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

6 months to
18 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 113 79 195
Rank change year-on-year -34 +116 -10
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,357 1,520 1,322
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.63% 3.83% 1.39%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.23% 4.14% 1.69%
Number of salaries quoted 832 423 719
10th Percentile £35,125 £40,000 £36,000
25th Percentile £43,000 £46,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.51% +3.64% -12.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £71,875 £72,433
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £85,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -4.35% +4.55% -11.41%

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 60,860 36,708 78,024
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.03% 92.57% 81.96%
Number of salaries quoted 42,836 20,086 56,665
10th Percentile £30,750 £29,000 £29,440
25th Percentile £41,250 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £78,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £92,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.54%

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 18 June 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 18 June 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 +69 382 £75,000 - 336
South East -41 305 £55,000 - 245
North of England +76 280 £55,000 +15.35% 145
North West +81 179 £55,000 +15.35% 70
Midlands -75 162 £40,000 -30.43% 115
East of England -73 111 £60,000 +5.26% 89
South West -54 96 £53,000 -3.64% 122
West Midlands -3 95 £44,000 -29.60% 67
East Midlands -83 65 £30,000 -39.70% 48
Yorkshire -1 60 £50,000 +18.69% 50
North East -12 41 £55,000 +15.79% 28
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 50 (3.68%) Apache Airflow
2 45 (3.32%) Apache Spark
3 43 (3.17%) Apache
4 20 (1.47%) Confluence
5 14 (1.03%) Microsoft Exchange
5 14 (1.03%) SharePoint
6 11 (0.81%) Jupyter
7 8 (0.59%) SAS
8 7 (0.52%) Appian
9 5 (0.37%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 4 (0.29%) CMS
10 4 (0.29%) Kinematics
11 3 (0.22%) Artix
12 2 (0.15%) IIS
13 1 (0.074%) ArcGIS
13 1 (0.074%) Oracle Workflow
13 1 (0.074%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 83 (6.12%) Microsoft Excel
2 39 (2.87%) Microsoft Office
3 23 (1.69%) Microsoft Project
4 18 (1.33%) MS Visio
5 15 (1.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 15 (1.11%) Simulink
6 8 (0.59%) SOLIDWORKS
6 8 (0.59%) Spreadsheet
7 5 (0.37%) AutoCAD
8 4 (0.29%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 4 (0.29%) Adobe XD
8 4 (0.29%) Sketch
9 3 (0.22%) Autodesk Inventor
9 3 (0.22%) Productboard
9 3 (0.22%) Solid Edge
9 3 (0.22%) Stateflow
10 1 (0.074%) CATIA
10 1 (0.074%) Chatbot
10 1 (0.074%) Revit
10 1 (0.074%) Trello
Business Applications
1 36 (2.65%) Dynamics CRM
2 33 (2.43%) SAP S/4HANA
3 10 (0.74%) SAP ERP
3 10 (0.74%) SAP MDG
4 8 (0.59%) Oracle EBS
5 5 (0.37%) iTrent
5 5 (0.37%) Loan IQ
5 5 (0.37%) Oracle Financials
5 5 (0.37%) SAP MDG-BP
6 4 (0.29%) Oracle Applications
7 2 (0.15%) FastStats
7 2 (0.15%) Oracle ERP
7 2 (0.15%) Oracle Payables
7 2 (0.15%) Oracle Receivables
7 2 (0.15%) SAP EWM
7 2 (0.15%) SAP MM
7 2 (0.15%) SAP WM
8 1 (0.074%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
8 1 (0.074%) SAP FSCM
8 1 (0.074%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 177 (13.04%) Azure
2 148 (10.91%) AWS
3 130 (9.58%) Power Platform
4 72 (5.31%) GCP
5 61 (4.50%) SaaS
6 54 (3.98%) Azure DevOps
7 37 (2.73%) Microsoft 365
7 37 (2.73%) Serverless
8 35 (2.58%) Amazon S3
9 34 (2.51%) GitHub
10 28 (2.06%) Dynamics 365
11 27 (1.99%) Azure Data Factory
12 24 (1.77%) Snowflake
13 19 (1.40%) Entra ID
13 19 (1.40%) Power Automate
14 17 (1.25%) dbt
14 17 (1.25%) GitHub Actions
15 14 (1.03%) Amazon EC2
15 14 (1.03%) OpenShift
16 13 (0.96%) Amazon EMR
Communications & Networking
1 67 (4.94%) Broadband
2 42 (3.10%) Firewall
3 34 (2.51%) DNS
4 20 (1.47%) WAN
5 19 (1.40%) CHAP
6 17 (1.25%) Wireless
7 16 (1.18%) Network Security
7 16 (1.18%) SD-WAN
8 14 (1.03%) TCP/IP
8 14 (1.03%) VPN
9 13 (0.96%) 5G
10 12 (0.88%) Wi-Fi
11 11 (0.81%) MQTT
12 10 (0.74%) Ethernet
12 10 (0.74%) HTTP
12 10 (0.74%) LAN
13 9 (0.66%) NAS
14 7 (0.52%) WebEx
15 6 (0.44%) Cisco ISE
16 5 (0.37%) Modbus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 128 (9.43%) Power BI
2 56 (4.13%) Tableau
3 53 (3.91%) PostgreSQL
4 49 (3.61%) SQL Server
5 43 (3.17%) Data Warehouse
6 33 (2.43%) MongoDB
7 31 (2.28%) Relational Database
8 29 (2.14%) Metadata
9 25 (1.84%) BigQuery
10 22 (1.62%) Azure SQL Database
10 22 (1.62%) Data Lake
11 19 (1.40%) Semantic Layer
11 19 (1.40%) Spark SQL
12 17 (1.25%) Oracle Database
13 15 (1.11%) Amazon Athena
13 15 (1.11%) DynamoDB
13 15 (1.11%) MySQL
14 14 (1.03%) Parquet
14 14 (1.03%) SQL Server Reporting Services
15 13 (0.96%) Impala
Development Applications
1 69 (5.08%) JIRA
2 64 (4.72%) Git
3 44 (3.24%) Jenkins
4 33 (2.43%) GitLab
5 29 (2.14%) Rational DOORS
6 22 (1.62%) Snyk
7 15 (1.11%) Postman
8 14 (1.03%) Selenium
9 13 (0.96%) IBM UrbanCode
10 11 (0.81%) LabVIEW
10 11 (0.81%) MLflow
11 10 (0.74%) Cucumber
11 10 (0.74%) Eclipse
11 10 (0.74%) TeamCity
12 9 (0.66%) Cypress.io
12 9 (0.66%) JMeter
13 6 (0.44%) Rational Rhapsody
14 5 (0.37%) LoadRunner
14 5 (0.37%) REST Assured
14 5 (0.37%) SonarQube
General
1 401 (29.55%) Social Skills
2 351 (25.87%) Finance
3 308 (22.70%) Analytical Skills
4 107 (7.89%) Aerospace
5 97 (7.15%) Electronics
6 94 (6.93%) Manufacturing
7 90 (6.63%) Banking
8 82 (6.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 52 (3.83%) Law
10 49 (3.61%) Retail
11 46 (3.39%) Legal
12 42 (3.10%) Marketing
13 40 (2.95%) Games
13 40 (2.95%) Public Sector
14 39 (2.87%) Pharmaceutical
15 32 (2.36%) Automotive
16 31 (2.28%) Organisational Skills
17 30 (2.21%) Financial Institution
18 23 (1.69%) Presentation Skills
19 22 (1.62%) Aviation
Job Titles
1 229 (16.88%) Senior
2 219 (16.14%) Analyst
3 130 (9.58%) Systems Engineer
4 100 (7.37%) Lead
5 96 (7.07%) Test Engineer
6 92 (6.78%) Architect
7 84 (6.19%) Validation Engineer
8 73 (5.38%) Business Analyst
9 72 (5.31%) Data Engineer
10 63 (4.64%) Developer
11 62 (4.57%) Data Analyst
12 44 (3.24%) Principal Engineer
13 39 (2.87%) Embedded Engineer
13 39 (2.87%) Integration Engineer
14 35 (2.58%) IT Manager
15 34 (2.51%) Consultant
15 34 (2.51%) Security Architect
16 33 (2.43%) Support Engineer
17 32 (2.36%) Project Manager
18 30 (2.21%) Senior Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (3.10%) RESTful
2 34 (2.51%) REST
3 30 (2.21%) PySpark
4 29 (2.14%) JSON
5 28 (2.06%) Kafka
6 26 (1.92%) Node.js
6 26 (1.92%) Pandas
7 25 (1.84%) XML
8 24 (1.77%) pytest
9 23 (1.69%) Middleware
10 21 (1.55%) .NET
11 19 (1.40%) Swagger
12 18 (1.33%) Playwright
12 18 (1.33%) Regular Expression
12 18 (1.33%) XMPP
13 15 (1.11%) LDAP
13 15 (1.11%) OAuth
13 15 (1.11%) PyTorch
13 15 (1.11%) TensorFlow
14 14 (1.03%) FastAPI
Miscellaneous
1 82 (6.04%) Cloud Native
2 65 (4.79%) Onboarding
3 63 (4.64%) Management Information System
4 57 (4.20%) Data Structures
5 50 (3.68%) Low-Code
6 36 (2.65%) Embedded Systems
7 35 (2.58%) Driving Licence
8 34 (2.51%) Algorithms
8 34 (2.51%) Self-Motivation
9 33 (2.43%) Distributed Systems
9 33 (2.43%) Product Ownership
10 31 (2.28%) Analytical Mindset
10 31 (2.28%) Data Centre
10 31 (2.28%) Enterprise Software
10 31 (2.28%) Video\Live Streaming
11 30 (2.21%) Legacy Systems
12 28 (2.06%) Life Science
13 21 (1.55%) Robotics
14 18 (1.33%) FPGA
14 18 (1.33%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 83 (6.12%) Linux
2 59 (4.35%) Windows
3 25 (1.84%) Windows Server
4 23 (1.69%) Unix
5 18 (1.33%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (0.44%) Android
7 4 (0.29%) FreeRTOS
7 4 (0.29%) Mac OS X
8 3 (0.22%) AIX
8 3 (0.22%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.22%) Kali Linux
9 2 (0.15%) Robot Operating System
9 2 (0.15%) ThreadX
10 1 (0.074%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.074%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 299 (22.03%) Problem-Solving
2 265 (19.53%) Agile
3 260 (19.16%) Continuous Improvement
4 232 (17.10%) AI
5 231 (17.02%) CI/CD
6 197 (14.52%) Test Automation
7 182 (13.41%) Verification and Validation
8 180 (13.26%) Analytics
9 160 (11.79%) Data Validation
10 151 (11.13%) Business Intelligence
11 148 (10.91%) DevOps
12 147 (10.83%) Data Modelling
13 144 (10.61%) Migration
14 137 (10.10%) Decision-Making
15 135 (9.95%) Software Engineering
16 127 (9.36%) Data Governance
17 126 (9.29%) Stakeholder Management
18 122 (8.99%) Mentoring
19 120 (8.84%) Machine Learning
20 119 (8.77%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 326 (24.02%) Python
2 296 (21.81%) SQL
3 60 (4.42%) C++
4 56 (4.13%) C
5 55 (4.05%) Java
6 49 (3.61%) Go
7 37 (2.73%) C#
8 30 (2.21%) JavaScript
9 25 (1.84%) MATLAB
10 24 (1.77%) Bash
10 24 (1.77%) PowerShell
11 21 (1.55%) T-SQL
12 18 (1.33%) Embedded C++
13 17 (1.25%) Embedded C
14 13 (0.96%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 13 (0.96%) Scala
15 11 (0.81%) TypeScript
16 9 (0.66%) VBA
17 8 (0.59%) ABAP
18 7 (0.52%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 260 (19.16%) Degree
2 154 (11.35%) Security Cleared
3 101 (7.44%) BPSS Clearance
4 72 (5.31%) SC Cleared
5 69 (5.08%) Master's Degree
6 43 (3.17%) DV Cleared
7 36 (2.65%) Computer Science Degree
8 35 (2.58%) Chartered Engineer
9 29 (2.14%) CISA
9 29 (2.14%) CISSP
9 29 (2.14%) SANS
10 26 (1.92%) CISM
11 24 (1.77%) HNC
12 19 (1.40%) CGEIT
12 19 (1.40%) FFIEC
12 19 (1.40%) HND
13 16 (1.18%) ACCA
13 16 (1.18%) CIMA
14 15 (1.11%) PMI Certification
15 12 (0.88%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 229 (16.88%) Data Quality
2 136 (10.02%) QA
3 55 (4.05%) GDPR
4 39 (2.87%) Accessibility
5 38 (2.80%) GRC
6 27 (1.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 24 (1.77%) ISO/IEC 15288
8 22 (1.62%) NIST
9 19 (1.40%) COBIT
9 19 (1.40%) IFRS
10 18 (1.33%) IEC 61508
11 15 (1.11%) PMO
12 14 (1.03%) SLA
13 13 (0.96%) GAAP
14 12 (0.88%) ISO 9001
15 11 (0.81%) ISO 26262
15 11 (0.81%) SOC 2
16 9 (0.66%) GMP
16 9 (0.66%) GxP
17 8 (0.59%) WCAG
System Software
1 63 (4.64%) Docker
2 39 (2.87%) Firmware
3 37 (2.73%) Active Directory
4 22 (1.62%) Virtual Machines
5 19 (1.40%) vSphere
6 16 (1.18%) Embedded Firmware
7 8 (0.59%) VMware Infrastructure
8 5 (0.37%) Hyper-V
9 2 (0.15%) Terminal Services
10 1 (0.074%) OpenAM
10 1 (0.074%) OpenDJ
10 1 (0.074%) OpenIDM
10 1 (0.074%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 64 (4.72%) Kubernetes
2 61 (4.50%) Terraform
3 26 (1.92%) Grafana
4 23 (1.69%) Functional Safety
5 15 (1.11%) Prometheus
6 13 (0.96%) Ansible
7 10 (0.74%) Cilium
7 10 (0.74%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 8 (0.59%) SCCM
9 7 (0.52%) Kibana
10 3 (0.22%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.22%) HP Fortify
10 3 (0.22%) Microsoft Intune
10 3 (0.22%) Puppet
11 2 (0.15%) Argo
11 2 (0.15%) BMC PATROL
11 2 (0.15%) Computer Incident Response Team
11 2 (0.15%) Rancher
11 2 (0.15%) yum
12 1 (0.074%) MOM
Vendors
1 177 (13.04%) Microsoft
2 86 (6.34%) Oracle
3 80 (5.90%) SAP
4 46 (3.39%) Salesforce
5 37 (2.73%) Databricks
6 33 (2.43%) ServiceNow
7 32 (2.36%) Red Hat
8 29 (2.14%) CrowdStrike
9 26 (1.92%) VMware
10 22 (1.62%) Palo Alto
10 22 (1.62%) Tenable
11 21 (1.55%) Adobe
12 18 (1.33%) Cisco
12 18 (1.33%) Google
13 14 (1.03%) Citrix
13 14 (1.03%) McAfee
14 12 (0.88%) Foundry
15 10 (0.74%) OpenAI
16 9 (0.66%) IBM
16 9 (0.66%) Splunk