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

6 months to
17 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 133 158 197
Rank change year-on-year +25 +39 -24
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,310 796 1,426
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.52% 1.91% 1.51%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.02% 2.06% 1.75%
Number of salaries quoted 741 401 795
10th Percentile £34,500 £40,000 £35,500
25th Percentile £43,000 £46,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £56,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% +1.82% -8.33%
75th Percentile £77,500 £71,250 £72,433
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,500 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -2.73% +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 64,999 38,652 81,347
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 75.50% 92.94% 86.02%
Number of salaries quoted 40,056 22,591 59,648
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,500 £39,757
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.17% +9.09% -10.20%
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% -8.26%

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 17 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 17 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 +33 1,155 £60,000 +7.14% 776
UK excluding London +13 845 £53,500 -2.73% 619
Work from Home +108 384 £60,000 +6.19% 365
London +66 352 £77,500 +10.71% 238
South East +24 264 £55,000 +7.84% 201
North of England +33 197 £58,000 +21.64% 115
Midlands -28 142 £37,500 -33.33% 116
North West +31 123 £59,000 +23.73% 59
East of England +2 94 £58,750 +3.07% 83
South West -30 90 £55,000 - 82
West Midlands -14 89 £44,360 -33.04% 79
Yorkshire -29 51 £59,500 +25.26% 45
East Midlands -41 51 £32,000 -37.25% 37
Scotland -20 42 £42,000 -27.63% 24
North East -18 23 £51,500 -9.25% 13
Wales -24 15 £55,000 +12.01% 9
Northern Ireland -38 3 - - 1

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 (3.36%) Apache Airflow
2 27 (2.06%) Apache Spark
3 25 (1.91%) Confluence
4 23 (1.76%) Apache
5 20 (1.53%) ArcGIS
6 17 (1.30%) Microsoft Exchange
7 12 (0.92%) Appian
7 12 (0.92%) CMS
8 9 (0.69%) SharePoint
9 6 (0.46%) Kinematics
10 4 (0.31%) 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 92 (7.02%) Microsoft Excel
2 62 (4.73%) Microsoft Office
3 20 (1.53%) MS Visio
4 16 (1.22%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.53%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 6 (0.46%) Simulink
7 5 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
7 5 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
8 4 (0.31%) CANalyzer
8 4 (0.31%) Fusion 360
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 26 (1.98%) SAP S/4HANA
2 19 (1.45%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.69%) Oracle ERP
4 7 (0.53%) Workday HCM
5 6 (0.46%) Elite 3E
5 6 (0.46%) SAP ERP
6 5 (0.38%) Loan IQ
7 4 (0.31%) Markit EDM
7 4 (0.31%) SAP MDG
8 3 (0.23%) Oracle Applications
8 3 (0.23%) Oracle EBS
9 2 (0.15%) iTrent
9 2 (0.15%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
9 2 (0.15%) SAP CX
9 2 (0.15%) SAP FSCM
9 2 (0.15%) SAP MDG-BP
10 1 (0.076%) Oracle Payables
10 1 (0.076%) Oracle Receivables
10 1 (0.076%) SAP BRIM
10 1 (0.076%) SAP Business ByDesign
Cloud Services
1 200 (15.27%) Azure
2 129 (9.85%) AWS
3 117 (8.93%) Power Platform
4 63 (4.81%) SaaS
5 49 (3.74%) GCP
6 44 (3.36%) Azure DevOps
7 35 (2.67%) Dynamics 365
8 32 (2.44%) Azure Data Factory
8 32 (2.44%) dbt
9 30 (2.29%) Snowflake
10 28 (2.14%) Power Automate
11 26 (1.98%) GitHub
12 25 (1.91%) Entra ID
12 25 (1.91%) Microsoft 365
13 24 (1.83%) Amazon S3
13 24 (1.83%) Serverless
14 18 (1.37%) Datadog
15 16 (1.22%) OpenShift
16 15 (1.15%) Azure AI
17 14 (1.07%) Anthropic Claude
Communications & Networking
1 27 (2.06%) CHAP
2 23 (1.76%) Broadband
3 22 (1.68%) Firewall
4 18 (1.37%) WAN
5 16 (1.22%) TCP/IP
5 16 (1.22%) Wireless
6 15 (1.15%) DNS
6 15 (1.15%) SD-WAN
7 12 (0.92%) 5G
8 9 (0.69%) HTTP
8 9 (0.69%) Modbus
8 9 (0.69%) Multicast
9 8 (0.61%) LAN
10 7 (0.53%) MQTT
10 7 (0.53%) Wireshark
11 6 (0.46%) ATM
11 6 (0.46%) NAS
11 6 (0.46%) Network Security
11 6 (0.46%) tcpdump
11 6 (0.46%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 110 (8.40%) Power BI
2 45 (3.44%) SQL Server
3 44 (3.36%) Tableau
4 33 (2.52%) Data Warehouse
5 32 (2.44%) Metadata
5 32 (2.44%) Relational Database
6 29 (2.21%) PostgreSQL
7 24 (1.83%) GIS
7 24 (1.83%) QGIS
8 20 (1.53%) Spatial Data
9 18 (1.37%) Oracle Reports
10 16 (1.22%) Spark SQL
11 15 (1.15%) Azure SQL Database
11 15 (1.15%) Data Lake
11 15 (1.15%) Oracle Database
12 14 (1.07%) Parquet
13 13 (0.99%) Apache Hive
13 13 (0.99%) Impala
13 13 (0.99%) MySQL
13 13 (0.99%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 68 (5.19%) Git
2 65 (4.96%) JIRA
3 37 (2.82%) Rational DOORS
4 24 (1.83%) Jenkins
5 18 (1.37%) JMeter
6 17 (1.30%) Cucumber
6 17 (1.30%) GitLab
6 17 (1.30%) Postman
7 16 (1.22%) LabVIEW
8 15 (1.15%) MLflow
8 15 (1.15%) Selenium
9 13 (0.99%) IBM UrbanCode
10 12 (0.92%) Locust
10 12 (0.92%) TestRail
11 11 (0.84%) Snyk
12 10 (0.76%) Eclipse
13 6 (0.46%) LoadRunner
13 6 (0.46%) SoapUI
13 6 (0.46%) Subversion
14 5 (0.38%) Visual Studio
General
1 455 (34.73%) Social Skills
2 358 (27.33%) Finance
3 289 (22.06%) Analytical Skills
4 95 (7.25%) Manufacturing
5 88 (6.72%) Banking
6 86 (6.56%) Aerospace
7 81 (6.18%) Electronics
8 61 (4.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 60 (4.58%) Legal
10 47 (3.59%) Public Sector
10 47 (3.59%) Retail
11 45 (3.44%) Law
12 41 (3.13%) Financial Institution
12 41 (3.13%) Marketing
13 39 (2.98%) Presentation Skills
14 32 (2.44%) Pharmaceutical
15 30 (2.29%) Organisational Skills
16 27 (2.06%) Automotive
17 24 (1.83%) Aviation
18 23 (1.76%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 219 (16.72%) Analyst
2 210 (16.03%) Senior
3 154 (11.76%) Systems Engineer
4 100 (7.63%) Lead
5 82 (6.26%) Business Analyst
6 77 (5.88%) Validation Engineer
7 76 (5.80%) Test Engineer
8 73 (5.57%) Architect
9 62 (4.73%) Consultant
10 57 (4.35%) Data Analyst
11 56 (4.27%) Integration Engineer
12 46 (3.51%) Developer
13 45 (3.44%) Junior
13 45 (3.44%) Senior Systems Engineer
14 44 (3.36%) Data Engineer
15 39 (2.98%) Systems Integration Engineer
16 38 (2.90%) Principal Engineer
17 36 (2.75%) Software Validation Engineer
17 36 (2.75%) Verification Engineer
18 30 (2.29%) Auditor
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 59 (4.50%) REST
2 40 (3.05%) PyTorch
3 37 (2.82%) Pandas
4 35 (2.67%) JSON
5 32 (2.44%) Middleware
6 26 (1.98%) pytest
7 25 (1.91%) XML
8 21 (1.60%) PySpark
9 20 (1.53%) OAuth
10 19 (1.45%) JWT
10 19 (1.45%) Swagger
10 19 (1.45%) TensorFlow
11 18 (1.37%) .NET
11 18 (1.37%) NumPy
12 17 (1.30%) RESTful
13 16 (1.22%) Kafka
13 16 (1.22%) React
14 15 (1.15%) CSS
14 15 (1.15%) scikit-learn
14 15 (1.15%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 78 (5.95%) Management Information System
2 57 (4.35%) Onboarding
3 49 (3.74%) Data Structures
4 38 (2.90%) Product Ownership
5 37 (2.82%) Algorithms
6 36 (2.75%) Low-Code
7 35 (2.67%) Self-Motivation
8 34 (2.60%) Legacy Systems
9 26 (1.98%) Analytical Mindset
10 24 (1.83%) Cloud Native
10 24 (1.83%) Life Science
11 22 (1.68%) Data Centre
11 22 (1.68%) Embedded Systems
12 19 (1.45%) Enterprise Software
13 18 (1.37%) SCADA
14 17 (1.30%) Robotics
15 15 (1.15%) Blockchain
15 15 (1.15%) IoT
16 13 (0.99%) Reinsurance
17 11 (0.84%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 71 (5.42%) Linux
2 59 (4.50%) Windows
3 19 (1.45%) Unix
4 16 (1.22%) Windows Server
5 15 (1.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 12 (0.92%) Android
7 4 (0.31%) Apple iOS
7 4 (0.31%) CentOS
7 4 (0.31%) FreeRTOS
7 4 (0.31%) Mac OS X
8 3 (0.23%) AIX
8 3 (0.23%) Robot Operating System
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%) Kali Linux
10 1 (0.076%) Rocky
10 1 (0.076%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.076%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 296 (22.60%) Problem-Solving
2 292 (22.29%) Agile
3 260 (19.85%) Continuous Improvement
4 204 (15.57%) Verification and Validation
5 203 (15.50%) Analytics
6 180 (13.74%) AI
7 164 (12.52%) Data Validation
8 163 (12.44%) CI/CD
9 161 (12.29%) Test Automation
10 143 (10.92%) Migration
11 139 (10.61%) Business Intelligence
11 139 (10.61%) Stakeholder Management
12 138 (10.53%) Systems Engineering
13 130 (9.92%) User Acceptance Testing
14 129 (9.85%) Data Modelling
15 127 (9.69%) DevOps
16 125 (9.54%) Decision-Making
17 123 (9.39%) Mentoring
18 119 (9.08%) Data Governance
19 115 (8.78%) ETL
Programming Languages
1 286 (21.83%) Python
2 264 (20.15%) SQL
3 50 (3.82%) Java
4 44 (3.36%) C++
5 37 (2.82%) PowerShell
6 36 (2.75%) C
7 31 (2.37%) JavaScript
8 27 (2.06%) Bash
9 21 (1.60%) Go
10 20 (1.53%) C#
11 18 (1.37%) MATLAB
11 18 (1.37%) T-SQL
12 15 (1.15%) TypeScript
13 11 (0.84%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 11 (0.84%) R
14 10 (0.76%) Embedded C
15 9 (0.69%) VBA
16 7 (0.53%) Apex Code
16 7 (0.53%) VB
17 6 (0.46%) PHP
Qualifications
1 300 (22.90%) Degree
2 164 (12.52%) Security Cleared
3 126 (9.62%) BPSS Clearance
4 62 (4.73%) Master's Degree
4 62 (4.73%) SC Cleared
5 44 (3.36%) Computer Science Degree
6 36 (2.75%) CISSP
7 35 (2.67%) CISA
8 34 (2.60%) DV Cleared
9 33 (2.52%) CISM
10 29 (2.21%) Chartered Engineer
10 29 (2.21%) SANS
11 27 (2.06%) CGEIT
11 27 (2.06%) FFIEC
12 25 (1.91%) HNC
13 22 (1.68%) PMI Certification
14 21 (1.60%) HND
15 19 (1.45%) PMP
16 16 (1.22%) ISTQB
17 9 (0.69%) ACCA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 171 (13.05%) Data Quality
2 151 (11.53%) QA
3 67 (5.11%) GDPR
4 66 (5.04%) Accessibility
5 38 (2.90%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 29 (2.21%) GRC
7 28 (2.14%) NIST
8 27 (2.06%) COBIT
9 21 (1.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 19 (1.45%) SLA
11 18 (1.37%) IFRS
12 17 (1.30%) WCAG
13 15 (1.15%) IEC 61508
14 13 (0.99%) ISO 9001
15 12 (0.92%) GAAP
16 10 (0.76%) Good Clinical Practice
17 9 (0.69%) 21 CFR Part 11
17 9 (0.69%) PMO
18 8 (0.61%) GMP
18 8 (0.61%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 77 (5.88%) Docker
2 30 (2.29%) Active Directory
3 26 (1.98%) Firmware
4 15 (1.15%) VMware Infrastructure
5 12 (0.92%) Virtual Machines
6 9 (0.69%) vSphere
7 6 (0.46%) Embedded Firmware
7 6 (0.46%) Hyper-V
7 6 (0.46%) 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 (5.73%) Kubernetes
2 54 (4.12%) Terraform
3 36 (2.75%) Grafana
4 27 (2.06%) Ansible
5 18 (1.37%) Prometheus
6 14 (1.07%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
7 11 (0.84%) Functional Safety
8 10 (0.76%) SCCM
9 9 (0.69%) Puppet
10 7 (0.53%) Microsoft Intune
11 5 (0.38%) Argo
11 5 (0.38%) Rancher
11 5 (0.38%) yum
12 4 (0.31%) Cilium
13 2 (0.15%) BMC PATROL
13 2 (0.15%) Computer Incident Response Team
13 2 (0.15%) Nessus
13 2 (0.15%) PowerCLI
14 1 (0.076%) Control-M
14 1 (0.076%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 168 (12.82%) Microsoft
2 71 (5.42%) Oracle
3 59 (4.50%) SAP
4 45 (3.44%) Salesforce
5 23 (1.76%) Red Hat
5 23 (1.76%) VMware
6 21 (1.60%) Databricks
7 20 (1.53%) Cisco
8 18 (1.37%) Foundry
8 18 (1.37%) IBM
9 16 (1.22%) Adobe
9 16 (1.22%) Google
9 16 (1.22%) OpenAI
10 15 (1.15%) ServiceNow
11 13 (0.99%) Workday
12 12 (0.92%) Automation Anywhere
12 12 (0.92%) Palo Alto
12 12 (0.92%) UiPath
13 11 (0.84%) CrowdStrike
13 11 (0.84%) Tenable