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 18 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 114 86 213
Rank change year-on-year -28 +127 -21
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,668 1,663 1,286
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.68% 3.39% 1.32%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.28% 3.77% 1.60%
Number of salaries quoted 1,006 494 679
10th Percentile £35,000 £39,000 £35,500
25th Percentile £42,500 £46,000 £42,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,164 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -0.30% +0.30% -12.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £94,250 £85,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £53,500 £54,250 £52,500
% change year-on-year -1.38% +3.33% -4.62%

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 73,194 44,164 80,263
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.69% 90.07% 82.10%
Number of salaries quoted 50,654 24,819 55,696
10th Percentile £30,250 £28,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £38,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £56,888 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.47% +3.43% -8.71%
75th Percentile £78,750 £76,840 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £98,474 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +10.00% - -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 18 July 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 18 July 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 -32 1,511 £55,000 - 729
UK excluding London -48 1,120 £53,500 -1.38% 547
Work from Home +118 535 £55,000 -8.33% 284
London +71 431 £77,500 - 268
South East -39 334 £55,000 - 179
North of England +82 312 £55,000 +15.57% 123
North West +81 191 £55,000 +15.35% 63
Midlands -55 179 £42,500 -22.73% 93
South West -35 114 £52,500 -0.19% 64
East of England -78 109 £62,500 +9.65% 68
West Midlands +4 102 £43,250 -30.80% 46
East Midlands -66 75 £34,500 -23.33% 47
Yorkshire +6 64 £44,000 +4.45% 35
North East -5 57 £55,000 +29.41% 25
Scotland +8 45 £50,000 -13.84% 25
Wales -35 27 £47,500 -13.64% 10
Northern Ireland -60 2 - - 2

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 54 (3.24%) Apache Airflow
2 51 (3.06%) Apache Spark
3 49 (2.94%) Apache
4 29 (1.74%) SharePoint
5 27 (1.62%) Confluence
6 21 (1.26%) ArcGIS
7 18 (1.08%) Jupyter
8 16 (0.96%) Microsoft Exchange
9 12 (0.72%) SAS
10 5 (0.30%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 5 (0.30%) CMS
11 4 (0.24%) Kinematics
12 3 (0.18%) Artix
13 2 (0.12%) Appian
13 2 (0.12%) IIS
13 2 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
14 1 (0.060%) Oracle Workflow
14 1 (0.060%) Palantir Foundry
14 1 (0.060%) WebSphere
Applications
1 91 (5.46%) Microsoft Excel
2 53 (3.18%) Microsoft Office
3 26 (1.56%) Microsoft Project
4 21 (1.26%) MS Visio
5 20 (1.20%) Simulink
6 16 (0.96%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 12 (0.72%) Spreadsheet
8 8 (0.48%) SOLIDWORKS
9 5 (0.30%) AutoCAD
9 5 (0.30%) LaTeX
10 4 (0.24%) Adobe XD
10 4 (0.24%) CANalyzer
10 4 (0.24%) Sketch
11 3 (0.18%) Autodesk Inventor
11 3 (0.18%) Productboard
11 3 (0.18%) Stateflow
12 2 (0.12%) Solid Edge
13 1 (0.060%) CATIA
13 1 (0.060%) Trello
13 1 (0.060%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 47 (2.82%) SAP S/4HANA
2 43 (2.58%) Dynamics CRM
3 11 (0.66%) SAP MDG
4 10 (0.60%) SAP ERP
5 9 (0.54%) iTrent
5 9 (0.54%) Oracle EBS
6 8 (0.48%) Oracle ERP
7 7 (0.42%) Oracle Applications
8 6 (0.36%) Elite 3E
9 5 (0.30%) Loan IQ
9 5 (0.30%) Oracle Financials
9 5 (0.30%) SAP MDG-BP
10 4 (0.24%) SAP MM
11 3 (0.18%) NetSuite
12 2 (0.12%) FastStats
12 2 (0.12%) SAP Business One
12 2 (0.12%) SAP EWM
12 2 (0.12%) SAP FSCM
12 2 (0.12%) SAP PSCD
12 2 (0.12%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 250 (14.99%) Azure
2 224 (13.43%) AWS
3 164 (9.83%) Power Platform
4 81 (4.86%) SaaS
5 80 (4.80%) GCP
6 64 (3.84%) Azure DevOps
7 50 (3.00%) Serverless
8 48 (2.88%) Microsoft 365
9 41 (2.46%) Amazon S3
9 41 (2.46%) GitHub
10 34 (2.04%) Dynamics 365
11 24 (1.44%) Entra ID
12 23 (1.38%) Azure Data Factory
13 22 (1.32%) GitHub Actions
13 22 (1.32%) Snowflake
14 20 (1.20%) Amazon EC2
14 20 (1.20%) Cloud Computing
15 18 (1.08%) Amazon EMR
15 18 (1.08%) Power Automate
15 18 (1.08%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 70 (4.20%) Broadband
2 50 (3.00%) Firewall
3 37 (2.22%) DNS
4 26 (1.56%) TCP/IP
4 26 (1.56%) Wireless
5 20 (1.20%) WAN
6 19 (1.14%) Network Security
6 19 (1.14%) VPN
7 15 (0.90%) CHAP
7 15 (0.90%) Ethernet
8 14 (0.84%) Internet
8 14 (0.84%) Wi-Fi
8 14 (0.84%) Wireshark
9 13 (0.78%) MQTT
10 12 (0.72%) SD-WAN
11 11 (0.66%) HTTP
12 10 (0.60%) 5G
12 10 (0.60%) LAN
13 9 (0.54%) NAS
14 8 (0.48%) ZigBee
Database & Business Intelligence
1 149 (8.93%) Power BI
2 60 (3.60%) PostgreSQL
3 58 (3.48%) Tableau
4 53 (3.18%) Data Warehouse
5 52 (3.12%) SQL Server
6 41 (2.46%) Metadata
7 34 (2.04%) MongoDB
8 32 (1.92%) Data Lake
9 29 (1.74%) Relational Database
10 26 (1.56%) BigQuery
11 25 (1.50%) QGIS
11 25 (1.50%) Semantic Layer
12 23 (1.38%) GIS
13 22 (1.32%) Azure SQL Database
14 21 (1.26%) DynamoDB
14 21 (1.26%) MySQL
15 20 (1.20%) Amazon Athena
15 20 (1.20%) Spatial Data
16 19 (1.14%) Spark SQL
17 17 (1.02%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 101 (6.06%) JIRA
2 85 (5.10%) Git
3 51 (3.06%) Jenkins
4 45 (2.70%) GitLab
5 30 (1.80%) Rational DOORS
6 22 (1.32%) Snyk
7 20 (1.20%) Selenium
8 18 (1.08%) Postman
9 16 (0.96%) LabVIEW
10 13 (0.78%) Cypress.io
10 13 (0.78%) IBM UrbanCode
10 13 (0.78%) JMeter
11 11 (0.66%) Cucumber
12 10 (0.60%) TeamCity
13 9 (0.54%) Burp Suite
14 8 (0.48%) REST Assured
15 7 (0.42%) Rational Rhapsody
16 6 (0.36%) GDB
16 6 (0.36%) MLflow
16 6 (0.36%) Zephyr
General
1 551 (33.03%) Social Skills
2 446 (26.74%) Finance
3 385 (23.08%) Analytical Skills
4 133 (7.97%) Manufacturing
5 124 (7.43%) Aerospace
6 121 (7.25%) Electronics
7 107 (6.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 93 (5.58%) Banking
9 71 (4.26%) Retail
10 65 (3.90%) Public Sector
11 57 (3.42%) Law
12 55 (3.30%) Legal
12 55 (3.30%) Organisational Skills
13 53 (3.18%) Pharmaceutical
14 46 (2.76%) Marketing
15 43 (2.58%) Games
16 41 (2.46%) Automotive
17 30 (1.80%) Documentation Skills
17 30 (1.80%) Financial Institution
18 27 (1.62%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 298 (17.87%) Senior
2 251 (15.05%) Analyst
3 134 (8.03%) Lead
4 119 (7.13%) Systems Engineer
5 105 (6.29%) Test Engineer
6 103 (6.18%) Architect
7 88 (5.28%) Consultant
7 88 (5.28%) Data Engineer
8 79 (4.74%) Business Analyst
9 77 (4.62%) Developer
10 75 (4.50%) Validation Engineer
11 72 (4.32%) Data Analyst
12 44 (2.64%) Embedded Engineer
12 44 (2.64%) Support Engineer
13 41 (2.46%) IT Manager
13 41 (2.46%) Principal Engineer
13 41 (2.46%) Software Engineer
14 38 (2.28%) Senior Systems Engineer
15 37 (2.22%) Project Manager
16 35 (2.10%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (2.76%) RESTful
2 37 (2.22%) Node.js
3 36 (2.16%) PySpark
4 34 (2.04%) JSON
5 32 (1.92%) Kafka
6 31 (1.86%) PyTorch
6 31 (1.86%) XML
7 29 (1.74%) REST
8 26 (1.56%) Pandas
9 24 (1.44%) Middleware
10 22 (1.32%) .NET
11 21 (1.26%) Playwright
12 19 (1.14%) Regular Expression
12 19 (1.14%) XMPP
13 18 (1.08%) CSS
14 17 (1.02%) HTML
14 17 (1.02%) React
15 16 (0.96%) FastAPI
15 16 (0.96%) pytest
16 15 (0.90%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 109 (6.53%) Cloud Native
2 103 (6.18%) Onboarding
3 75 (4.50%) Management Information System
4 72 (4.32%) Data Structures
5 63 (3.78%) Algorithms
6 56 (3.36%) Product Ownership
7 49 (2.94%) Embedded Systems
8 47 (2.82%) Data Centre
9 46 (2.76%) Low-Code
10 45 (2.70%) Driving Licence
11 44 (2.64%) Distributed Systems
12 41 (2.46%) Enterprise Software
13 38 (2.28%) Analytical Mindset
14 34 (2.04%) Self-Motivation
15 31 (1.86%) Life Science
15 31 (1.86%) Video\Live Streaming
16 30 (1.80%) Legacy Systems
17 26 (1.56%) IoT
18 24 (1.44%) AI Agents
18 24 (1.44%) FPGA
Operating Systems
1 113 (6.77%) Linux
2 84 (5.04%) Windows
3 32 (1.92%) Windows Server
4 25 (1.50%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 21 (1.26%) Unix
6 6 (0.36%) Android
6 6 (0.36%) FreeRTOS
7 5 (0.30%) Embedded Linux
8 4 (0.24%) Kali Linux
8 4 (0.24%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.24%) Mac OS X
9 3 (0.18%) AIX
9 3 (0.18%) Robot Operating System
10 2 (0.12%) ThreadX
10 2 (0.12%) Windows 10
11 1 (0.060%) Apple iOS
11 1 (0.060%) CentOS
11 1 (0.060%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.060%) VxWorks
11 1 (0.060%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 389 (23.32%) Problem-Solving
2 371 (22.24%) Continuous Improvement
3 352 (21.10%) Agile
4 315 (18.88%) AI
5 263 (15.77%) CI/CD
6 239 (14.33%) Analytics
7 225 (13.49%) Test Automation
8 215 (12.89%) Migration
9 197 (11.81%) Stakeholder Management
10 183 (10.97%) Mentoring
11 176 (10.55%) Business Intelligence
12 172 (10.31%) Decision-Making
13 170 (10.19%) Data Validation
13 170 (10.19%) DevOps
14 167 (10.01%) Verification and Validation
15 166 (9.95%) Data Analysis
16 159 (9.53%) Data Modelling
17 158 (9.47%) Software Engineering
18 153 (9.17%) Machine Learning
19 152 (9.11%) Collaborative Working
Programming Languages
1 433 (25.96%) Python
2 351 (21.04%) SQL
3 75 (4.50%) C++
4 71 (4.26%) C
5 68 (4.08%) Java
6 50 (3.00%) Go
7 45 (2.70%) C#
8 40 (2.40%) JavaScript
9 34 (2.04%) MATLAB
10 29 (1.74%) PowerShell
11 26 (1.56%) Bash
12 24 (1.44%) T-SQL
13 21 (1.26%) Embedded C
14 18 (1.08%) Embedded C++
15 16 (0.96%) TypeScript
16 15 (0.90%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 15 (0.90%) Scala
17 10 (0.60%) ABAP
18 9 (0.54%) R
18 9 (0.54%) VBA
Qualifications
1 330 (19.78%) Degree
2 188 (11.27%) Security Cleared
3 105 (6.29%) BPSS Clearance
4 93 (5.58%) SC Cleared
5 75 (4.50%) Master's Degree
6 51 (3.06%) DV Cleared
7 40 (2.40%) Computer Science Degree
8 30 (1.80%) Chartered Engineer
9 29 (1.74%) HNC
10 25 (1.50%) CISA
10 25 (1.50%) CISSP
10 25 (1.50%) SANS
11 22 (1.32%) CISM
11 22 (1.32%) PhD
12 20 (1.20%) ACCA
12 20 (1.20%) CIMA
12 20 (1.20%) HND
13 19 (1.14%) AWS Certification
14 17 (1.02%) PMI Certification
15 15 (0.90%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 283 (16.97%) Data Quality
2 218 (13.07%) QA
3 62 (3.72%) Accessibility
4 61 (3.66%) GDPR
5 38 (2.28%) GRC
6 26 (1.56%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 22 (1.32%) IEC 61508
8 21 (1.26%) NIST
9 17 (1.02%) IFRS
10 16 (0.96%) ISO 9001
10 16 (0.96%) PMO
10 16 (0.96%) SLA
11 15 (0.90%) COBIT
12 13 (0.78%) GAAP
12 13 (0.78%) GxP
12 13 (0.78%) ISO 26262
12 13 (0.78%) ISO/IEC 15288
13 12 (0.72%) WCAG
14 11 (0.66%) SOC 2
15 9 (0.54%) GMP
System Software
1 67 (4.02%) Docker
2 57 (3.42%) Firmware
3 41 (2.46%) Active Directory
4 26 (1.56%) Virtual Machines
5 25 (1.50%) Embedded Firmware
6 21 (1.26%) vSphere
7 15 (0.90%) VMware Infrastructure
8 6 (0.36%) KVM
9 5 (0.30%) Hyper-V
10 2 (0.12%) Terminal Services
10 2 (0.12%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.060%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 72 (4.32%) Terraform
2 66 (3.96%) Kubernetes
3 38 (2.28%) Grafana
4 23 (1.38%) Ansible
4 23 (1.38%) Functional Safety
5 15 (0.90%) Prometheus
6 12 (0.72%) Puppet
7 10 (0.60%) Cilium
8 7 (0.42%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 7 (0.42%) Kibana
8 7 (0.42%) SCCM
9 4 (0.24%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (0.24%) Nessus
9 4 (0.24%) Nmap
10 3 (0.18%) Argo
10 3 (0.18%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.18%) HP Fortify
10 3 (0.18%) Rancher
10 3 (0.18%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.18%) yum
Vendors
1 226 (13.55%) Microsoft
2 106 (6.35%) SAP
3 99 (5.94%) Oracle
4 54 (3.24%) Salesforce
5 44 (2.64%) Databricks
6 34 (2.04%) Red Hat
6 34 (2.04%) ServiceNow
6 34 (2.04%) VMware
7 29 (1.74%) CrowdStrike
8 27 (1.62%) Cisco
8 27 (1.62%) Google
9 23 (1.38%) Palo Alto
10 22 (1.32%) Tenable
11 17 (1.02%) Adobe
11 17 (1.02%) IBM
12 16 (0.96%) Foundry
13 15 (0.90%) Citrix
13 15 (0.90%) McAfee
14 13 (0.78%) EMC
15 12 (0.72%) Informatica