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 26 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 155 162 189
Rank change year-on-year +7 +27 -46
Permanent jobs citing Validation 847 852 982
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.54% 1.80% 1.64%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.91% 1.97% 1.84%
Number of salaries quoted 460 306 596
10th Percentile £36,250 £37,500 £35,445
25th Percentile £43,000 £46,250 £46,188
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% - -14.60%
75th Percentile £77,500 £72,500 £73,750
90th Percentile £91,250 £100,000 £85,000
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -15.38%

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 44,287 43,288 53,227
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 80.30% 91.33% 88.70%
Number of salaries quoted 26,703 20,981 41,972
10th Percentile £28,750 £35,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £38,481 £46,250 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -8.00%
75th Percentile £76,250 £81,250 £77,500
90th Percentile £97,500 £101,250 £96,539
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -8.00%

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 26 January 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 26 January 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 +32 286 £75,000 +11.11% 202
South East +24 190 £50,000 -16.67% 329
North of England -9 124 £55,233 +19.79% 179
Midlands +4 85 £37,500 -28.23% 162
North West +10 81 £55,000 +15.35% 71
East of England +4 78 £59,000 +7.27% 173
South West +14 72 £57,500 +4.55% 163
West Midlands +10 55 £37,500 -28.57% 85
Yorkshire -10 34 £62,500 +54.42% 85
East Midlands -6 30 £35,000 -32.69% 74
North East -9 9 £41,000 -1.20% 24
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 19 (2.24%) Confluence
2 17 (2.01%) Apache Airflow
3 11 (1.30%) Appian
4 10 (1.18%) Apache Spark
5 9 (1.06%) CMS
5 9 (1.06%) SharePoint
6 7 (0.83%) Microsoft Exchange
7 6 (0.71%) Apache
8 5 (0.59%) SugarCRM
9 4 (0.47%) Headless CMS
10 3 (0.35%) Jupyter
10 3 (0.35%) SAS
11 2 (0.24%) Kinematics
11 2 (0.24%) WordPress
12 1 (0.12%) Anypoint
12 1 (0.12%) Apache Superset
12 1 (0.12%) FileNet
Applications
1 61 (7.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 57 (6.73%) Microsoft Office
3 12 (1.42%) MS Visio
4 10 (1.18%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 9 (1.06%) Simulink
6 7 (0.83%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 4 (0.47%) Fusion 360
8 2 (0.24%) Adobe After Effects
8 2 (0.24%) Adobe Captivate
8 2 (0.24%) Adobe Illustrator
8 2 (0.24%) Adobe Premiere
8 2 (0.24%) Elementor
8 2 (0.24%) Oracle Smart View
8 2 (0.24%) Photoshop
8 2 (0.24%) Weka
9 1 (0.12%) Doxygen
9 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Project
9 1 (0.12%) Revit
9 1 (0.12%) Solid Edge
9 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 19 (2.24%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.18%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.47%) SAP BPC
4 3 (0.35%) SAP CX
4 3 (0.35%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.24%) Aladdin
5 2 (0.24%) Endur
5 2 (0.24%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 2 (0.24%) NetSuite
5 2 (0.24%) Oracle ERP
5 2 (0.24%) Primavera
5 2 (0.24%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.12%) Loan IQ
6 1 (0.12%) Magento
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle Financials
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.12%) Remedy ITSM
6 1 (0.12%) SAP Business ByDesign
6 1 (0.12%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.12%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 128 (15.11%) Azure
2 71 (8.38%) Power Platform
3 55 (6.49%) AWS
4 40 (4.72%) SaaS
5 35 (4.13%) Azure DevOps
6 27 (3.19%) GCP
7 19 (2.24%) Azure Data Factory
8 18 (2.13%) Dynamics 365
8 18 (2.13%) Power Automate
8 18 (2.13%) Snowflake
9 15 (1.77%) GitHub
10 14 (1.65%) Microsoft 365
11 12 (1.42%) Entra ID
12 11 (1.30%) Anthropic Claude
12 11 (1.30%) Azure AI
12 11 (1.30%) dbt
12 11 (1.30%) Figma
13 10 (1.18%) Amazon S3
14 9 (1.06%) Datadog
15 8 (0.94%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 17 (2.01%) CHAP
2 13 (1.53%) WAN
3 12 (1.42%) Firewall
3 12 (1.42%) LAN
4 11 (1.30%) SD-WAN
5 10 (1.18%) 5G
6 9 (1.06%) DNS
7 8 (0.94%) HTTP
7 8 (0.94%) MQTT
8 7 (0.83%) TCP/IP
9 6 (0.71%) Modbus
10 5 (0.59%) Cisco IOS
10 5 (0.59%) Ethernet VPN
10 5 (0.59%) VoIP
10 5 (0.59%) WAAS
10 5 (0.59%) Wireless
11 4 (0.47%) BGP
11 4 (0.47%) OSPF
11 4 (0.47%) SMTP
12 3 (0.35%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 69 (8.15%) Power BI
2 34 (4.01%) SQL Server
3 23 (2.72%) Data Warehouse
3 23 (2.72%) Metadata
4 20 (2.36%) Relational Database
5 17 (2.01%) Tableau
6 14 (1.65%) Oracle Reports
7 11 (1.30%) BigQuery
7 11 (1.30%) Pinecone
8 10 (1.18%) Spotfire
9 9 (1.06%) Data Lake
10 8 (0.94%) Azure SQL Database
10 8 (0.94%) Big Data
11 7 (0.83%) Amazon Redshift
11 7 (0.83%) Looker
11 7 (0.83%) PostgreSQL
12 6 (0.71%) GIS
12 6 (0.71%) NoSQL
12 6 (0.71%) SQL Server Reporting Services
13 5 (0.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 59 (6.97%) JIRA
2 39 (4.60%) Git
2 39 (4.60%) Rational DOORS
3 23 (2.72%) Postman
4 16 (1.89%) Jenkins
5 13 (1.53%) MLflow
5 13 (1.53%) Selenium
6 11 (1.30%) GitLab
6 11 (1.30%) LabVIEW
7 10 (1.18%) Cucumber
7 10 (1.18%) TestRail
8 9 (1.06%) Eclipse
8 9 (1.06%) JMeter
8 9 (1.06%) SoapUI
9 7 (0.83%) LoadRunner
10 6 (0.71%) Zephyr
11 5 (0.59%) Charles Proxy
11 5 (0.59%) Fiddler
11 5 (0.59%) SpecFlow
11 5 (0.59%) TestNG
General
1 309 (36.48%) Social Skills
2 234 (27.63%) Finance
3 188 (22.20%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (7.44%) Banking
5 53 (6.26%) Electronics
6 48 (5.67%) Marketing
7 46 (5.43%) Financial Institution
8 42 (4.96%) Manufacturing
9 40 (4.72%) Presentation Skills
10 32 (3.78%) Law
11 30 (3.54%) Aerospace
11 30 (3.54%) Telecoms
12 29 (3.42%) Documentation Skills
12 29 (3.42%) Organisational Skills
13 26 (3.07%) Retail
14 25 (2.95%) Public Sector
15 23 (2.72%) Legal
16 22 (2.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 20 (2.36%) Pharmaceutical
18 17 (2.01%) Avionics
Job Titles
1 130 (15.35%) Analyst
2 123 (14.52%) Senior
3 99 (11.69%) Systems Engineer
4 63 (7.44%) Lead
5 53 (6.26%) Architect
6 50 (5.90%) Test Engineer
7 41 (4.84%) Business Analyst
8 39 (4.60%) Validation Engineer
9 36 (4.25%) Integration Engineer
10 31 (3.66%) Data Analyst
10 31 (3.66%) Principal Engineer
11 30 (3.54%) Data Engineer
11 30 (3.54%) Developer
12 29 (3.42%) Applications Support
12 29 (3.42%) Junior
13 27 (3.19%) Systems Integration Engineer
14 26 (3.07%) Solutions Architect
15 25 (2.95%) Applications Engineer
16 24 (2.83%) Support Engineer
17 23 (2.72%) Applications Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (5.79%) REST
2 30 (3.54%) Middleware
3 26 (3.07%) pytest
4 25 (2.95%) JSON
5 24 (2.83%) Pandas
6 20 (2.36%) scikit-learn
7 19 (2.24%) PyTorch
7 19 (2.24%) TensorFlow
7 19 (2.24%) XML
8 17 (2.01%) NumPy
9 16 (1.89%) OAuth
10 15 (1.77%) FastAPI
10 15 (1.77%) JWT
10 15 (1.77%) Swagger
10 15 (1.77%) Web Services
11 14 (1.65%) CSS
11 14 (1.65%) Flask
12 13 (1.53%) HTML
12 13 (1.53%) React
13 12 (1.42%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 58 (6.85%) Management Information System
2 36 (4.25%) Onboarding
3 30 (3.54%) Self-Motivation
4 24 (2.83%) Product Ownership
5 23 (2.72%) Legacy Systems
6 21 (2.48%) Data Structures
6 21 (2.48%) Low-Code
7 19 (2.24%) Life Science
8 17 (2.01%) Algorithms
9 15 (1.77%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
10 14 (1.65%) Analytical Mindset
11 13 (1.53%) Enterprise Software
12 11 (1.30%) Self-Driving Car
12 11 (1.30%) SWIFT Messaging Network
13 10 (1.18%) Blockchain
13 10 (1.18%) Data Centre
14 9 (1.06%) IoT
14 9 (1.06%) Reinsurance
14 9 (1.06%) SCADA
15 8 (0.94%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 40 (4.72%) Windows
2 34 (4.01%) Linux
3 12 (1.42%) Unix
4 10 (1.18%) Android
5 9 (1.06%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.47%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.35%) Robot Operating System
7 3 (0.35%) Windows 10
8 2 (0.24%) AIX
8 2 (0.24%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.24%) VxWorks
9 1 (0.12%) FreeRTOS
9 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 204 (24.09%) Agile
2 192 (22.67%) Problem-Solving
3 143 (16.88%) Verification and Validation
4 119 (14.05%) Analytics
5 118 (13.93%) Data Validation
6 105 (12.40%) Continuous Improvement
7 103 (12.16%) Test Automation
8 99 (11.69%) Migration
9 93 (10.98%) DevOps
10 89 (10.51%) Systems Engineering
11 88 (10.39%) Business Intelligence
12 84 (9.92%) CI/CD
12 84 (9.92%) ETL
13 82 (9.68%) Mentoring
13 82 (9.68%) Software Engineering
14 80 (9.45%) Decision-Making
15 79 (9.33%) AI
16 77 (9.09%) Roadmaps
17 75 (8.85%) Data Analysis
17 75 (8.85%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 189 (22.31%) SQL
2 158 (18.65%) Python
3 31 (3.66%) Java
4 29 (3.42%) C
5 27 (3.19%) C++
6 24 (2.83%) JavaScript
6 24 (2.83%) MATLAB
7 20 (2.36%) PowerShell
8 15 (1.77%) Bash
9 12 (1.42%) TypeScript
10 10 (1.18%) C#
11 9 (1.06%) R
12 8 (0.94%) T-SQL
13 6 (0.71%) Bicep
13 6 (0.71%) PL/SQL
14 5 (0.59%) PHP
15 4 (0.47%) Data Analysis Expressions
15 4 (0.47%) Go
15 4 (0.47%) VB
16 3 (0.35%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 240 (28.34%) Degree
2 107 (12.63%) Security Cleared
3 100 (11.81%) BPSS Clearance
4 49 (5.79%) Master's Degree
5 44 (5.19%) SC Cleared
6 37 (4.37%) Computer Science Degree
7 19 (2.24%) CISA
7 19 (2.24%) CISSP
8 18 (2.13%) CGEIT
8 18 (2.13%) CISM
8 18 (2.13%) DV Cleared
8 18 (2.13%) FFIEC
8 18 (2.13%) SANS
9 16 (1.89%) HNC
9 16 (1.89%) ISTQB
10 15 (1.77%) Cisco Certification
11 14 (1.65%) Chartered Engineer
12 12 (1.42%) HND
13 11 (1.30%) CCNP
14 10 (1.18%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 105 (12.40%) QA
2 103 (12.16%) Data Quality
3 38 (4.49%) GDPR
4 36 (4.25%) ISO/IEC 15288
5 31 (3.66%) SLA
6 30 (3.54%) Accessibility
7 19 (2.24%) NIST
8 18 (2.13%) COBIT
9 12 (1.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 11 (1.30%) ISO 20022
10 11 (1.30%) SEPA
11 10 (1.18%) Good Clinical Practice
11 10 (1.18%) ISO/IEC 12207
12 9 (1.06%) WCAG
13 8 (0.94%) GRC
13 8 (0.94%) GxP
14 7 (0.83%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 7 (0.83%) IFRS
14 7 (0.83%) TARGET2
15 6 (0.71%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 42 (4.96%) Docker
2 16 (1.89%) Firmware
3 9 (1.06%) Active Directory
4 3 (0.35%) VMware Infrastructure
5 2 (0.24%) Ceph
5 2 (0.24%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.24%) Lustre
5 2 (0.24%) Slurm Workload Manager
5 2 (0.24%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.24%) vSphere
6 1 (0.12%) iptables
6 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 1 (0.12%) OpenAM
6 1 (0.12%) OpenDJ
6 1 (0.12%) OpenIDM
6 1 (0.12%) pfSense
6 1 (0.12%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 36 (4.25%) Kubernetes
2 21 (2.48%) Terraform
3 12 (1.42%) Ansible
4 10 (1.18%) Grafana
5 8 (0.94%) Microsoft Intune
6 7 (0.83%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
6 7 (0.83%) Prometheus
7 6 (0.71%) SCCM
8 4 (0.47%) Argo
8 4 (0.47%) Rancher
8 4 (0.47%) yum
9 2 (0.24%) BMC PATROL
9 2 (0.24%) Functional Safety
9 2 (0.24%) Kubeflow
9 2 (0.24%) Nessus
9 2 (0.24%) Puppet
10 1 (0.12%) Control-M
10 1 (0.12%) PowerCLI
10 1 (0.12%) Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.12%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 109 (12.87%) Microsoft
2 53 (6.26%) SAP
3 35 (4.13%) Oracle
4 26 (3.07%) Cisco
5 24 (2.83%) Salesforce
6 17 (2.01%) Foundry
7 14 (1.65%) IBM
7 14 (1.65%) Software AG
8 13 (1.53%) Adobe
9 12 (1.42%) OpenAI
9 12 (1.42%) ServiceNow
10 11 (1.30%) Automation Anywhere
10 11 (1.30%) F5
10 11 (1.30%) UiPath
11 10 (1.18%) CheckPoint
12 9 (1.06%) Databricks
13 8 (0.94%) Intapp
14 7 (0.83%) Google
14 7 (0.83%) Guidewire
15 6 (0.71%) MuleSoft