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 9 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 124 79 198
Rank change year-on-year -45 +119 -2
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,409 1,610 1,425
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.55% 3.70% 1.48%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.09% 3.97% 1.73%
Number of salaries quoted 792 439 779
10th Percentile £34,550 £40,000 £35,450
25th Percentile £42,688 £46,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,745 £56,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +6.69% +1.82% -12.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £71,250 £71,957
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -4.55% +4.76% -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 67,307 40,602 82,234
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 74.25% 93.30% 85.26%
Number of salaries quoted 42,652 22,587 59,697
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,450 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% -10.10%
75th Percentile £78,750 £80,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £102,446 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year - +5.00% -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 9 May 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 9 May 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 -48 1,255 £60,000 +7.14% 805
UK excluding London -70 917 £52,500 -4.55% 615
Work from Home +120 443 £57,500 - 375
London +54 372 £77,500 +6.90% 292
South East -44 291 £55,000 +7.84% 201
North of England +29 227 £55,000 +15.35% 124
Midlands -91 156 £40,000 -27.27% 87
North West +34 141 £56,100 +17.65% 74
West Midlands -14 101 £43,250 -33.46% 50
East of England -77 97 £60,000 +5.26% 83
South West -44 93 £52,500 -2.78% 84
Yorkshire -21 55 £55,000 +15.79% 38
East Midlands -93 53 £30,000 -41.18% 37
Scotland -18 41 £42,000 -27.63% 34
North East -18 31 £52,500 -7.49% 14
Wales -31 12 £44,000 -20.00% 17
Northern Ireland -35 2 - - 8

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 47 (3.34%) Apache Airflow
2 28 (1.99%) Apache Spark
3 27 (1.92%) Apache
4 26 (1.85%) Confluence
5 21 (1.49%) ArcGIS
6 16 (1.14%) Microsoft Exchange
7 12 (0.85%) Appian
8 10 (0.71%) CMS
9 9 (0.64%) SharePoint
10 7 (0.50%) SAS
11 6 (0.43%) Kinematics
12 3 (0.21%) Jupyter
13 2 (0.14%) Adobe Experience Manager
13 2 (0.14%) Artix
13 2 (0.14%) Headless CMS
13 2 (0.14%) IIS
14 1 (0.071%) Anypoint
14 1 (0.071%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 91 (6.46%) Microsoft Excel
2 62 (4.40%) Microsoft Office
3 20 (1.42%) MS Visio
4 14 (0.99%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 10 (0.71%) Simulink
6 9 (0.64%) Microsoft Project
7 6 (0.43%) Spreadsheet
8 5 (0.35%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 5 (0.35%) SOLIDWORKS
9 4 (0.28%) CANalyzer
9 4 (0.28%) Fusion 360
10 3 (0.21%) AutoCAD
10 3 (0.21%) Solid Edge
11 2 (0.14%) Adobe XD
11 2 (0.14%) Autodesk Inventor
11 2 (0.14%) CATIA
11 2 (0.14%) Oracle Smart View
11 2 (0.14%) Sketch
12 1 (0.071%) Navisworks
12 1 (0.071%) Productboard
Business Applications
1 36 (2.56%) SAP S/4HANA
2 22 (1.56%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.71%) SAP ERP
4 9 (0.64%) Oracle ERP
5 7 (0.50%) SAP MDG
6 6 (0.43%) Elite 3E
6 6 (0.43%) Loan IQ
6 6 (0.43%) Workday HCM
7 5 (0.35%) SAP MDG-BP
8 4 (0.28%) Markit EDM
9 3 (0.21%) iTrent
9 3 (0.21%) Oracle Applications
9 3 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
10 2 (0.14%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
10 2 (0.14%) SAP FSCM
10 2 (0.14%) SAP PSCD
11 1 (0.071%) Oracle Payables
11 1 (0.071%) Oracle Receivables
11 1 (0.071%) SAP BRIM
11 1 (0.071%) SAP Business ByDesign
Cloud Services
1 206 (14.62%) Azure
2 146 (10.36%) AWS
3 124 (8.80%) Power Platform
4 65 (4.61%) SaaS
5 56 (3.97%) GCP
6 47 (3.34%) Azure DevOps
7 35 (2.48%) Azure Data Factory
8 34 (2.41%) Dynamics 365
8 34 (2.41%) Serverless
9 31 (2.20%) Microsoft 365
10 30 (2.13%) Snowflake
11 29 (2.06%) GitHub
12 27 (1.92%) Amazon S3
13 25 (1.77%) Power Automate
14 24 (1.70%) dbt
14 24 (1.70%) Entra ID
15 17 (1.21%) OpenShift
16 16 (1.14%) Azure AI
17 15 (1.06%) Anthropic Claude
18 12 (0.85%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 51 (3.62%) Broadband
2 33 (2.34%) Firewall
3 29 (2.06%) CHAP
4 24 (1.70%) DNS
5 22 (1.56%) WAN
6 20 (1.42%) Wireless
7 19 (1.35%) 5G
7 19 (1.35%) TCP/IP
8 17 (1.21%) SD-WAN
9 12 (0.85%) HTTP
10 10 (0.71%) VPN
10 10 (0.71%) Wireshark
11 9 (0.64%) LAN
11 9 (0.64%) Modbus
11 9 (0.64%) MQTT
11 9 (0.64%) NAS
12 8 (0.57%) Multicast
12 8 (0.57%) Network Security
12 8 (0.57%) Wi-Fi
13 7 (0.50%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 116 (8.23%) Power BI
2 50 (3.55%) SQL Server
3 48 (3.41%) Tableau
4 44 (3.12%) PostgreSQL
5 35 (2.48%) Data Warehouse
5 35 (2.48%) Metadata
6 31 (2.20%) Relational Database
7 25 (1.77%) QGIS
8 24 (1.70%) MongoDB
9 23 (1.63%) GIS
10 21 (1.49%) Data Lake
11 20 (1.42%) Spatial Data
12 18 (1.28%) Oracle Reports
13 17 (1.21%) Azure SQL Database
13 17 (1.21%) Spark SQL
14 15 (1.06%) BigQuery
14 15 (1.06%) Oracle Database
15 14 (0.99%) MySQL
15 14 (0.99%) Parquet
15 14 (0.99%) Semantic Layer
Development Applications
1 69 (4.90%) Git
2 67 (4.76%) JIRA
3 39 (2.77%) Rational DOORS
4 30 (2.13%) Jenkins
5 23 (1.63%) GitLab
6 19 (1.35%) Snyk
7 18 (1.28%) Postman
8 17 (1.21%) LabVIEW
9 15 (1.06%) MLflow
9 15 (1.06%) Selenium
10 13 (0.92%) IBM UrbanCode
11 12 (0.85%) Cucumber
11 12 (0.85%) JMeter
12 11 (0.78%) TestRail
13 10 (0.71%) Eclipse
14 7 (0.50%) LoadRunner
15 6 (0.43%) Cypress.io
15 6 (0.43%) Robot Framework
16 5 (0.35%) SonarQube
16 5 (0.35%) SpecFlow
General
1 460 (32.65%) Social Skills
2 372 (26.40%) Finance
3 303 (21.50%) Analytical Skills
4 108 (7.67%) Manufacturing
5 103 (7.31%) Aerospace
6 95 (6.74%) Electronics
7 86 (6.10%) Banking
8 72 (5.11%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 60 (4.26%) Legal
10 50 (3.55%) Public Sector
11 47 (3.34%) Retail
12 43 (3.05%) Law
12 43 (3.05%) Marketing
13 40 (2.84%) Financial Institution
13 40 (2.84%) Pharmaceutical
14 37 (2.63%) Presentation Skills
15 35 (2.48%) Games
16 34 (2.41%) Organisational Skills
17 30 (2.13%) Automotive
18 24 (1.70%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 231 (16.39%) Senior
2 225 (15.97%) Analyst
3 156 (11.07%) Systems Engineer
4 101 (7.17%) Lead
5 91 (6.46%) Architect
6 90 (6.39%) Test Engineer
7 84 (5.96%) Business Analyst
8 81 (5.75%) Validation Engineer
9 69 (4.90%) Consultant
10 60 (4.26%) Data Analyst
11 51 (3.62%) Data Engineer
11 51 (3.62%) Integration Engineer
12 50 (3.55%) Developer
13 45 (3.19%) Junior
14 42 (2.98%) Principal Engineer
14 42 (2.98%) Senior Systems Engineer
15 37 (2.63%) Verification Engineer
16 36 (2.56%) Systems Integration Engineer
17 33 (2.34%) Software Validation Engineer
18 32 (2.27%) Embedded Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (3.76%) REST
2 37 (2.63%) PyTorch
3 34 (2.41%) JSON
3 34 (2.41%) Pandas
4 32 (2.27%) RESTful
5 29 (2.06%) Middleware
6 28 (1.99%) pytest
7 22 (1.56%) PySpark
7 22 (1.56%) XML
8 20 (1.42%) .NET
8 20 (1.42%) OAuth
8 20 (1.42%) Swagger
9 18 (1.28%) JWT
10 17 (1.21%) Kafka
10 17 (1.21%) NumPy
10 17 (1.21%) Playwright
10 17 (1.21%) TensorFlow
11 16 (1.14%) CSS
12 14 (0.99%) Oracle Fusion
12 14 (0.99%) React
Miscellaneous
1 86 (6.10%) Management Information System
2 59 (4.19%) Onboarding
3 50 (3.55%) Data Structures
4 48 (3.41%) Low-Code
5 45 (3.19%) Cloud Native
6 44 (3.12%) Algorithms
7 39 (2.77%) Product Ownership
8 36 (2.56%) Self-Motivation
9 35 (2.48%) Legacy Systems
10 30 (2.13%) Analytical Mindset
11 29 (2.06%) Data Centre
12 27 (1.92%) Embedded Systems
12 27 (1.92%) Life Science
13 22 (1.56%) Enterprise Software
13 22 (1.56%) Video\Live Streaming
14 20 (1.42%) Distributed Systems
15 19 (1.35%) Driving Licence
16 18 (1.28%) Robotics
17 17 (1.21%) SCADA
18 16 (1.14%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 81 (5.75%) Linux
2 66 (4.68%) Windows
3 21 (1.49%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 21 (1.49%) Unix
3 21 (1.49%) Windows Server
4 13 (0.92%) Android
5 5 (0.35%) Apple iOS
6 4 (0.28%) CentOS
6 4 (0.28%) FreeRTOS
6 4 (0.28%) Mac OS X
7 3 (0.21%) AIX
7 3 (0.21%) Kali Linux
7 3 (0.21%) Robot Operating System
8 2 (0.14%) ThreadX
9 1 (0.071%) Embedded Linux
9 1 (0.071%) Rocky
9 1 (0.071%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.071%) VxWorks
9 1 (0.071%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 311 (22.07%) Problem-Solving
2 295 (20.94%) Agile
3 271 (19.23%) Continuous Improvement
4 221 (15.68%) AI
4 221 (15.68%) Analytics
5 208 (14.76%) Verification and Validation
6 193 (13.70%) CI/CD
7 192 (13.63%) Test Automation
8 164 (11.64%) Data Validation
9 152 (10.79%) Migration
10 144 (10.22%) Business Intelligence
10 144 (10.22%) Data Modelling
11 139 (9.87%) Decision-Making
12 136 (9.65%) Stakeholder Management
13 133 (9.44%) User Acceptance Testing
14 131 (9.30%) Data Governance
15 129 (9.16%) Software Engineering
15 129 (9.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 128 (9.08%) DevOps
17 127 (9.01%) Systems Engineering
Programming Languages
1 322 (22.85%) Python
2 281 (19.94%) SQL
3 55 (3.90%) C++
4 51 (3.62%) Java
5 47 (3.34%) C
6 38 (2.70%) PowerShell
7 36 (2.56%) Go
8 29 (2.06%) Bash
9 28 (1.99%) C#
9 28 (1.99%) JavaScript
10 24 (1.70%) MATLAB
11 18 (1.28%) T-SQL
12 14 (0.99%) Embedded C
13 13 (0.92%) TypeScript
14 12 (0.85%) Data Analysis Expressions
15 9 (0.64%) R
15 9 (0.64%) VBA
16 8 (0.57%) ABAP
16 8 (0.57%) Embedded C++
17 7 (0.50%) Apex Code
Qualifications
1 313 (22.21%) Degree
2 170 (12.07%) Security Cleared
3 129 (9.16%) BPSS Clearance
4 67 (4.76%) Master's Degree
5 66 (4.68%) SC Cleared
6 42 (2.98%) Computer Science Degree
7 41 (2.91%) DV Cleared
8 39 (2.77%) CISA
8 39 (2.77%) CISSP
9 37 (2.63%) Chartered Engineer
10 36 (2.56%) CISM
11 35 (2.48%) SANS
12 29 (2.06%) CGEIT
12 29 (2.06%) FFIEC
13 27 (1.92%) HNC
14 24 (1.70%) HND
15 23 (1.63%) PMI Certification
16 20 (1.42%) PMP
17 14 (0.99%) ISTQB
18 10 (0.71%) ACCA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 195 (13.84%) Data Quality
2 151 (10.72%) QA
3 67 (4.76%) GDPR
4 59 (4.19%) Accessibility
5 37 (2.63%) GRC
5 37 (2.63%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 31 (2.20%) NIST
7 29 (2.06%) COBIT
8 21 (1.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 20 (1.42%) IFRS
10 18 (1.28%) IEC 61508
11 15 (1.06%) SLA
12 13 (0.92%) GAAP
12 13 (0.92%) ISO 9001
13 11 (0.78%) GMP
13 11 (0.78%) PMO
14 10 (0.71%) Good Clinical Practice
14 10 (0.71%) WCAG
15 9 (0.64%) ISO 13485
15 9 (0.64%) ISO/IEC 12207
System Software
1 61 (4.33%) Docker
2 36 (2.56%) Active Directory
3 33 (2.34%) Firmware
4 20 (1.42%) Virtual Machines
5 15 (1.06%) VMware Infrastructure
5 15 (1.06%) vSphere
6 8 (0.57%) Embedded Firmware
7 6 (0.43%) Hyper-V
7 6 (0.43%) KVM
8 3 (0.21%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.14%) Terminal Services
10 1 (0.071%) iptables
10 1 (0.071%) OpenAM
10 1 (0.071%) OpenDJ
10 1 (0.071%) OpenIDM
10 1 (0.071%) pfSense
Systems Management
1 67 (4.76%) Kubernetes
2 47 (3.34%) Terraform
3 32 (2.27%) Grafana
4 26 (1.85%) Ansible
5 17 (1.21%) Prometheus
6 15 (1.06%) Functional Safety
7 14 (0.99%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 11 (0.78%) SCCM
9 10 (0.71%) Puppet
10 8 (0.57%) Microsoft Intune
11 4 (0.28%) Argo
11 4 (0.28%) Cilium
11 4 (0.28%) Rancher
11 4 (0.28%) yum
12 3 (0.21%) HP Fortify
12 3 (0.21%) Kibana
13 2 (0.14%) BMC PATROL
13 2 (0.14%) Computer Incident Response Team
13 2 (0.14%) PowerCLI
14 1 (0.071%) SQL Sentry
Vendors
1 182 (12.92%) Microsoft
2 77 (5.46%) Oracle
3 70 (4.97%) SAP
4 49 (3.48%) Salesforce
5 30 (2.13%) Red Hat
6 29 (2.06%) VMware
7 26 (1.85%) Databricks
8 22 (1.56%) Cisco
8 22 (1.56%) CrowdStrike
9 21 (1.49%) Palo Alto
10 20 (1.42%) Google
11 19 (1.35%) ServiceNow
11 19 (1.35%) Tenable
12 18 (1.28%) IBM
13 17 (1.21%) Adobe
13 17 (1.21%) OpenAI
14 15 (1.06%) Foundry
15 14 (0.99%) Citrix
16 12 (0.85%) Automation Anywhere
16 12 (0.85%) UiPath