EMC
14 17 (0.92%) IBM
15 16 (0.86%) Foundry
16 15 (0.81%) McAfee
17 14 (0.75%) Adobe
17 14 (0.75%) Splunk
18 13 (0.70%) Workday