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 20 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 132 160 199
Rank change year-on-year +28 +39 -21
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,319 811 1,431
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.51% 1.94% 1.51%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.01% 2.09% 1.76%
Number of salaries quoted 752 403 793
10th Percentile £34,550 £40,000 £35,500
25th Percentile £43,500 £46,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £56,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% +1.82% -11.41%
75th Percentile £77,500 £71,250 £72,433
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £52,600 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.56% +0.19% -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 65,702 38,866 81,241
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 75.29% 92.92% 85.87%
Number of salaries quoted 40,633 22,660 59,433
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,500 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.17% +9.09% -10.57%
75th Percentile £77,500 £80,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,500 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,600 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.94% +5.20% -8.90%

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 20 April 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 20 April 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 +36 1,165 £60,000 +7.14% 863
UK excluding London +10 857 £55,000 +4.56% 658
Work from Home +111 385 £60,000 +5.26% 398
London +69 350 £76,250 +8.93% 281
South East +22 265 £55,000 +7.84% 219
North of England +39 208 £58,500 +22.69% 122
Midlands -18 143 £37,500 -33.33% 116
North West +28 130 £60,000 +25.83% 61
East of England -8 95 £60,000 +5.26% 91
West Midlands -16 92 £44,360 -33.04% 78
South West -41 88 £55,000 +0.92% 79
Yorkshire -27 54 £60,000 +26.32% 46
East Midlands -50 49 £32,000 -37.25% 38
Scotland -18 42 £42,000 -27.63% 33
North East -18 24 £53,250 -6.17% 17
Wales -25 15 £55,000 +5.66% 11
Northern Ireland -43 3 - - 3

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 44 (3.34%) Apache Airflow
2 27 (2.05%) Apache Spark
3 25 (1.90%) Confluence
4 23 (1.74%) Apache
5 20 (1.52%) ArcGIS
6 17 (1.29%) Microsoft Exchange
7 12 (0.91%) Appian
7 12 (0.91%) CMS
8 9 (0.68%) SharePoint
9 6 (0.45%) Kinematics
10 4 (0.30%) Headless CMS
11 2 (0.15%) IIS
11 2 (0.15%) WordPress
12 1 (0.076%) Anypoint
12 1 (0.076%) Jupyter
12 1 (0.076%) Palantir Foundry
12 1 (0.076%) SAS
Applications
1 91 (6.90%) Microsoft Excel
2 62 (4.70%) Microsoft Office
3 20 (1.52%) MS Visio
4 16 (1.21%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.53%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 6 (0.45%) Simulink
7 5 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
8 4 (0.30%) CANalyzer
8 4 (0.30%) Fusion 360
8 4 (0.30%) Microsoft Project
9 3 (0.23%) Solid Edge
9 3 (0.23%) SOLIDWORKS
10 2 (0.15%) Adobe After Effects
10 2 (0.15%) Adobe Captivate
10 2 (0.15%) Adobe Illustrator
10 2 (0.15%) Adobe Premiere
10 2 (0.15%) CATIA
10 2 (0.15%) Oracle Smart View
10 2 (0.15%) Photoshop
10 2 (0.15%) Weka
Business Applications
1 28 (2.12%) SAP S/4HANA
2 18 (1.36%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.68%) Oracle ERP
4 8 (0.61%) SAP ERP
5 7 (0.53%) Workday HCM
6 6 (0.45%) Elite 3E
7 5 (0.38%) Loan IQ
7 5 (0.38%) SAP MDG
8 4 (0.30%) Markit EDM
9 3 (0.23%) Oracle Applications
9 3 (0.23%) Oracle EBS
9 3 (0.23%) SAP MDG-BP
10 2 (0.15%) iTrent
10 2 (0.15%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
10 2 (0.15%) SAP CX
10 2 (0.15%) SAP FSCM
11 1 (0.076%) Oracle Payables
11 1 (0.076%) Oracle Receivables
11 1 (0.076%) SAP BRIM
11 1 (0.076%) SAP Business ByDesign
Cloud Services
1 201 (15.24%) Azure
2 131 (9.93%) AWS
3 118 (8.95%) Power Platform
4 62 (4.70%) SaaS
5 49 (3.71%) GCP
6 44 (3.34%) Azure DevOps
7 34 (2.58%) Dynamics 365
8 33 (2.50%) Azure Data Factory
9 32 (2.43%) dbt
10 30 (2.27%) Snowflake
11 28 (2.12%) Power Automate
12 26 (1.97%) GitHub
12 26 (1.97%) Microsoft 365
12 26 (1.97%) Serverless
13 24 (1.82%) Amazon S3
13 24 (1.82%) Entra ID
14 18 (1.36%) Datadog
15 16 (1.21%) OpenShift
16 15 (1.14%) Azure AI
17 14 (1.06%) Anthropic Claude
Communications & Networking
1 27 (2.05%) CHAP
2 24 (1.82%) Broadband
2 24 (1.82%) Firewall
3 19 (1.44%) WAN
4 17 (1.29%) DNS
5 16 (1.21%) SD-WAN
5 16 (1.21%) TCP/IP
5 16 (1.21%) Wireless
6 11 (0.83%) 5G
7 9 (0.68%) HTTP
7 9 (0.68%) LAN
7 9 (0.68%) Modbus
7 9 (0.68%) Multicast
8 8 (0.61%) Wireshark
9 7 (0.53%) MQTT
9 7 (0.53%) NAS
10 6 (0.45%) ATM
10 6 (0.45%) Ethernet
10 6 (0.45%) Network Security
10 6 (0.45%) tcpdump
Database & Business Intelligence
1 111 (8.42%) Power BI
2 45 (3.41%) SQL Server
3 44 (3.34%) Tableau
4 34 (2.58%) Data Warehouse
5 33 (2.50%) Metadata
6 32 (2.43%) Relational Database
7 29 (2.20%) PostgreSQL
8 24 (1.82%) GIS
8 24 (1.82%) QGIS
9 20 (1.52%) Spatial Data
10 18 (1.36%) Oracle Reports
11 16 (1.21%) Data Lake
11 16 (1.21%) Spark SQL
12 15 (1.14%) Azure SQL Database
12 15 (1.14%) Oracle Database
13 14 (1.06%) Parquet
14 13 (0.99%) Apache Hive
14 13 (0.99%) Impala
14 13 (0.99%) MySQL
14 13 (0.99%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 68 (5.16%) Git
2 65 (4.93%) JIRA
3 38 (2.88%) Rational DOORS
4 25 (1.90%) Jenkins
5 19 (1.44%) JMeter
6 18 (1.36%) Cucumber
6 18 (1.36%) GitLab
6 18 (1.36%) Postman
7 16 (1.21%) LabVIEW
7 16 (1.21%) Selenium
8 15 (1.14%) MLflow
9 13 (0.99%) IBM UrbanCode
9 13 (0.99%) Snyk
10 12 (0.91%) Locust
10 12 (0.91%) TestRail
11 10 (0.76%) Eclipse
12 7 (0.53%) LoadRunner
13 6 (0.45%) SoapUI
13 6 (0.45%) Subversion
14 5 (0.38%) Visual Studio
General
1 449 (34.04%) Social Skills
2 357 (27.07%) Finance
3 287 (21.76%) Analytical Skills
4 97 (7.35%) Manufacturing
5 88 (6.67%) Aerospace
6 87 (6.60%) Banking
7 82 (6.22%) Electronics
8 62 (4.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 61 (4.62%) Legal
10 49 (3.71%) Public Sector
11 47 (3.56%) Retail
12 45 (3.41%) Law
13 41 (3.11%) Marketing
14 40 (3.03%) Financial Institution
15 37 (2.81%) Presentation Skills
16 35 (2.65%) Pharmaceutical
17 30 (2.27%) Organisational Skills
18 27 (2.05%) Automotive
19 24 (1.82%) Aviation
20 22 (1.67%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 222 (16.83%) Analyst
2 211 (16.00%) Senior
3 155 (11.75%) Systems Engineer
4 99 (7.51%) Lead
5 83 (6.29%) Business Analyst
6 78 (5.91%) Validation Engineer
7 77 (5.84%) Test Engineer
8 76 (5.76%) Architect
9 63 (4.78%) Consultant
10 58 (4.40%) Data Analyst
11 55 (4.17%) Integration Engineer
12 45 (3.41%) Data Engineer
12 45 (3.41%) Developer
12 45 (3.41%) Junior
12 45 (3.41%) Senior Systems Engineer
13 39 (2.96%) Principal Engineer
14 38 (2.88%) Systems Integration Engineer
15 36 (2.73%) Software Validation Engineer
15 36 (2.73%) Verification Engineer
16 30 (2.27%) Auditor
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 59 (4.47%) REST
2 40 (3.03%) PyTorch
3 37 (2.81%) Pandas
4 36 (2.73%) JSON
5 31 (2.35%) Middleware
6 26 (1.97%) pytest
6 26 (1.97%) XML
7 21 (1.59%) PySpark
8 20 (1.52%) OAuth
9 19 (1.44%) JWT
9 19 (1.44%) Swagger
9 19 (1.44%) TensorFlow
10 18 (1.36%) .NET
10 18 (1.36%) NumPy
11 17 (1.29%) RESTful
12 16 (1.21%) Kafka
12 16 (1.21%) React
13 15 (1.14%) CSS
13 15 (1.14%) scikit-learn
13 15 (1.14%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 78 (5.91%) Management Information System
2 57 (4.32%) Onboarding
3 49 (3.71%) Data Structures
4 38 (2.88%) Product Ownership
5 37 (2.81%) Algorithms
6 36 (2.73%) Low-Code
7 35 (2.65%) Self-Motivation
8 33 (2.50%) Legacy Systems
9 27 (2.05%) Analytical Mindset
10 25 (1.90%) Life Science
11 24 (1.82%) Data Centre
12 23 (1.74%) Cloud Native
13 22 (1.67%) Embedded Systems
14 18 (1.36%) Enterprise Software
14 18 (1.36%) SCADA
15 17 (1.29%) Robotics
16 15 (1.14%) Blockchain
16 15 (1.14%) IoT
17 13 (0.99%) Reinsurance
18 11 (0.83%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 73 (5.53%) Linux
2 61 (4.62%) Windows
3 19 (1.44%) Unix
4 18 (1.36%) Windows Server
5 17 (1.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 12 (0.91%) Android
7 4 (0.30%) Apple iOS
7 4 (0.30%) CentOS
7 4 (0.30%) FreeRTOS
7 4 (0.30%) Mac OS X
8 3 (0.23%) AIX
8 3 (0.23%) Robot Operating System
9 2 (0.15%) Kali Linux
9 2 (0.15%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.15%) ThreadX
9 2 (0.15%) VxWorks
10 1 (0.076%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.076%) Rocky
10 1 (0.076%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.076%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 294 (22.29%) Problem-Solving
2 290 (21.99%) Agile
3 258 (19.56%) Continuous Improvement
4 205 (15.54%) Analytics
5 202 (15.31%) Verification and Validation
6 184 (13.95%) AI
7 167 (12.66%) CI/CD
8 161 (12.21%) Data Validation
8 161 (12.21%) Test Automation
9 143 (10.84%) Migration
10 140 (10.61%) Business Intelligence
11 138 (10.46%) Stakeholder Management
12 136 (10.31%) Systems Engineering
13 131 (9.93%) Data Modelling
14 130 (9.86%) User Acceptance Testing
15 127 (9.63%) DevOps
16 126 (9.55%) Mentoring
17 125 (9.48%) Decision-Making
18 122 (9.25%) Data Governance
19 115 (8.72%) ETL
Programming Languages
1 287 (21.76%) Python
2 265 (20.09%) SQL
3 51 (3.87%) Java
4 44 (3.34%) C++
5 37 (2.81%) PowerShell
6 36 (2.73%) C
7 31 (2.35%) JavaScript
8 28 (2.12%) Bash
9 21 (1.59%) Go
10 20 (1.52%) C#
11 18 (1.36%) MATLAB
11 18 (1.36%) T-SQL
12 15 (1.14%) TypeScript
13 11 (0.83%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 11 (0.83%) R
14 10 (0.76%) Embedded C
15 9 (0.68%) VBA
16 7 (0.53%) Apex Code
16 7 (0.53%) VB
17 6 (0.45%) ABAP
Qualifications
1 300 (22.74%) Degree
2 162 (12.28%) Security Cleared
3 129 (9.78%) BPSS Clearance
4 62 (4.70%) Master's Degree
5 58 (4.40%) SC Cleared
6 45 (3.41%) Computer Science Degree
7 37 (2.81%) CISSP
8 35 (2.65%) CISA
8 35 (2.65%) DV Cleared
9 34 (2.58%) CISM
10 30 (2.27%) Chartered Engineer
11 29 (2.20%) SANS
12 27 (2.05%) CGEIT
12 27 (2.05%) FFIEC
13 26 (1.97%) HNC
14 22 (1.67%) PMI Certification
15 21 (1.59%) HND
16 19 (1.44%) PMP
17 15 (1.14%) ISTQB
18 9 (0.68%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 173 (13.12%) Data Quality
2 153 (11.60%) QA
3 68 (5.16%) Accessibility
4 66 (5.00%) GDPR
5 38 (2.88%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 31 (2.35%) GRC
7 29 (2.20%) NIST
8 27 (2.05%) COBIT
9 22 (1.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 19 (1.44%) SLA
11 17 (1.29%) IFRS
11 17 (1.29%) WCAG
12 15 (1.14%) IEC 61508
13 13 (0.99%) ISO 9001
14 12 (0.91%) GAAP
15 10 (0.76%) GMP
15 10 (0.76%) Good Clinical Practice
16 9 (0.68%) 21 CFR Part 11
16 9 (0.68%) PMO
17 7 (0.53%) ISO 20022
System Software
1 76 (5.76%) Docker
2 32 (2.43%) Active Directory
3 26 (1.97%) Firmware
4 15 (1.14%) VMware Infrastructure
5 14 (1.06%) Virtual Machines
6 11 (0.83%) vSphere
7 6 (0.45%) Embedded Firmware
7 6 (0.45%) Hyper-V
7 6 (0.45%) KVM
8 3 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.15%) Ceph
9 2 (0.15%) Lustre
9 2 (0.15%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 2 (0.15%) Terminal Services
10 1 (0.076%) iptables
10 1 (0.076%) OpenAM
10 1 (0.076%) OpenDJ
10 1 (0.076%) OpenIDM
10 1 (0.076%) pfSense
10 1 (0.076%) vCloud
Systems Management
1 75 (5.69%) Kubernetes
2 55 (4.17%) Terraform
3 37 (2.81%) Grafana
4 26 (1.97%) Ansible
5 18 (1.36%) Prometheus
6 14 (1.06%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
7 11 (0.83%) Functional Safety
8 10 (0.76%) SCCM
9 9 (0.68%) Puppet
10 7 (0.53%) Microsoft Intune
11 5 (0.38%) Argo
11 5 (0.38%) Rancher
11 5 (0.38%) yum
12 4 (0.30%) Cilium
13 2 (0.15%) BMC PATROL
13 2 (0.15%) Computer Incident Response Team
13 2 (0.15%) HP Fortify
13 2 (0.15%) Nessus
13 2 (0.15%) PowerCLI
14 1 (0.076%) Control-M
Vendors
1 170 (12.89%) Microsoft
2 71 (5.38%) Oracle
3 61 (4.62%) SAP
4 47 (3.56%) Salesforce
5 25 (1.90%) Red Hat
5 25 (1.90%) VMware
6 21 (1.59%) Cisco
6 21 (1.59%) Databricks
7 18 (1.36%) IBM
8 17 (1.29%) Foundry
8 17 (1.29%) Google
9 16 (1.21%) Adobe
9 16 (1.21%) OpenAI
10 14 (1.06%) Palo Alto
10 14 (1.06%) ServiceNow
11 13 (0.99%) CrowdStrike
11 13 (0.99%) Tenable
12 12 (0.91%) Automation Anywhere
12 12 (0.91%) UiPath
12 12 (0.91%) Workday