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 13 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 157 160 199
Rank change year-on-year +3 +39 -54
Permanent jobs citing Validation 909 970 936
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.52% 1.82% 1.67%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.88% 2.01% 1.86%
Number of salaries quoted 485 352 527
10th Percentile £36,250 £37,525 £37,191
25th Percentile £41,250 £45,000 £48,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -11.54%
75th Percentile £77,500 £71,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £90,750 £99,750 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,250 £52,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year +1.43% - -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 48,315 48,345 50,335
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 81.00% 90.62% 89.96%
Number of salaries quoted 28,473 23,469 38,401
10th Percentile £28,500 £35,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £37,500 £45,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £78,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £52,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +5.77% -5.45%

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 13 January 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 13 January 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 +3 825 £60,000 +9.09% 899
UK excluding London +5 592 £53,250 +1.43% 833
London +27 263 £75,000 +20.00% 180
Work from Home +79 232 £60,000 +9.09% 417
South East +22 202 £50,000 -9.09% 292
North of England -6 122 £55,117 +19.54% 135
Midlands +13 82 £40,000 -23.08% 103
North West 0 77 £54,500 +14.30% 51
East of England +6 76 £60,000 +9.09% 128
South West +22 67 £55,000 +4.56% 138
West Midlands 0 50 £37,500 -28.57% 48
Yorkshire -5 35 £62,500 +54.42% 65
East Midlands +2 32 £42,500 -5.56% 54
Scotland -15 32 £60,000 +3.39% 31
North East -4 10 £31,000 -25.30% 20
Wales +5 8 £65,000 +32.37% 33
Northern Ireland -20 3 - - 12

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 (2.64%) Confluence
2 18 (1.98%) Apache Airflow
3 12 (1.32%) Apache Spark
4 11 (1.21%) SharePoint
5 9 (0.99%) Appian
5 9 (0.99%) CMS
6 7 (0.77%) Apache
6 7 (0.77%) SugarCRM
7 5 (0.55%) Microsoft Exchange
8 4 (0.44%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.33%) Jupyter
9 3 (0.33%) SAS
10 2 (0.22%) Kinematics
10 2 (0.22%) WordPress
11 1 (0.11%) Anypoint
11 1 (0.11%) Apache Superset
11 1 (0.11%) ArcGIS
11 1 (0.11%) FileNet
Applications
1 63 (6.93%) Microsoft Office
2 62 (6.82%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.65%) MS Visio
4 14 (1.54%) Simulink
5 8 (0.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 7 (0.77%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 4 (0.44%) Fusion 360
7 4 (0.44%) Mathcad
8 3 (0.33%) Oracle Smart View
9 2 (0.22%) Adobe After Effects
9 2 (0.22%) Adobe Captivate
9 2 (0.22%) Adobe Illustrator
9 2 (0.22%) Adobe Premiere
9 2 (0.22%) AutoCAD
9 2 (0.22%) Elementor
9 2 (0.22%) Photoshop
9 2 (0.22%) Revit
9 2 (0.22%) Weka
10 1 (0.11%) CATIA
10 1 (0.11%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 20 (2.20%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.21%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.77%) Workday HCM
4 5 (0.55%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.44%) Markit EDM
5 4 (0.44%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 4 (0.44%) SAP BPC
6 3 (0.33%) Oracle Assets
6 3 (0.33%) Oracle Cash Management
6 3 (0.33%) Oracle General Ledger
6 3 (0.33%) Oracle Payables
6 3 (0.33%) Oracle Receivables
6 3 (0.33%) SAP CX
7 2 (0.22%) Aladdin
7 2 (0.22%) Endur
7 2 (0.22%) IBM Planning Analytics
7 2 (0.22%) NetSuite
7 2 (0.22%) Primavera
7 2 (0.22%) SAP ERP
8 1 (0.11%) SAP Business ByDesign
Cloud Services
1 133 (14.63%) Azure
2 73 (8.03%) Power Platform
3 65 (7.15%) AWS
4 44 (4.84%) SaaS
5 36 (3.96%) Azure DevOps
6 26 (2.86%) GCP
7 25 (2.75%) Snowflake
8 21 (2.31%) Dynamics 365
9 20 (2.20%) dbt
10 19 (2.09%) Azure Data Factory
11 17 (1.87%) Power Automate
12 16 (1.76%) GitHub
13 14 (1.54%) Microsoft 365
14 12 (1.32%) Amazon S3
15 11 (1.21%) Datadog
15 11 (1.21%) Entra ID
15 11 (1.21%) Figma
16 10 (1.10%) Azure AI
17 9 (0.99%) Anthropic Claude
17 9 (0.99%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 14 (1.54%) CHAP
2 13 (1.43%) LAN
3 12 (1.32%) Firewall
4 11 (1.21%) DNS
5 9 (0.99%) 5G
5 9 (0.99%) WAN
6 8 (0.88%) HTTP
6 8 (0.88%) MQTT
7 7 (0.77%) Modbus
7 7 (0.77%) TCP/IP
8 6 (0.66%) SD-WAN
9 5 (0.55%) Cisco IOS
9 5 (0.55%) Ethernet VPN
9 5 (0.55%) SMTP
9 5 (0.55%) WAAS
10 4 (0.44%) BGP
10 4 (0.44%) Internet
10 4 (0.44%) OSPF
10 4 (0.44%) VoIP
10 4 (0.44%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 70 (7.70%) Power BI
2 32 (3.52%) Data Warehouse
3 29 (3.19%) SQL Server
4 25 (2.75%) Metadata
4 25 (2.75%) Tableau
5 20 (2.20%) Relational Database
6 14 (1.54%) Oracle Reports
7 13 (1.43%) BigQuery
8 10 (1.10%) Data Lake
8 10 (1.10%) Spotfire
9 9 (0.99%) Pinecone
10 8 (0.88%) Big Data
10 8 (0.88%) PostgreSQL
11 7 (0.77%) Amazon Redshift
11 7 (0.77%) Looker
12 6 (0.66%) GIS
12 6 (0.66%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 5 (0.55%) NoSQL
13 5 (0.55%) SAP HANA
13 5 (0.55%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 74 (8.14%) JIRA
2 48 (5.28%) Rational DOORS
3 42 (4.62%) Git
4 24 (2.64%) Postman
5 17 (1.87%) Jenkins
6 14 (1.54%) Selenium
7 13 (1.43%) TestRail
8 12 (1.32%) Cucumber
8 12 (1.32%) JMeter
9 11 (1.21%) MLflow
10 10 (1.10%) GitLab
10 10 (1.10%) LabVIEW
10 10 (1.10%) SoapUI
11 7 (0.77%) Eclipse
11 7 (0.77%) LoadRunner
11 7 (0.77%) Locust
12 5 (0.55%) Charles Proxy
12 5 (0.55%) Fiddler
12 5 (0.55%) TestNG
12 5 (0.55%) Zephyr
General
1 332 (36.52%) Social Skills
2 251 (27.61%) Finance
3 194 (21.34%) Analytical Skills
4 59 (6.49%) Electronics
5 57 (6.27%) Banking
6 46 (5.06%) Law
6 46 (5.06%) Manufacturing
7 44 (4.84%) Marketing
7 44 (4.84%) Presentation Skills
8 38 (4.18%) Financial Institution
9 36 (3.96%) Aerospace
9 36 (3.96%) Documentation Skills
10 33 (3.63%) Organisational Skills
11 32 (3.52%) Public Sector
12 29 (3.19%) Telecoms
13 28 (3.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 27 (2.97%) Retail
15 24 (2.64%) Pharmaceutical
16 23 (2.53%) Legal
17 19 (2.09%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 140 (15.40%) Analyst
2 130 (14.30%) Senior
3 93 (10.23%) Systems Engineer
4 87 (9.57%) Lead
5 50 (5.50%) Architect
6 48 (5.28%) Business Analyst
7 43 (4.73%) Test Engineer
8 36 (3.96%) Validation Engineer
9 34 (3.74%) Data Analyst
10 33 (3.63%) Junior
11 32 (3.52%) Applications Engineer
11 32 (3.52%) Data Engineer
11 32 (3.52%) Developer
12 31 (3.41%) Applications Support
12 31 (3.41%) Integration Engineer
13 30 (3.30%) Principal Engineer
14 28 (3.08%) Support Engineer
15 26 (2.86%) Applications Support Engineer
16 24 (2.64%) Solutions Architect
17 23 (2.53%) Systems Integration Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (4.84%) REST
2 28 (3.08%) Middleware
3 25 (2.75%) JSON
4 24 (2.64%) Pandas
5 20 (2.20%) pytest
5 20 (2.20%) scikit-learn
5 20 (2.20%) XML
6 17 (1.87%) PyTorch
6 17 (1.87%) TensorFlow
7 15 (1.65%) NumPy
8 14 (1.54%) CSS
8 14 (1.54%) FastAPI
8 14 (1.54%) OAuth
9 13 (1.43%) HTML
9 13 (1.43%) JWT
9 13 (1.43%) Swagger
9 13 (1.43%) Web Services
10 12 (1.32%) Flask
11 11 (1.21%) React
12 10 (1.10%) Hugging Face
Miscellaneous
1 72 (7.92%) Management Information System
2 38 (4.18%) Onboarding
3 34 (3.74%) Product Ownership
4 32 (3.52%) Life Science
5 26 (2.86%) Self-Motivation
6 20 (2.20%) Legacy Systems
7 18 (1.98%) Low-Code
7 18 (1.98%) Operational Technology
8 17 (1.87%) Algorithms
9 15 (1.65%) Data Structures
9 15 (1.65%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 15 (1.65%) SCADA
10 12 (1.32%) Analytical Mindset
10 12 (1.32%) Data Centre
10 12 (1.32%) Enterprise Software
11 11 (1.21%) SWIFT Messaging Network
12 10 (1.10%) Cloud Native
12 10 (1.10%) Embedded Systems
12 10 (1.10%) FPGA
13 9 (0.99%) Credit Risk
Operating Systems
1 52 (5.72%) Windows
2 37 (4.07%) Linux
3 13 (1.43%) Windows Server
4 10 (1.10%) Android
5 7 (0.77%) Unix
6 5 (0.55%) Windows 10
7 3 (0.33%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.22%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.22%) CentOS
8 2 (0.22%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.11%) AIX
9 1 (0.11%) FreeRTOS
9 1 (0.11%) Robot Operating System
9 1 (0.11%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 237 (26.07%) Agile
2 212 (23.32%) Problem-Solving
3 146 (16.06%) Verification and Validation
4 130 (14.30%) Continuous Improvement
5 117 (12.87%) Data Validation
6 115 (12.65%) Analytics
7 114 (12.54%) Migration
8 102 (11.22%) Test Automation
9 100 (11.00%) Systems Engineering
10 96 (10.56%) DevOps
11 92 (10.12%) CI/CD
12 88 (9.68%) ETL
13 85 (9.35%) Business Intelligence
13 85 (9.35%) Decision-Making
13 85 (9.35%) Mentoring
14 79 (8.69%) Data Analysis
15 77 (8.47%) Data Management
15 77 (8.47%) Software Engineering
16 76 (8.36%) Roadmaps
17 75 (8.25%) AI
Programming Languages
1 196 (21.56%) SQL
2 165 (18.15%) Python
3 35 (3.85%) C
4 33 (3.63%) C++
5 29 (3.19%) Java
6 28 (3.08%) MATLAB
7 27 (2.97%) PowerShell
8 23 (2.53%) JavaScript
9 16 (1.76%) Bash
10 12 (1.32%) TypeScript
11 10 (1.10%) C#
12 9 (0.99%) R
13 7 (0.77%) T-SQL
14 6 (0.66%) Bicep
14 6 (0.66%) PL/SQL
15 5 (0.55%) PHP
16 4 (0.44%) Apex Code
17 3 (0.33%) GLSL
17 3 (0.33%) Go
17 3 (0.33%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 272 (29.92%) Degree
2 121 (13.31%) Security Cleared
3 107 (11.77%) BPSS Clearance
4 56 (6.16%) SC Cleared
5 49 (5.39%) Master's Degree
6 41 (4.51%) Computer Science Degree
7 19 (2.09%) Cisco Certification
8 18 (1.98%) HNC
9 16 (1.76%) CISA
9 16 (1.76%) CISSP
9 16 (1.76%) DV Cleared
9 16 (1.76%) ISTQB
10 15 (1.65%) CGEIT
10 15 (1.65%) CISM
10 15 (1.65%) FFIEC
10 15 (1.65%) Microsoft Certification
10 15 (1.65%) SANS
11 14 (1.54%) PMI Certification
11 14 (1.54%) PMP
12 13 (1.43%) Chartered Engineer
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 111 (12.21%) QA
2 105 (11.55%) Data Quality
3 41 (4.51%) ISO/IEC 15288
4 35 (3.85%) SLA
5 34 (3.74%) GDPR
6 32 (3.52%) Accessibility
7 21 (2.31%) GxP
8 18 (1.98%) NIST
9 17 (1.87%) ISO/IEC 12207
10 15 (1.65%) COBIT
11 12 (1.32%) WCAG
12 11 (1.21%) ISO 20022
12 11 (1.21%) SEPA
13 10 (1.10%) Good Clinical Practice
14 9 (0.99%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 9 (0.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
15 8 (0.88%) GRC
16 7 (0.77%) Sarbanes-Oxley
16 7 (0.77%) TARGET2
17 5 (0.55%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 47 (5.17%) Docker
2 25 (2.75%) Firmware
3 15 (1.65%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (1.54%) Active Directory
5 7 (0.77%) Embedded Firmware
6 3 (0.33%) vCloud
7 2 (0.22%) Ceph
7 2 (0.22%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.22%) Lustre
7 2 (0.22%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 2 (0.22%) Slurm Workload Manager
7 2 (0.22%) Virtual Servers
7 2 (0.22%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.22%) vSphere
8 1 (0.11%) Dovecot
8 1 (0.11%) iptables
8 1 (0.11%) OpenDJ
8 1 (0.11%) Postfix
8 1 (0.11%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.11%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 38 (4.18%) Kubernetes
2 19 (2.09%) Terraform
3 16 (1.76%) Ansible
3 16 (1.76%) Grafana
4 9 (0.99%) Microsoft Intune
5 7 (0.77%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
5 7 (0.77%) Prometheus
6 5 (0.55%) SCCM
7 3 (0.33%) Argo
7 3 (0.33%) Docker Swarm
7 3 (0.33%) Rancher
7 3 (0.33%) yum
8 2 (0.22%) Functional Safety
8 2 (0.22%) Kubeflow
8 2 (0.22%) Nessus
8 2 (0.22%) Rundeck
9 1 (0.11%) Kibana
9 1 (0.11%) PowerCLI
9 1 (0.11%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.11%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 118 (12.98%) Microsoft
2 53 (5.83%) SAP
3 35 (3.85%) Oracle
4 28 (3.08%) Salesforce
5 26 (2.86%) Cisco
6 24 (2.64%) IBM
7 20 (2.20%) VMware
8 15 (1.65%) Foundry
9 13 (1.43%) Software AG
10 11 (1.21%) CheckPoint
10 11 (1.21%) F5
11 10 (1.10%) Adobe
11 10 (1.10%) OpenAI
11 10 (1.10%) ServiceNow
12 9 (0.99%) Automation Anywhere
12 9 (0.99%) UiPath
12 9 (0.99%) Workday
13 8 (0.88%) Databricks
13 8 (0.88%) Intapp
13 8 (0.88%) Splunk