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 7 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 83 90 190
Rank change year-on-year +7 +100 +16
Permanent jobs citing Validation 2,241 1,641 1,134
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 2.00% 3.31% 1.42%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.74% 3.74% 1.77%
Number of salaries quoted 1,352 494 466
10th Percentile £36,250 £38,750 £39,000
25th Percentile £42,750 £41,250 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,750 £55,000 £57,767
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.79% -9.74%
75th Percentile £71,250 £75,000 £75,000
90th Percentile £86,500 £89,625 £94,375
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £52,600 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.56% -4.36% -2.59%

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 81,751 43,862 64,233
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 72.96% 88.49% 80.62%
Number of salaries quoted 56,872 24,813 38,457
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,585 £36,250 £41,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £80,000 £75,000 £75,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £96,475 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £47,500 £52,000
% change year-on-year +15.79% -8.65% -4.59%

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 7 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Validation in the UK

Validation
Top 18 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 7 September 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 0 2,072 £57,500 +4.55% 2,646
UK excluding London -17 1,632 £55,000 +4.56% 1,683
Work from Home +119 612 £56,050 -6.58% 980
London +69 529 £70,000 -12.50% 1,319
South East -17 470 £60,000 +11.63% 432
North of England +100 422 £55,000 +15.79% 249
North West +96 255 £55,000 +15.35% 137
Midlands -36 236 £47,500 -13.64% 228
South West +17 216 £55,000 +4.56% 273
East of England -60 166 £56,250 -6.25% 266
West Midlands +30 134 £47,500 -13.64% 155
East Midlands -57 101 £46,209 +8.73% 73
Yorkshire +7 84 £43,000 +1.18% 63
North East -3 83 £55,000 +57.14% 52
Scotland +33 79 £70,000 +20.62% 193
Wales -35 37 £70,000 +30.23% 50
Isle of Man - 5 £38,500 -
Northern Ireland -76 2 - - 37

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 45 (2.01%) Apache Airflow
2 44 (1.96%) Apache Spark
3 41 (1.83%) Apache
4 34 (1.52%) Confluence
5 33 (1.47%) SharePoint
6 20 (0.89%) Jupyter
7 13 (0.58%) SAS
8 11 (0.49%) Microsoft Exchange
9 7 (0.31%) WinCC
10 5 (0.22%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 5 (0.22%) CMS
11 3 (0.13%) Artix
11 3 (0.13%) Kinematics
11 3 (0.13%) OpenStack
11 3 (0.13%) Oracle SOA Suite
12 2 (0.089%) Cloud Foundry
12 2 (0.089%) IIS
13 1 (0.045%) nginx
13 1 (0.045%) Oracle Workflow
13 1 (0.045%) WebSphere
Applications
1 118 (5.27%) Microsoft Excel
2 62 (2.77%) Microsoft Office
3 45 (2.01%) Simulink
4 36 (1.61%) Microsoft Project
5 18 (0.80%) Spreadsheet
6 17 (0.76%) SOLIDWORKS
7 15 (0.67%) MS Visio
8 11 (0.49%) AutoCAD
8 11 (0.49%) Microsoft PowerPoint
9 5 (0.22%) CANalyzer
9 5 (0.22%) LaTeX
9 5 (0.22%) Mathcad
9 5 (0.22%) Revit
10 4 (0.18%) Adobe XD
10 4 (0.18%) OrCAD
10 4 (0.18%) Sketch
11 3 (0.13%) Autodesk Inventor
11 3 (0.13%) Navisworks
11 3 (0.13%) Productboard
11 3 (0.13%) Stateflow
Business Applications
1 42 (1.87%) Dynamics CRM
2 40 (1.78%) SAP S/4HANA
3 10 (0.45%) SAP MDG
4 9 (0.40%) iTrent
4 9 (0.40%) Oracle EBS
5 8 (0.36%) Oracle Applications
6 7 (0.31%) Elite 3E
6 7 (0.31%) NetSuite
6 7 (0.31%) SAP ERP
6 7 (0.31%) Workday HCM
7 6 (0.27%) Teamcenter
8 5 (0.22%) SAP MDG-BP
9 4 (0.18%) Infor M3
9 4 (0.18%) Oracle Financials
9 4 (0.18%) SAP MM
10 3 (0.13%) Loan IQ
10 3 (0.13%) Maximo
10 3 (0.13%) Oracle ERP
10 3 (0.13%) SystmOne
11 2 (0.089%) SAP FI
Cloud Services
1 297 (13.25%) Azure
2 252 (11.24%) AWS
3 169 (7.54%) Power Platform
4 93 (4.15%) GCP
5 77 (3.44%) SaaS
6 72 (3.21%) Azure DevOps
7 64 (2.86%) Microsoft 365
8 61 (2.72%) GitHub
9 49 (2.19%) Serverless
10 38 (1.70%) Dynamics 365
11 36 (1.61%) Amazon S3
12 35 (1.56%) Entra ID
13 31 (1.38%) GitHub Actions
14 29 (1.29%) Microsoft Copilot
15 24 (1.07%) Cloud Computing
16 22 (0.98%) Amazon EMR
16 22 (0.98%) Microsoft Purview
17 21 (0.94%) Azure Data Factory
17 21 (0.94%) PowerApps
18 20 (0.89%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 68 (3.03%) DNS
2 67 (2.99%) Firewall
3 64 (2.86%) Broadband
4 42 (1.87%) Wireless
5 36 (1.61%) TCP/IP
5 36 (1.61%) VPN
5 36 (1.61%) WAN
6 35 (1.56%) Network Security
7 27 (1.20%) Ethernet
8 26 (1.16%) LAN
9 23 (1.03%) SD-WAN
10 22 (0.98%) OSPF
10 22 (0.98%) VLAN
11 21 (0.94%) Modbus
12 20 (0.89%) BGP
12 20 (0.89%) MQTT
12 20 (0.89%) Wireshark
13 17 (0.76%) 5G
13 17 (0.76%) Wi-Fi
14 16 (0.71%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 154 (6.87%) Power BI
2 57 (2.54%) Data Warehouse
3 53 (2.37%) Metadata
3 53 (2.37%) PostgreSQL
4 47 (2.10%) Data Lake
5 45 (2.01%) SQL Server
6 43 (1.92%) Tableau
7 36 (1.61%) MongoDB
8 31 (1.38%) Relational Database
9 29 (1.29%) Amazon Athena
10 27 (1.20%) BigQuery
11 25 (1.12%) DynamoDB
12 22 (0.98%) Big Data
12 22 (0.98%) Semantic Layer
13 21 (0.94%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 20 (0.89%) Azure SQL Database
14 20 (0.89%) NoSQL
15 19 (0.85%) MySQL
16 16 (0.71%) Power Query
17 14 (0.62%) Delta Lake
Development Applications
1 128 (5.71%) JIRA
2 111 (4.95%) Git
3 59 (2.63%) Jenkins
4 52 (2.32%) GitLab
5 37 (1.65%) Rational DOORS
6 30 (1.34%) Selenium
7 24 (1.07%) Postman
8 23 (1.03%) LabVIEW
9 22 (0.98%) Snyk
10 21 (0.94%) Cypress.io
11 14 (0.62%) Burp Suite
12 12 (0.54%) Cucumber
12 12 (0.54%) JMeter
13 11 (0.49%) REST Assured
14 10 (0.45%) TeamCity
15 9 (0.40%) Gatling
15 9 (0.40%) Zephyr
16 8 (0.36%) Metasploit
16 8 (0.36%) Rational Rhapsody
17 7 (0.31%) Hudson
General
1 751 (33.51%) Social Skills
2 586 (26.15%) Finance
3 527 (23.52%) Analytical Skills
4 206 (9.19%) Aerospace
4 206 (9.19%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 200 (8.92%) Manufacturing
6 193 (8.61%) Electronics
7 133 (5.93%) Law
8 101 (4.51%) Banking
9 89 (3.97%) Public Sector
10 82 (3.66%) Marketing
10 82 (3.66%) Organisational Skills
11 80 (3.57%) Retail
12 78 (3.48%) Pharmaceutical
13 65 (2.90%) Telecoms
14 63 (2.81%) Automotive
14 63 (2.81%) Legal
15 47 (2.10%) Influencing Skills
16 44 (1.96%) Games
17 41 (1.83%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 399 (17.80%) Senior
2 276 (12.32%) Systems Engineer
3 264 (11.78%) Analyst
4 199 (8.88%) Lead
5 130 (5.80%) Test Engineer
6 120 (5.35%) Architect
7 104 (4.64%) Data Engineer
8 97 (4.33%) Developer
9 87 (3.88%) Consultant
10 79 (3.53%) Business Analyst
10 79 (3.53%) Software Engineer
11 69 (3.08%) Data Analyst
12 68 (3.03%) Principal Engineer
13 66 (2.95%) Validation Engineer
14 51 (2.28%) Embedded Engineer
15 50 (2.23%) Electronics Engineer
15 50 (2.23%) Network Engineer
15 50 (2.23%) Support Engineer
16 48 (2.14%) Data Scientist
17 44 (1.96%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 75 (3.35%) Terraform
2 54 (2.41%) RESTful
3 52 (2.32%) Kafka
4 50 (2.23%) REST
5 44 (1.96%) Node.js
6 35 (1.56%) Playwright
7 34 (1.52%) XML
8 33 (1.47%) JSON
9 32 (1.43%) .NET
10 30 (1.34%) PySpark
11 27 (1.20%) LDAP
12 26 (1.16%) CSS
13 25 (1.12%) HTML
13 25 (1.12%) Middleware
14 24 (1.07%) FastAPI
14 24 (1.07%) React
15 21 (0.94%) ModSecurity
15 21 (0.94%) Swagger
16 20 (0.89%) XMPP
17 19 (0.85%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 156 (6.96%) Cloud Native
2 125 (5.58%) Onboarding
3 122 (5.44%) Management Information System
4 84 (3.75%) Product Ownership
5 79 (3.53%) Data Centre
6 65 (2.90%) Embedded Systems
7 62 (2.77%) Data Structures
8 59 (2.63%) Driving Licence
8 59 (2.63%) Enterprise Software
9 55 (2.45%) Algorithms
10 54 (2.41%) Distributed Systems
11 48 (2.14%) Low-Code
12 45 (2.01%) Life Science
13 44 (1.96%) AI Agents
14 41 (1.83%) Legacy Systems
15 40 (1.78%) Analytical Mindset
15 40 (1.78%) Robotics
16 39 (1.74%) SCADA
17 35 (1.56%) IoT
18 34 (1.52%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 136 (6.07%) Linux
2 94 (4.19%) Windows
3 35 (1.56%) Windows Server
4 24 (1.07%) Unix
5 20 (0.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 10 (0.45%) Android
7 9 (0.40%) Embedded Linux
8 8 (0.36%) Mac OS
9 6 (0.27%) FreeRTOS
10 5 (0.22%) Kali Linux
11 4 (0.18%) Mac OS X
12 3 (0.13%) Apple iOS
13 2 (0.089%) Robot Operating System
13 2 (0.089%) ThreadX
13 2 (0.089%) VMS
13 2 (0.089%) Windows 10
14 1 (0.045%) AIX
14 1 (0.045%) OpenWrt
Processes & Methodologies
1 566 (25.26%) Problem-Solving
2 523 (23.34%) Continuous Improvement
3 426 (19.01%) Agile
4 390 (17.40%) AI
5 381 (17.00%) Verification and Validation
6 310 (13.83%) CI/CD
7 291 (12.99%) Stakeholder Management
8 284 (12.67%) Test Automation
9 268 (11.96%) Migration
10 255 (11.38%) Analytics
11 242 (10.80%) Mentoring
12 227 (10.13%) Decision-Making
13 226 (10.08%) Software Engineering
14 208 (9.28%) DevOps
15 198 (8.84%) Data Analysis
16 195 (8.70%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 194 (8.66%) Business Intelligence
18 192 (8.57%) Machine Learning
19 183 (8.17%) Roadmaps
20 174 (7.76%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 478 (21.33%) Python
2 399 (17.80%) SQL
3 98 (4.37%) Java
4 91 (4.06%) C++
5 85 (3.79%) C
6 67 (2.99%) JavaScript
7 60 (2.68%) MATLAB
8 55 (2.45%) C#
9 54 (2.41%) Go
10 34 (1.52%) Bash
11 31 (1.38%) Embedded C
12 27 (1.20%) PowerShell
13 23 (1.03%) Scala
13 23 (1.03%) TypeScript
14 20 (0.89%) R
15 18 (0.80%) Embedded C++
16 12 (0.54%) T-SQL
17 11 (0.49%) Data Analysis Expressions
18 9 (0.40%) ABAP
18 9 (0.40%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 478 (21.33%) Degree
2 471 (21.02%) Security Cleared
3 337 (15.04%) SC Cleared
4 123 (5.49%) BPSS Clearance
5 108 (4.82%) DV Cleared
6 88 (3.93%) Master's Degree
7 51 (2.28%) Computer Science Degree
8 40 (1.78%) PhD
9 36 (1.61%) CISSP
10 34 (1.52%) Chartered Engineer
10 34 (1.52%) PMI Certification
11 32 (1.43%) HNC
12 31 (1.38%) HND
13 27 (1.20%) CISM
14 24 (1.07%) ACCA
14 24 (1.07%) AWS Certification
14 24 (1.07%) Azure Certification
15 22 (0.98%) CIMA
16 21 (0.94%) Cisco Certification
16 21 (0.94%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 326 (14.55%) Data Quality
2 293 (13.07%) QA
3 78 (3.48%) Accessibility
4 56 (2.50%) GDPR
5 37 (1.65%) GRC
6 30 (1.34%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 26 (1.16%) GxP
8 24 (1.07%) NIST
9 22 (0.98%) IEC 61508
10 21 (0.94%) SLA
11 17 (0.76%) PMO
12 15 (0.67%) ISO 26262
13 14 (0.62%) GMP
13 14 (0.62%) ISO 9001
13 14 (0.62%) WCAG
14 12 (0.54%) SOC 2
15 11 (0.49%) GAAP
15 11 (0.49%) IFRS
16 10 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 15288
17 9 (0.40%) Def Stans
System Software
1 86 (3.84%) Firmware
2 83 (3.70%) Docker
3 48 (2.14%) Active Directory
4 38 (1.70%) Embedded Firmware
5 28 (1.25%) Virtual Machines
6 21 (0.94%) vSphere
7 11 (0.49%) VMware Infrastructure
8 4 (0.18%) Hyper-V
8 4 (0.18%) KVM
9 2 (0.089%) iptables
9 2 (0.089%) ProxySG
9 2 (0.089%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.045%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.045%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 80 (3.57%) Kubernetes
2 43 (1.92%) Grafana
3 31 (1.38%) Ansible
4 27 (1.20%) Functional Safety
5 18 (0.80%) Prometheus
6 15 (0.67%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (0.45%) Cilium
8 8 (0.36%) Nessus
8 8 (0.36%) Nmap
8 8 (0.36%) Puppet
9 7 (0.31%) Kibana
9 7 (0.31%) Microsoft Intune
10 5 (0.22%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
10 5 (0.22%) FortiGate
10 5 (0.22%) SCCM
10 5 (0.22%) WMI
11 4 (0.18%) BMC PATROL
11 4 (0.18%) HP Fortify
11 4 (0.18%) Kubeflow
12 3 (0.13%) Argo
Vendors
1 282 (12.58%) Microsoft
2 120 (5.35%) SAP
3 98 (4.37%) Oracle
4 60 (2.68%) Salesforce
5 57 (2.54%) Databricks
6 54 (2.41%) Cisco
7 52 (2.32%) ServiceNow
8 43 (1.92%) Google
9 31 (1.38%) EMC
10 30 (1.34%) CrowdStrike
10 30 (1.34%) VMware
11 28 (1.25%) Palo Alto
12 23 (1.03%) Red Hat
12 23 (1.03%) Tenable
13 18 (0.80%) IBM
13 18 (0.80%) Splunk
14 15 (0.67%) McAfee
14 15 (0.67%) Siemens
15 14 (0.62%) Foundry
15 14 (0.62%) Workday