Validation Job Trends in England

Validation
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in England requiring Validation skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 16 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 90 78 186
Rank change year-on-year -12 +108 +2
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,849 1,607 1,057
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.95% 3.67% 1.46%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.65% 4.10% 1.80%
Number of salaries quoted 1,101 494 482
10th Percentile £35,000 £38,750 £36,250
25th Percentile £42,500 £41,250 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £56,000 £55,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +1.82% -8.33% -7.69%
75th Percentile £73,750 £71,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £92,200 £93,750
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year - -8.33% -5.51%

All Process & Methodology Skills
England

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 in England.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 69,735 39,168 58,616
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.70% 89.33% 81.21%
Number of salaries quoted 49,222 22,629 38,358
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,259 £37,500 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% - -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £76,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £97,500 £95,000
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -8.71%

Validation
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Validation relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.

Validation job vacancy trend in England

Validation
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Validation.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Validation

Validation
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing Validation in England over the 6 months to 16 August 2026.

Salary histogram for Validation in England

Validation
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Validation within the England region over the 6 months to 16 August 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
London +77 508 £72,500 -6.45% 320
South East -27 417 £56,500 +5.12% 275
North of England +99 390 £55,000 +15.79% 165
North West +97 224 £55,000 +15.35% 92
Midlands -56 202 £44,360 -19.35% 159
South West -13 167 £53,500 +1.71% 140
East of England -71 135 £60,000 +5.26% 108
West Midlands +6 111 £44,360 -22.85% 102
East Midlands -64 90 £44,424 +4.53% 57
North East +4 85 £55,000 +57.14% 37
Yorkshire +14 81 £43,000 +1.18% 39
Validation
UK

Validation
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 61 (3.30%) Apache Airflow
2 59 (3.19%) Apache Spark
3 57 (3.08%) Apache
4 31 (1.68%) Confluence
4 31 (1.68%) SharePoint
5 19 (1.03%) Jupyter
6 12 (0.65%) SAS
7 9 (0.49%) Microsoft Exchange
8 5 (0.27%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 5 (0.27%) CMS
8 5 (0.27%) WinCC
9 4 (0.22%) Kinematics
10 3 (0.16%) Artix
10 3 (0.16%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 2 (0.11%) Cloud Foundry
11 2 (0.11%) IIS
12 1 (0.054%) FactoryTalk
12 1 (0.054%) Oracle Workflow
12 1 (0.054%) Palantir Foundry
12 1 (0.054%) WebSphere
Applications
1 117 (6.33%) Microsoft Excel
2 64 (3.46%) Microsoft Office
3 36 (1.95%) Microsoft Project
4 31 (1.68%) Simulink
5 27 (1.46%) MS Visio
6 16 (0.87%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 15 (0.81%) Spreadsheet
8 14 (0.76%) SOLIDWORKS
9 8 (0.43%) AutoCAD
10 5 (0.27%) Mathcad
11 4 (0.22%) Adobe XD
11 4 (0.22%) Sketch
12 3 (0.16%) Autodesk Inventor
12 3 (0.16%) LaTeX
12 3 (0.16%) OrCAD
12 3 (0.16%) Productboard
12 3 (0.16%) Stateflow
13 2 (0.11%) EPLAN
13 2 (0.11%) Revit
13 2 (0.11%) Solid Edge
Business Applications
1 39 (2.11%) SAP S/4HANA
2 38 (2.06%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.54%) SAP ERP
4 9 (0.49%) Oracle EBS
4 9 (0.49%) SAP MDG
5 8 (0.43%) Oracle Applications
6 7 (0.38%) NetSuite
7 5 (0.27%) Elite 3E
7 5 (0.27%) iTrent
7 5 (0.27%) Loan IQ
7 5 (0.27%) SAP MDG-BP
7 5 (0.27%) Workday HCM
8 4 (0.22%) Oracle Financials
8 4 (0.22%) SAP MM
9 3 (0.16%) Oracle ERP
9 3 (0.16%) Teamcenter
10 2 (0.11%) Oracle Payables
10 2 (0.11%) SAP CO
10 2 (0.11%) SAP FI
10 2 (0.11%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 254 (13.74%) Azure
2 239 (12.93%) AWS
3 151 (8.17%) Power Platform
4 88 (4.76%) GCP
5 66 (3.57%) SaaS
6 60 (3.24%) Microsoft 365
7 57 (3.08%) Azure DevOps
8 51 (2.76%) GitHub
9 49 (2.65%) Amazon S3
10 46 (2.49%) Serverless
11 33 (1.78%) Dynamics 365
12 30 (1.62%) Entra ID
12 30 (1.62%) Microsoft Copilot
13 26 (1.41%) GitHub Actions
14 23 (1.24%) Amazon EMR
15 22 (1.19%) Amazon EC2
16 20 (1.08%) Cloud Computing
16 20 (1.08%) Snowflake
17 19 (1.03%) Microsoft Purview
18 17 (0.92%) Amazon CloudWatch
Communications & Networking
1 67 (3.62%) Broadband
2 53 (2.87%) Firewall
3 51 (2.76%) DNS
4 32 (1.73%) Network Security
5 28 (1.51%) WAN
5 28 (1.51%) Wireless
6 27 (1.46%) TCP/IP
7 26 (1.41%) VPN
8 21 (1.14%) Ethernet
9 19 (1.03%) LAN
9 19 (1.03%) SD-WAN
10 17 (0.92%) MQTT
10 17 (0.92%) Wi-Fi
11 15 (0.81%) BGP
12 13 (0.70%) HTTP
12 13 (0.70%) Internet
12 13 (0.70%) OSPF
13 12 (0.65%) Wireshark
14 11 (0.59%) NGN
14 11 (0.59%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 141 (7.63%) Power BI
2 57 (3.08%) Data Warehouse
3 53 (2.87%) PostgreSQL
4 52 (2.81%) Tableau
5 49 (2.65%) SQL Server
6 44 (2.38%) Metadata
7 42 (2.27%) Data Lake
8 33 (1.78%) MongoDB
9 30 (1.62%) Relational Database
10 27 (1.46%) Amazon Athena
11 25 (1.35%) BigQuery
12 24 (1.30%) DynamoDB
13 22 (1.19%) Semantic Layer
14 21 (1.14%) SQL Server Integration Services
15 20 (1.08%) Azure SQL Database
15 20 (1.08%) Spark SQL
16 19 (1.03%) MySQL
17 17 (0.92%) Big Data
17 17 (0.92%) Oracle Database
18 16 (0.87%) Amazon Redshift
Development Applications
1 117 (6.33%) JIRA
2 107 (5.79%) Git
3 48 (2.60%) Jenkins
4 42 (2.27%) GitLab
5 34 (1.84%) Rational DOORS
6 22 (1.19%) Snyk
7 20 (1.08%) Selenium
8 17 (0.92%) LabVIEW
9 16 (0.87%) Cypress.io
9 16 (0.87%) Postman
10 13 (0.70%) Cucumber
10 13 (0.70%) IBM UrbanCode
11 12 (0.65%) JMeter
12 10 (0.54%) TeamCity
13 8 (0.43%) Burp Suite
13 8 (0.43%) Rational Rhapsody
14 7 (0.38%) Gatling
14 7 (0.38%) Hudson
14 7 (0.38%) MLflow
14 7 (0.38%) REST Assured
General
1 609 (32.94%) Social Skills
2 501 (27.10%) Finance
3 468 (25.31%) Analytical Skills
4 177 (9.57%) Aerospace
5 167 (9.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 164 (8.87%) Manufacturing
7 157 (8.49%) Electronics
8 108 (5.84%) Banking
9 99 (5.35%) Law
10 78 (4.22%) Retail
11 76 (4.11%) Public Sector
12 69 (3.73%) Marketing
13 66 (3.57%) Pharmaceutical
14 64 (3.46%) Organisational Skills
15 51 (2.76%) Automotive
16 50 (2.70%) Legal
17 46 (2.49%) Games
18 41 (2.22%) Telecoms
19 33 (1.78%) Influencing Skills
20 30 (1.62%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 342 (18.50%) Senior
2 257 (13.90%) Analyst
3 158 (8.55%) Systems Engineer
4 148 (8.00%) Lead
5 116 (6.27%) Test Engineer
6 106 (5.73%) Architect
7 99 (5.35%) Data Engineer
8 83 (4.49%) Business Analyst
9 81 (4.38%) Developer
10 70 (3.79%) Consultant
11 67 (3.62%) Software Engineer
12 66 (3.57%) Validation Engineer
13 63 (3.41%) Principal Engineer
14 61 (3.30%) Data Analyst
15 47 (2.54%) Data Scientist
16 46 (2.49%) Support Engineer
17 45 (2.43%) Embedded Engineer
18 41 (2.22%) IT Manager
19 40 (2.16%) Project Manager
20 38 (2.06%) Electronics Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (2.49%) RESTful
2 44 (2.38%) Kafka
3 38 (2.06%) PySpark
4 36 (1.95%) Node.js
5 34 (1.84%) REST
6 28 (1.51%) .NET
6 28 (1.51%) XML
7 27 (1.46%) JSON
7 27 (1.46%) LDAP
8 23 (1.24%) Middleware
8 23 (1.24%) Pandas
8 23 (1.24%) Playwright
9 22 (1.19%) CSS
10 21 (1.14%) HTML
10 21 (1.14%) ModSecurity
11 19 (1.03%) OAuth
11 19 (1.03%) Regular Expression
11 19 (1.03%) XMPP
12 18 (0.97%) OpenID
12 18 (0.97%) React
Miscellaneous
1 137 (7.41%) Cloud Native
2 129 (6.98%) Onboarding
3 103 (5.57%) Management Information System
4 70 (3.79%) Data Centre
5 66 (3.57%) Product Ownership
6 55 (2.97%) Enterprise Software
7 53 (2.87%) Data Structures
8 51 (2.76%) Distributed Systems
8 51 (2.76%) Driving Licence
8 51 (2.76%) Embedded Systems
9 45 (2.43%) Algorithms
9 45 (2.43%) Low-Code
10 37 (2.00%) Analytical Mindset
10 37 (2.00%) Life Science
11 34 (1.84%) Legacy Systems
11 34 (1.84%) Video\Live Streaming
12 33 (1.78%) Robotics
13 31 (1.68%) AI Agents
14 28 (1.51%) Self-Motivation
15 26 (1.41%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 118 (6.38%) Linux
2 87 (4.71%) Windows
3 34 (1.84%) Windows Server
4 19 (1.03%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 19 (1.03%) Unix
5 8 (0.43%) Embedded Linux
6 7 (0.38%) Android
7 6 (0.32%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.22%) Kali Linux
8 4 (0.22%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.22%) Mac OS X
9 2 (0.11%) Robot Operating System
9 2 (0.11%) ThreadX
9 2 (0.11%) VMS
9 2 (0.11%) Windows 10
10 1 (0.054%) AIX
10 1 (0.054%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 484 (26.18%) Problem-Solving
2 425 (22.99%) Continuous Improvement
3 377 (20.39%) Agile
4 346 (18.71%) AI
5 293 (15.85%) CI/CD
6 245 (13.25%) Analytics
7 235 (12.71%) Stakeholder Management
8 233 (12.60%) Migration
9 232 (12.55%) Test Automation
10 231 (12.49%) Verification and Validation
11 216 (11.68%) Mentoring
12 207 (11.20%) Decision-Making
13 198 (10.71%) Software Engineering
14 176 (9.52%) DevOps
15 175 (9.46%) Business Intelligence
16 174 (9.41%) Machine Learning
17 171 (9.25%) Data Analysis
18 168 (9.09%) Stakeholder Engagement
19 166 (8.98%) Roadmaps
20 158 (8.55%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 435 (23.53%) Python
2 366 (19.79%) SQL
3 84 (4.54%) C++
4 79 (4.27%) Java
5 74 (4.00%) C
6 59 (3.19%) JavaScript
7 55 (2.97%) Go
8 45 (2.43%) C#
9 44 (2.38%) MATLAB
10 28 (1.51%) Bash
11 27 (1.46%) PowerShell
12 23 (1.24%) Embedded C
13 22 (1.19%) Scala
14 18 (0.97%) Embedded C++
14 18 (0.97%) TypeScript
15 15 (0.81%) T-SQL
16 12 (0.65%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 11 (0.59%) R
18 8 (0.43%) ABAP
18 8 (0.43%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 389 (21.04%) Degree
2 309 (16.71%) Security Cleared
3 184 (9.95%) SC Cleared
4 120 (6.49%) BPSS Clearance
5 98 (5.30%) DV Cleared
6 83 (4.49%) Master's Degree
7 40 (2.16%) Computer Science Degree
8 38 (2.06%) CISSP
9 31 (1.68%) Chartered Engineer
10 30 (1.62%) CISM
10 30 (1.62%) PhD
11 28 (1.51%) PMI Certification
12 27 (1.46%) HNC
13 24 (1.30%) AWS Certification
14 23 (1.24%) ACCA
14 23 (1.24%) Azure Certification
14 23 (1.24%) CIMA
15 22 (1.19%) HND
16 19 (1.03%) SANS
17 17 (0.92%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 303 (16.39%) Data Quality
2 249 (13.47%) QA
3 64 (3.46%) Accessibility
4 53 (2.87%) GDPR
5 38 (2.06%) GRC
6 25 (1.35%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 23 (1.24%) IEC 61508
8 21 (1.14%) NIST
9 18 (0.97%) GxP
9 18 (0.97%) PMO
10 17 (0.92%) SLA
11 15 (0.81%) GAAP
11 15 (0.81%) IFRS
11 15 (0.81%) ISO 26262
12 12 (0.65%) ISO 9001
12 12 (0.65%) WCAG
13 11 (0.59%) GMP
13 11 (0.59%) SOC 2
14 9 (0.49%) COBIT
15 8 (0.43%) Automotive SPICE
System Software
1 76 (4.11%) Docker
2 68 (3.68%) Firmware
3 45 (2.43%) Active Directory
4 30 (1.62%) Embedded Firmware
5 28 (1.51%) Virtual Machines
6 21 (1.14%) vSphere
7 12 (0.65%) VMware Infrastructure
8 4 (0.22%) Hyper-V
9 3 (0.16%) KVM
10 2 (0.11%) iptables
10 2 (0.11%) ProxySG
10 2 (0.11%) VMware ESXi
11 1 (0.054%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.054%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 76 (4.11%) Kubernetes
2 71 (3.84%) Terraform
3 37 (2.00%) Grafana
4 26 (1.41%) Functional Safety
5 20 (1.08%) Ansible
6 15 (0.81%) Prometheus
6 15 (0.81%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (0.54%) Cilium
8 7 (0.38%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 7 (0.38%) Kibana
8 7 (0.38%) SCCM
9 6 (0.32%) Microsoft Intune
9 6 (0.32%) Puppet
10 5 (0.27%) Nessus
10 5 (0.27%) Nmap
10 5 (0.27%) WMI
11 4 (0.22%) FortiGate
11 4 (0.22%) Kubeflow
12 3 (0.16%) HP Fortify
13 2 (0.11%) Computer Incident Response Team
Vendors
1 264 (14.28%) Microsoft
2 111 (6.00%) SAP
3 104 (5.62%) Oracle
4 54 (2.92%) Salesforce
5 52 (2.81%) Databricks
6 45 (2.43%) ServiceNow
7 42 (2.27%) Cisco
8 40 (2.16%) Google
9 36 (1.95%) Red Hat
10 31 (1.68%) VMware
11 29 (1.57%) CrowdStrike
12 25 (1.35%) Palo Alto
13 23 (1.24%) EMC
14 22 (1.19%) Tenable
15 15 (0.81%) Foundry
15 15 (0.81%) McAfee
16 14 (0.76%) Splunk
16 14 (0.76%) Workday
17 13 (0.70%) Adobe
17 13 (0.70%) IBM