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

6 months to
27 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 115 87 210
Rank change year-on-year -28 +123 -18
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,558 1,616 1,390
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.64% 3.55% 1.32%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.23% 3.85% 1.60%
Number of salaries quoted 937 460 759
10th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £35,500
25th Percentile £42,500 £46,250 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.51% +3.64% -11.41%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,000 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -3.64% +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 69,907 41,954 86,795
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.40% 92.11% 82.23%
Number of salaries quoted 48,219 22,640 61,471
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,750 £29,750
25th Percentile £41,250 £38,750 £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 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,000 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +6.00% - -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 27 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 27 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 -33 1,413 £55,000 -3.51% 800
UK excluding London -49 1,048 £53,000 -3.64% 653
Work from Home +132 504 £55,000 -8.33% 311
London +70 401 £76,250 - 281
South East -42 318 £55,000 - 248
North of England +89 287 £55,000 +15.35% 123
North West +81 182 £55,000 +15.35% 60
Midlands -72 166 £40,000 -27.27% 103
East of England -71 110 £60,000 +5.26% 65
South West -35 107 £53,000 -3.64% 94
West Midlands +2 98 £44,000 -29.60% 54
East Midlands -82 66 £30,000 -36.84% 49
Yorkshire +2 61 £44,000 +4.45% 38
North East -4 44 £55,000 +15.79% 26
Scotland -2 40 £46,000 -20.73% 29
Wales -37 20 £47,500 -17.39% 8
Northern Ireland -31 2 - - 7

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 52 (3.34%) Apache Airflow
2 48 (3.08%) Apache Spark
3 46 (2.95%) Apache
4 26 (1.67%) Confluence
5 21 (1.35%) ArcGIS
6 20 (1.28%) SharePoint
7 15 (0.96%) Microsoft Exchange
8 12 (0.77%) Jupyter
9 10 (0.64%) SAS
10 5 (0.32%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 5 (0.32%) Appian
11 4 (0.26%) CMS
11 4 (0.26%) Kinematics
12 3 (0.19%) Artix
13 2 (0.13%) IIS
14 1 (0.064%) Oracle Workflow
14 1 (0.064%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 86 (5.52%) Microsoft Excel
2 46 (2.95%) Microsoft Office
3 24 (1.54%) Microsoft Project
4 20 (1.28%) MS Visio
5 17 (1.09%) Simulink
6 15 (0.96%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 8 (0.51%) SOLIDWORKS
7 8 (0.51%) Spreadsheet
8 5 (0.32%) AutoCAD
9 4 (0.26%) Adobe XD
9 4 (0.26%) CANalyzer
9 4 (0.26%) Sketch
10 3 (0.19%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 3 (0.19%) Autodesk Inventor
10 3 (0.19%) Productboard
10 3 (0.19%) Solid Edge
10 3 (0.19%) Stateflow
11 1 (0.064%) Chatbot
11 1 (0.064%) PTC Creo
11 1 (0.064%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 44 (2.82%) SAP S/4HANA
2 40 (2.57%) Dynamics CRM
3 11 (0.71%) SAP MDG
4 10 (0.64%) SAP ERP
5 9 (0.58%) Oracle EBS
6 8 (0.51%) Oracle ERP
7 7 (0.45%) iTrent
8 6 (0.39%) Elite 3E
9 5 (0.32%) Loan IQ
9 5 (0.32%) Oracle Applications
9 5 (0.32%) Oracle Financials
9 5 (0.32%) SAP MDG-BP
10 2 (0.13%) NetSuite
10 2 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
10 2 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
10 2 (0.13%) SAP Business One
10 2 (0.13%) SAP FSCM
10 2 (0.13%) SAP MM
10 2 (0.13%) SAP PSCD
10 2 (0.13%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 226 (14.51%) Azure
2 197 (12.64%) AWS
3 146 (9.37%) Power Platform
4 81 (5.20%) GCP
5 76 (4.88%) SaaS
6 61 (3.92%) Azure DevOps
7 42 (2.70%) Serverless
8 41 (2.63%) GitHub
9 40 (2.57%) Microsoft 365
10 38 (2.44%) Amazon S3
11 34 (2.18%) Dynamics 365
12 26 (1.67%) Azure Data Factory
13 23 (1.48%) Snowflake
14 21 (1.35%) Entra ID
15 20 (1.28%) GitHub Actions
16 17 (1.09%) dbt
16 17 (1.09%) Power Automate
17 16 (1.03%) Amazon EC2
17 16 (1.03%) Amazon EMR
18 15 (0.96%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 71 (4.56%) Broadband
2 46 (2.95%) Firewall
3 34 (2.18%) DNS
4 22 (1.41%) TCP/IP
4 22 (1.41%) Wireless
5 21 (1.35%) WAN
6 19 (1.22%) CHAP
7 16 (1.03%) Network Security
8 15 (0.96%) SD-WAN
8 15 (0.96%) VPN
9 13 (0.83%) 5G
10 12 (0.77%) Wi-Fi
10 12 (0.77%) Wireshark
11 11 (0.71%) Ethernet
11 11 (0.71%) HTTP
11 11 (0.71%) MQTT
12 10 (0.64%) LAN
13 9 (0.58%) NAS
14 7 (0.45%) Multicast
14 7 (0.45%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 139 (8.92%) Power BI
2 56 (3.59%) PostgreSQL
2 56 (3.59%) Tableau
3 51 (3.27%) SQL Server
4 49 (3.15%) Data Warehouse
5 35 (2.25%) Metadata
6 34 (2.18%) MongoDB
7 30 (1.93%) Relational Database
8 27 (1.73%) BigQuery
9 26 (1.67%) Data Lake
10 25 (1.60%) QGIS
11 24 (1.54%) Semantic Layer
12 23 (1.48%) Azure SQL Database
12 23 (1.48%) GIS
13 20 (1.28%) Spatial Data
14 19 (1.22%) Spark SQL
15 18 (1.16%) Amazon Athena
15 18 (1.16%) DynamoDB
16 17 (1.09%) MySQL
16 17 (1.09%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 83 (5.33%) JIRA
2 72 (4.62%) Git
3 49 (3.15%) Jenkins
4 39 (2.50%) GitLab
5 31 (1.99%) Rational DOORS
6 22 (1.41%) Snyk
7 17 (1.09%) Selenium
8 16 (1.03%) LabVIEW
8 16 (1.03%) Postman
9 13 (0.83%) IBM UrbanCode
10 12 (0.77%) Cypress.io
11 11 (0.71%) Cucumber
11 11 (0.71%) JMeter
12 10 (0.64%) Eclipse
12 10 (0.64%) TeamCity
13 9 (0.58%) MLflow
14 7 (0.45%) Rational Rhapsody
14 7 (0.45%) REST Assured
15 6 (0.39%) Burp Suite
15 6 (0.39%) Zephyr
General
1 501 (32.16%) Social Skills
2 416 (26.70%) Finance
3 346 (22.21%) Analytical Skills
4 116 (7.45%) Aerospace
5 115 (7.38%) Manufacturing
6 107 (6.87%) Electronics
7 96 (6.16%) Banking
8 93 (5.97%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 60 (3.85%) Public Sector
9 60 (3.85%) Retail
10 54 (3.47%) Legal
11 53 (3.40%) Law
12 47 (3.02%) Organisational Skills
12 47 (3.02%) Pharmaceutical
13 42 (2.70%) Marketing
14 41 (2.63%) Games
15 39 (2.50%) Automotive
16 34 (2.18%) Financial Institution
17 26 (1.67%) Documentation Skills
18 25 (1.60%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 267 (17.14%) Senior
2 241 (15.47%) Analyst
3 133 (8.54%) Systems Engineer
4 123 (7.89%) Lead
5 103 (6.61%) Test Engineer
6 100 (6.42%) Architect
7 83 (5.33%) Validation Engineer
8 80 (5.13%) Business Analyst
8 80 (5.13%) Data Engineer
9 71 (4.56%) Consultant
9 71 (4.56%) Developer
10 69 (4.43%) Data Analyst
11 45 (2.89%) Principal Engineer
12 42 (2.70%) Embedded Engineer
13 41 (2.63%) Integration Engineer
14 40 (2.57%) Support Engineer
15 39 (2.50%) IT Manager
16 38 (2.44%) Senior Systems Engineer
17 35 (2.25%) Security Architect
18 34 (2.18%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (2.82%) RESTful
2 37 (2.37%) REST
3 35 (2.25%) JSON
3 35 (2.25%) PySpark
4 33 (2.12%) Node.js
4 33 (2.12%) PyTorch
5 30 (1.93%) Kafka
6 27 (1.73%) XML
7 25 (1.60%) Middleware
7 25 (1.60%) Pandas
8 24 (1.54%) .NET
9 21 (1.35%) Playwright
9 21 (1.35%) pytest
10 18 (1.16%) Regular Expression
10 18 (1.16%) XMPP
11 17 (1.09%) Swagger
12 16 (1.03%) CSS
13 15 (0.96%) HTML
14 14 (0.90%) LDAP
14 14 (0.90%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 98 (6.29%) Cloud Native
2 78 (5.01%) Onboarding
3 72 (4.62%) Data Structures
4 68 (4.36%) Management Information System
5 59 (3.79%) Algorithms
6 49 (3.15%) Low-Code
7 47 (3.02%) Product Ownership
8 42 (2.70%) Embedded Systems
9 41 (2.63%) Driving Licence
10 35 (2.25%) Data Centre
10 35 (2.25%) Distributed Systems
10 35 (2.25%) Self-Motivation
11 34 (2.18%) Enterprise Software
12 33 (2.12%) Analytical Mindset
13 32 (2.05%) Legacy Systems
14 31 (1.99%) Video\Live Streaming
15 29 (1.86%) Life Science
16 24 (1.54%) FPGA
17 23 (1.48%) Robotics
18 19 (1.22%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 101 (6.48%) Linux
2 73 (4.69%) Windows
3 29 (1.86%) Windows Server
4 25 (1.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 23 (1.48%) Unix
6 7 (0.45%) Android
7 4 (0.26%) FreeRTOS
7 4 (0.26%) Kali Linux
7 4 (0.26%) Mac OS X
8 3 (0.19%) AIX
8 3 (0.19%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.19%) Robot Operating System
9 2 (0.13%) CentOS
9 2 (0.13%) Embedded Linux
9 2 (0.13%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.13%) ThreadX
10 1 (0.064%) Rocky
10 1 (0.064%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.064%) VxWorks
10 1 (0.064%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 344 (22.08%) Problem-Solving
2 327 (20.99%) Continuous Improvement
3 325 (20.86%) Agile
4 277 (17.78%) AI
5 247 (15.85%) CI/CD
6 225 (14.44%) Analytics
7 218 (13.99%) Test Automation
8 186 (11.94%) Migration
9 181 (11.62%) Verification and Validation
10 173 (11.10%) Data Validation
11 170 (10.91%) Stakeholder Management
12 169 (10.85%) Business Intelligence
13 160 (10.27%) DevOps
14 159 (10.21%) Data Modelling
15 154 (9.88%) Mentoring
16 152 (9.76%) Software Engineering
17 151 (9.69%) Decision-Making
18 150 (9.63%) Data Analysis
19 147 (9.44%) Machine Learning
20 144 (9.24%) Collaborative Working
Programming Languages
1 394 (25.29%) Python
2 328 (21.05%) SQL
3 69 (4.43%) C++
4 66 (4.24%) C
5 64 (4.11%) Java
6 49 (3.15%) Go
7 44 (2.82%) C#
8 34 (2.18%) JavaScript
9 31 (1.99%) MATLAB
10 25 (1.60%) Bash
10 25 (1.60%) PowerShell
11 24 (1.54%) T-SQL
12 21 (1.35%) Embedded C
13 18 (1.16%) Embedded C++
14 15 (0.96%) Data Analysis Expressions
15 14 (0.90%) Scala
16 13 (0.83%) TypeScript
17 10 (0.64%) ABAP
18 9 (0.58%) VBA
19 7 (0.45%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 297 (19.06%) Degree
2 171 (10.98%) Security Cleared
3 110 (7.06%) BPSS Clearance
4 80 (5.13%) SC Cleared
5 76 (4.88%) Master's Degree
6 46 (2.95%) DV Cleared
7 41 (2.63%) Computer Science Degree
8 35 (2.25%) Chartered Engineer
9 29 (1.86%) CISA
9 29 (1.86%) CISSP
9 29 (1.86%) SANS
10 28 (1.80%) HNC
11 26 (1.67%) CISM
12 22 (1.41%) HND
13 20 (1.28%) ACCA
13 20 (1.28%) CIMA
14 19 (1.22%) CGEIT
14 19 (1.22%) FFIEC
15 18 (1.16%) PMI Certification
16 15 (0.96%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 257 (16.50%) Data Quality
2 189 (12.13%) QA
3 62 (3.98%) Accessibility
4 57 (3.66%) GDPR
5 39 (2.50%) GRC
6 26 (1.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 23 (1.48%) NIST
8 22 (1.41%) IEC 61508
9 21 (1.35%) ISO/IEC 15288
10 19 (1.22%) COBIT
11 18 (1.16%) IFRS
12 17 (1.09%) ISO 9001
13 16 (1.03%) PMO
14 15 (0.96%) SLA
15 13 (0.83%) GAAP
16 12 (0.77%) ISO 26262
17 11 (0.71%) SOC 2
17 11 (0.71%) WCAG
18 10 (0.64%) GxP
19 9 (0.58%) GMP
System Software
1 71 (4.56%) Docker
2 44 (2.82%) Firmware
3 37 (2.37%) Active Directory
4 22 (1.41%) Virtual Machines
5 21 (1.35%) Embedded Firmware
6 20 (1.28%) vSphere
7 15 (0.96%) VMware Infrastructure
8 6 (0.39%) KVM
9 5 (0.32%) Hyper-V
10 2 (0.13%) Terminal Services
10 2 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 70 (4.49%) Kubernetes
2 66 (4.24%) Terraform
3 31 (1.99%) Grafana
4 23 (1.48%) Functional Safety
5 20 (1.28%) Ansible
6 15 (0.96%) Prometheus
7 10 (0.64%) Cilium
7 10 (0.64%) Puppet
8 7 (0.45%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 7 (0.45%) Kibana
9 6 (0.39%) SCCM
10 3 (0.19%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.19%) HP Fortify
11 2 (0.13%) Argo
11 2 (0.13%) BMC PATROL
11 2 (0.13%) Computer Incident Response Team
11 2 (0.13%) Nessus
11 2 (0.13%) Nmap
11 2 (0.13%) Rancher
11 2 (0.13%) yum
Vendors
1 197 (12.64%) Microsoft
2 100 (6.42%) SAP
3 91 (5.84%) Oracle
4 52 (3.34%) Salesforce
5 40 (2.57%) Databricks
6 34 (2.18%) Red Hat
6 34 (2.18%) ServiceNow
7 33 (2.12%) VMware
8 29 (1.86%) CrowdStrike
9 25 (1.60%) Google
10 23 (1.48%) Cisco
10 23 (1.48%) Palo Alto
11 22 (1.41%) Tenable
12 20 (1.28%) Adobe
13 16 (1.03%) Foundry
14 14 (0.90%) Citrix
14 14 (0.90%) McAfee
15 12 (0.77%) OpenAI
16 10 (0.64%) EMC
17 9 (0.58%) IBM