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 7 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 171 167 197
Rank change year-on-year -4 +30 -64
Permanent jobs citing Validation 852 1,040 884
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.51% 1.67% 1.75%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.80% 1.93% 1.87%
Number of salaries quoted 469 402 507
10th Percentile £36,250 £36,313 £37,191
25th Percentile £41,250 £46,250 £48,013
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -
75th Percentile £80,000 £72,500 £79,125
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £93,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £52,600 £55,000
% change year-on-year -0.19% -4.36% +10.00%

All Process and 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 47,424 53,892 47,309
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 84.09% 86.75% 93.74%
Number of salaries quoted 28,060 28,022 36,472
10th Percentile £28,250 £35,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £36,250 £45,000 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -0.83%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £98,750 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £47,500 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -13.64% +4.76% -1.87%

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 December 2025.

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 7 December 2025. 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 +9 773 £60,000 +9.09% 1,293
UK excluding London +6 553 £52,500 -0.19% 1,234
London +32 244 £80,000 +23.08% 214
Work from Home +52 198 £60,000 +7.14% 1,323
South East +17 191 £52,500 -12.50% 410
North of England -25 117 £52,750 +15.30% 243
Midlands +37 81 £42,500 -15.00% 185
South West +34 72 £50,000 -16.67% 155
North West -8 70 £52,500 +13.60% 131
East of England -15 58 £59,500 +8.18% 209
West Midlands +27 51 £42,500 -15.00% 107
Yorkshire -9 35 £60,000 +50.00% 91
East Midlands +24 30 £42,500 -10.53% 70
Scotland -18 23 £70,079 +24.01% 46
North East +1 12 £33,000 -30.89% 22
Wales +9 10 £61,250 +24.74% 22
Northern Ireland -13 2 - - 21

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 25 (2.93%) Confluence
2 21 (2.46%) Apache Airflow
3 17 (2.00%) Apache Spark
4 10 (1.17%) Apache
4 10 (1.17%) CMS
4 10 (1.17%) SugarCRM
5 9 (1.06%) SharePoint
6 5 (0.59%) SAS
7 4 (0.47%) Appian
7 4 (0.47%) Headless CMS
7 4 (0.47%) Microsoft Exchange
8 3 (0.35%) Jupyter
9 2 (0.23%) WordPress
10 1 (0.12%) Apache Superset
10 1 (0.12%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.12%) FileNet
10 1 (0.12%) Kinematics
10 1 (0.12%) Luigi
Applications
1 55 (6.46%) Microsoft Excel
2 50 (5.87%) Microsoft Office
3 18 (2.11%) MS Visio
3 18 (2.11%) Simulink
4 7 (0.82%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.70%) Mathcad
6 4 (0.47%) AutoCAD
6 4 (0.47%) Oracle Smart View
6 4 (0.47%) Revit
7 3 (0.35%) Adobe Illustrator
7 3 (0.35%) Photoshop
8 2 (0.23%) Adobe After Effects
8 2 (0.23%) Adobe Captivate
8 2 (0.23%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.23%) Adobe Premiere
8 2 (0.23%) Blender
8 2 (0.23%) Elementor
8 2 (0.23%) Weka
9 1 (0.12%) Civil 3D
9 1 (0.12%) Navisworks
Business Applications
1 25 (2.93%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (1.06%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.82%) Workday HCM
4 5 (0.59%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 4 (0.47%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.47%) SAP BPC
6 3 (0.35%) Oracle Assets
6 3 (0.35%) Oracle Cash Management
6 3 (0.35%) Oracle General Ledger
6 3 (0.35%) Oracle Payables
6 3 (0.35%) Oracle Receivables
6 3 (0.35%) SAP CX
7 2 (0.23%) Aladdin
7 2 (0.23%) Endur
7 2 (0.23%) IBM Planning Analytics
7 2 (0.23%) Markit EDM
7 2 (0.23%) Primavera
7 2 (0.23%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.23%) SAP MDG
7 2 (0.23%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 118 (13.85%) Azure
2 80 (9.39%) Power Platform
3 71 (8.33%) AWS
4 41 (4.81%) SaaS
5 29 (3.40%) Azure DevOps
6 24 (2.82%) GCP
7 21 (2.46%) Snowflake
8 20 (2.35%) Dynamics 365
9 17 (2.00%) dbt
10 16 (1.88%) GitHub
11 14 (1.64%) Amazon S3
12 12 (1.41%) Datadog
12 12 (1.41%) Power Automate
12 12 (1.41%) Serverless
13 11 (1.29%) Azure Data Factory
14 10 (1.17%) AWS Lambda
14 10 (1.17%) Microsoft 365
15 8 (0.94%) AWS Step Functions
16 7 (0.82%) Amazon SageMaker
16 7 (0.82%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 17 (2.00%) LAN
2 13 (1.53%) Firewall
3 10 (1.17%) DNS
3 10 (1.17%) Modbus
4 9 (1.06%) TCP/IP
4 9 (1.06%) WAN
5 8 (0.94%) Ethernet
5 8 (0.94%) HTTP
6 7 (0.82%) 5G
6 7 (0.82%) Ethernet VPN
7 6 (0.70%) BGP
7 6 (0.70%) CHAP
7 6 (0.70%) OSPF
8 5 (0.59%) DHCP
8 5 (0.59%) MQTT
8 5 (0.59%) Network Security
8 5 (0.59%) NX-OS
8 5 (0.59%) Profibus
8 5 (0.59%) SD-WAN
8 5 (0.59%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 75 (8.80%) Power BI
2 40 (4.69%) Tableau
3 35 (4.11%) Data Warehouse
4 25 (2.93%) Metadata
4 25 (2.93%) SQL Server
5 21 (2.46%) BigQuery
6 19 (2.23%) Relational Database
7 13 (1.53%) Big Data
8 11 (1.29%) Data Lake
8 11 (1.29%) NoSQL
9 10 (1.17%) Oracle Reports
9 10 (1.17%) PostgreSQL
10 8 (0.94%) Amazon Redshift
11 7 (0.82%) Looker
12 6 (0.70%) BusinessObjects
12 6 (0.70%) GIS
12 6 (0.70%) MySQL
13 5 (0.59%) Amazon Aurora
13 5 (0.59%) SAP HANA
13 5 (0.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 79 (9.27%) JIRA
2 50 (5.87%) Git
3 43 (5.05%) Rational DOORS
4 22 (2.58%) Jenkins
4 22 (2.58%) Postman
5 15 (1.76%) Selenium
6 12 (1.41%) Cucumber
6 12 (1.41%) GitLab
6 12 (1.41%) JMeter
7 11 (1.29%) TestRail
8 10 (1.17%) SoapUI
9 9 (1.06%) MLflow
10 7 (0.82%) LoadRunner
10 7 (0.82%) Locust
11 5 (0.59%) Charles Proxy
11 5 (0.59%) Fiddler
11 5 (0.59%) TestNG
11 5 (0.59%) Zephyr
12 4 (0.47%) SonarQube
12 4 (0.47%) WebDriver
General
1 316 (37.09%) Social Skills
2 236 (27.70%) Finance
3 173 (20.31%) Analytical Skills
4 57 (6.69%) Law
5 54 (6.34%) Manufacturing
6 51 (5.99%) Electronics
7 48 (5.63%) Documentation Skills
8 47 (5.52%) Marketing
9 43 (5.05%) Banking
10 40 (4.69%) Presentation Skills
11 37 (4.34%) Aerospace
12 32 (3.76%) Retail
13 31 (3.64%) Organisational Skills
14 30 (3.52%) Financial Institution
15 29 (3.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 29 (3.40%) Telecoms
16 27 (3.17%) Public Sector
17 25 (2.93%) Influencing Skills
18 23 (2.70%) Pharmaceutical
19 19 (2.23%) Billing
Job Titles
1 127 (14.91%) Analyst
2 119 (13.97%) Senior
3 100 (11.74%) Lead
4 67 (7.86%) Systems Engineer
5 43 (5.05%) Data Analyst
6 41 (4.81%) Business Analyst
7 39 (4.58%) Architect
8 35 (4.11%) Test Engineer
9 32 (3.76%) Data Engineer
10 30 (3.52%) Applications Engineer
11 29 (3.40%) Applications Support
11 29 (3.40%) Support Engineer
12 27 (3.17%) Developer
12 27 (3.17%) Principal Engineer
13 24 (2.82%) Administrator
13 24 (2.82%) Applications Support Engineer
14 23 (2.70%) Team Leader
15 22 (2.58%) Data Quality Analyst
15 22 (2.58%) Quality Analyst
16 20 (2.35%) Test Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (3.76%) REST
2 25 (2.93%) Middleware
3 21 (2.46%) JSON
4 20 (2.35%) XML
5 19 (2.23%) scikit-learn
6 18 (2.11%) Pandas
7 17 (2.00%) PyTorch
7 17 (2.00%) TensorFlow
8 10 (1.17%) pytest
9 9 (1.06%) HTML
9 9 (1.06%) Kafka
9 9 (1.06%) NumPy
9 9 (1.06%) React
9 9 (1.06%) Web Services
10 8 (0.94%) FastAPI
10 8 (0.94%) Hugging Face
10 8 (0.94%) PySpark
11 7 (0.82%) Flask
11 7 (0.82%) Gherkin
11 7 (0.82%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 72 (8.45%) Management Information System
2 39 (4.58%) Life Science
2 39 (4.58%) Onboarding
3 33 (3.87%) Product Ownership
3 33 (3.87%) Self-Motivation
4 27 (3.17%) Operational Technology
5 26 (3.05%) Algorithms
6 18 (2.11%) SCADA
7 16 (1.88%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 15 (1.76%) Data Structures
9 14 (1.64%) Legacy Systems
10 13 (1.53%) Data Centre
11 12 (1.41%) Analytical Mindset
11 12 (1.41%) FPGA
12 11 (1.29%) Credit Risk
12 11 (1.29%) Embedded Systems
12 11 (1.29%) SWIFT Messaging Network
13 10 (1.17%) Low-Code
14 9 (1.06%) Cloud Native
14 9 (1.06%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 40 (4.69%) Windows
2 38 (4.46%) Linux
3 15 (1.76%) Windows Server
4 6 (0.70%) Windows Server 2016
5 5 (0.59%) Windows 10
6 4 (0.47%) Android
6 4 (0.47%) Unix
6 4 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
7 3 (0.35%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.23%) FreeRTOS
8 2 (0.23%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.12%) AIX
9 1 (0.12%) CentOS
9 1 (0.12%) Robot Operating System
9 1 (0.12%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 224 (26.29%) Agile
2 202 (23.71%) Problem-Solving
3 125 (14.67%) Verification and Validation
4 124 (14.55%) Data Validation
5 122 (14.32%) Continuous Improvement
5 122 (14.32%) Migration
6 105 (12.32%) Analytics
7 92 (10.80%) Test Automation
8 88 (10.33%) Decision-Making
8 88 (10.33%) Systems Engineering
9 85 (9.98%) Business Intelligence
9 85 (9.98%) ETL
10 84 (9.86%) CI/CD
10 84 (9.86%) Mentoring
11 81 (9.51%) Data Analysis
11 81 (9.51%) DevOps
12 80 (9.39%) Data Management
13 79 (9.27%) Software Engineering
14 76 (8.92%) Roadmaps
15 74 (8.69%) AI
Programming Languages
1 185 (21.71%) SQL
2 170 (19.95%) Python
3 37 (4.34%) C++
4 36 (4.23%) C
5 31 (3.64%) Java
6 29 (3.40%) MATLAB
7 20 (2.35%) PowerShell
8 18 (2.11%) JavaScript
9 13 (1.53%) R
10 12 (1.41%) Bash
11 10 (1.17%) T-SQL
11 10 (1.17%) TypeScript
12 6 (0.70%) C#
13 5 (0.59%) Ladder Logic
14 4 (0.47%) PL/SQL
15 3 (0.35%) Apex Code
15 3 (0.35%) Embedded C
15 3 (0.35%) Scala
15 3 (0.35%) Tcl
15 3 (0.35%) VB
Qualifications
1 272 (31.92%) Degree
2 93 (10.92%) Security Cleared
3 91 (10.68%) BPSS Clearance
4 54 (6.34%) Master's Degree
5 50 (5.87%) SC Cleared
6 39 (4.58%) Computer Science Degree
7 25 (2.93%) Cisco Certification
8 20 (2.35%) HNC
9 17 (2.00%) DV Cleared
10 15 (1.76%) Microsoft Certification
11 14 (1.64%) CCNP
11 14 (1.64%) ISTQB
12 13 (1.53%) CCNA
13 12 (1.41%) CCIE
13 12 (1.41%) Numerate Degree
14 11 (1.29%) ACCA
15 9 (1.06%) Chartered Engineer
15 9 (1.06%) Network+ Certification
16 8 (0.94%) PMI Certification
16 8 (0.94%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 116 (13.62%) QA
2 115 (13.50%) Data Quality
3 38 (4.46%) GxP
4 33 (3.87%) ISO/IEC 15288
5 32 (3.76%) SLA
6 27 (3.17%) GDPR
7 24 (2.82%) Accessibility
8 16 (1.88%) ISO/IEC 12207
9 11 (1.29%) ISO 20022
9 11 (1.29%) NIST
9 11 (1.29%) SEPA
10 9 (1.06%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 8 (0.94%) 21 CFR Part 11
12 7 (0.82%) COBIT
12 7 (0.82%) TARGET2
12 7 (0.82%) WCAG
13 6 (0.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
14 5 (0.59%) ARP4761
15 4 (0.47%) NCSC
15 4 (0.47%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 40 (4.69%) Docker
2 30 (3.52%) VMware Infrastructure
3 26 (3.05%) Firmware
4 14 (1.64%) Active Directory
5 11 (1.29%) Embedded Firmware
6 6 (0.70%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.70%) vSphere
7 5 (0.59%) vCloud
7 5 (0.59%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.23%) Apache Flume
8 2 (0.23%) Ceph
8 2 (0.23%) HDFS
8 2 (0.23%) Lustre
8 2 (0.23%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 2 (0.23%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 2 (0.23%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.12%) Hyper-V
9 1 (0.12%) iptables
9 1 (0.12%) pfSense
9 1 (0.12%) Postfix
Systems Management
1 30 (3.52%) Kubernetes
2 17 (2.00%) Grafana
2 17 (2.00%) Terraform
3 16 (1.88%) Ansible
4 8 (0.94%) Prometheus
5 5 (0.59%) Docker Swarm
5 5 (0.59%) Kubeflow
6 4 (0.47%) Microsoft Intune
6 4 (0.47%) Rundeck
6 4 (0.47%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.35%) Kibana
8 2 (0.23%) Argo
8 2 (0.23%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 2 (0.23%) Functional Safety
8 2 (0.23%) logstash
8 2 (0.23%) Nessus
8 2 (0.23%) Oozie
8 2 (0.23%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.23%) Rancher
8 2 (0.23%) yum
Vendors
1 96 (11.27%) Microsoft
2 54 (6.34%) SAP
3 36 (4.23%) VMware
4 29 (3.40%) Cisco
5 28 (3.29%) Oracle
6 24 (2.82%) Salesforce
7 23 (2.70%) IBM
8 15 (1.76%) Foundry
9 13 (1.53%) CheckPoint
9 13 (1.53%) F5
10 10 (1.17%) Siemens
10 10 (1.17%) Workday
11 9 (1.06%) Databricks
11 9 (1.06%) Software AG
12 8 (0.94%) Intapp
13 7 (0.82%) Allen-Bradley
14 6 (0.70%) Arista
14 6 (0.70%) Informatica
14 6 (0.70%) MathWorks
14 6 (0.70%) Splunk