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

6 months to
18 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 85 77 181
Rank change year-on-year -8 +104 +11
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,869 1,602 1,066
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.97% 3.66% 1.48%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.67% 4.10% 1.82%
Number of salaries quoted 1,118 489 479
10th Percentile £35,000 £38,750 £36,660
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 £92,500 £93,750
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year - -8.33% -5.88%

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 69,952 39,107 58,576
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.57% 89.26% 81.15%
Number of salaries quoted 49,460 22,554 38,208
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,500 £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 18 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 18 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 +73 510 £71,750 -7.42% 331
South East -25 422 £57,000 +6.05% 287
North of England +106 394 £55,000 +15.79% 160
North West +101 228 £55,000 +15.35% 88
Midlands -50 203 £44,720 -18.69% 159
South West -5 170 £53,500 +1.71% 146
East of England -67 139 £58,750 +3.07% 110
West Midlands +11 111 £44,720 -18.69% 102
East Midlands -66 91 £45,675 +7.47% 57
North East +5 84 £55,000 +57.14% 36
Yorkshire +17 82 £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 59 (3.16%) Apache Airflow
2 57 (3.05%) Apache Spark
3 55 (2.94%) Apache
4 31 (1.66%) Confluence
4 31 (1.66%) SharePoint
5 19 (1.02%) Jupyter
6 12 (0.64%) SAS
7 9 (0.48%) Microsoft Exchange
8 5 (0.27%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 5 (0.27%) CMS
8 5 (0.27%) WinCC
9 4 (0.21%) 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%) ArcGIS
12 1 (0.054%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
12 1 (0.054%) Oracle Workflow
12 1 (0.054%) WebSphere
Applications
1 117 (6.26%) Microsoft Excel
2 63 (3.37%) Microsoft Office
3 36 (1.93%) Microsoft Project
4 33 (1.77%) Simulink
5 26 (1.39%) MS Visio
6 16 (0.86%) Spreadsheet
7 15 (0.80%) Microsoft PowerPoint
8 13 (0.70%) SOLIDWORKS
9 8 (0.43%) AutoCAD
10 5 (0.27%) Mathcad
11 4 (0.21%) Adobe XD
11 4 (0.21%) 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 (2.09%) SAP S/4HANA
2 38 (2.03%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.54%) SAP ERP
4 9 (0.48%) Oracle EBS
4 9 (0.48%) SAP MDG
5 8 (0.43%) Oracle Applications
6 7 (0.37%) 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 (0.21%) Oracle Financials
8 4 (0.21%) SAP MM
9 3 (0.16%) Oracle ERP
9 3 (0.16%) SystmOne
9 3 (0.16%) Teamcenter
10 2 (0.11%) Oracle Payables
10 2 (0.11%) Oracle Receivables
10 2 (0.11%) Refinitiv Enterprise Platform
Cloud Services
1 256 (13.70%) Azure
2 239 (12.79%) AWS
3 151 (8.08%) Power Platform
4 86 (4.60%) GCP
5 66 (3.53%) SaaS
6 62 (3.32%) Microsoft 365
7 58 (3.10%) Azure DevOps
8 51 (2.73%) GitHub
9 47 (2.51%) Amazon S3
10 45 (2.41%) Serverless
11 33 (1.77%) Dynamics 365
12 31 (1.66%) Entra ID
13 29 (1.55%) Microsoft Copilot
14 26 (1.39%) GitHub Actions
15 22 (1.18%) Amazon EC2
15 22 (1.18%) Amazon EMR
16 20 (1.07%) Cloud Computing
16 20 (1.07%) Snowflake
17 19 (1.02%) Microsoft Purview
18 18 (0.96%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 64 (3.42%) Broadband
2 54 (2.89%) Firewall
3 53 (2.84%) DNS
4 33 (1.77%) Network Security
5 29 (1.55%) WAN
5 29 (1.55%) Wireless
6 27 (1.44%) TCP/IP
6 27 (1.44%) VPN
7 22 (1.18%) Ethernet
8 20 (1.07%) LAN
8 20 (1.07%) SD-WAN
9 17 (0.91%) MQTT
9 17 (0.91%) Wi-Fi
10 15 (0.80%) BGP
11 14 (0.75%) OSPF
12 13 (0.70%) HTTP
12 13 (0.70%) Internet
12 13 (0.70%) Modbus
12 13 (0.70%) VLAN
12 13 (0.70%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 141 (7.54%) Power BI
2 56 (3.00%) Data Warehouse
3 53 (2.84%) PostgreSQL
4 51 (2.73%) Tableau
5 48 (2.57%) SQL Server
6 43 (2.30%) Metadata
7 41 (2.19%) Data Lake
8 33 (1.77%) MongoDB
9 30 (1.61%) Relational Database
10 26 (1.39%) Amazon Athena
11 24 (1.28%) BigQuery
11 24 (1.28%) DynamoDB
12 22 (1.18%) Semantic Layer
13 21 (1.12%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 20 (1.07%) Azure SQL Database
15 19 (1.02%) MySQL
15 19 (1.02%) Spark SQL
16 17 (0.91%) Big Data
17 16 (0.86%) Oracle Database
18 15 (0.80%) Amazon Redshift
Development Applications
1 117 (6.26%) JIRA
2 105 (5.62%) Git
3 49 (2.62%) Jenkins
4 43 (2.30%) GitLab
5 32 (1.71%) Rational DOORS
6 22 (1.18%) Snyk
7 21 (1.12%) Selenium
8 17 (0.91%) Cypress.io
8 17 (0.91%) LabVIEW
8 17 (0.91%) Postman
9 14 (0.75%) Cucumber
10 13 (0.70%) JMeter
11 12 (0.64%) IBM UrbanCode
12 10 (0.54%) TeamCity
13 9 (0.48%) Burp Suite
13 9 (0.48%) Gatling
14 8 (0.43%) Rational Rhapsody
14 8 (0.43%) REST Assured
15 7 (0.37%) Hudson
15 7 (0.37%) LoadRunner
General
1 615 (32.91%) Social Skills
2 499 (26.70%) Finance
3 470 (25.15%) Analytical Skills
4 177 (9.47%) Aerospace
5 170 (9.10%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 168 (8.99%) Manufacturing
7 161 (8.61%) Electronics
8 106 (5.67%) Banking
9 100 (5.35%) Law
10 79 (4.23%) Retail
11 76 (4.07%) Public Sector
12 68 (3.64%) Marketing
13 67 (3.58%) Pharmaceutical
14 64 (3.42%) Organisational Skills
15 52 (2.78%) Automotive
16 50 (2.68%) Legal
17 46 (2.46%) Games
18 40 (2.14%) Telecoms
19 35 (1.87%) Influencing Skills
20 31 (1.66%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 346 (18.51%) Senior
2 255 (13.64%) Analyst
3 162 (8.67%) Systems Engineer
4 151 (8.08%) Lead
5 118 (6.31%) Test Engineer
6 105 (5.62%) Architect
7 98 (5.24%) Data Engineer
8 83 (4.44%) Business Analyst
9 82 (4.39%) Developer
10 71 (3.80%) Consultant
11 67 (3.58%) Software Engineer
12 66 (3.53%) Validation Engineer
13 62 (3.32%) Principal Engineer
14 61 (3.26%) Data Analyst
15 47 (2.51%) Data Scientist
15 47 (2.51%) Support Engineer
16 46 (2.46%) Embedded Engineer
17 41 (2.19%) IT Manager
18 40 (2.14%) Project Manager
19 38 (2.03%) Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (2.46%) RESTful
2 43 (2.30%) Kafka
3 37 (1.98%) PySpark
4 36 (1.93%) Node.js
5 34 (1.82%) REST
6 28 (1.50%) .NET
6 28 (1.50%) JSON
7 27 (1.44%) LDAP
7 27 (1.44%) XML
8 25 (1.34%) Playwright
9 23 (1.23%) Middleware
10 22 (1.18%) CSS
10 22 (1.18%) Pandas
11 21 (1.12%) HTML
11 21 (1.12%) ModSecurity
12 19 (1.02%) OAuth
12 19 (1.02%) Regular Expression
12 19 (1.02%) XMPP
13 18 (0.96%) FastAPI
13 18 (0.96%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 137 (7.33%) Cloud Native
2 128 (6.85%) Onboarding
3 104 (5.56%) Management Information System
4 71 (3.80%) Data Centre
5 66 (3.53%) Product Ownership
6 55 (2.94%) Enterprise Software
7 54 (2.89%) Data Structures
8 52 (2.78%) Driving Licence
9 51 (2.73%) Distributed Systems
9 51 (2.73%) Embedded Systems
10 45 (2.41%) Algorithms
10 45 (2.41%) Low-Code
11 38 (2.03%) Analytical Mindset
12 37 (1.98%) Life Science
13 34 (1.82%) Legacy Systems
13 34 (1.82%) Video\Live Streaming
14 32 (1.71%) Robotics
15 31 (1.66%) AI Agents
16 28 (1.50%) Self-Motivation
17 26 (1.39%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 120 (6.42%) Linux
2 88 (4.71%) Windows
3 34 (1.82%) Windows Server
4 20 (1.07%) Unix
5 19 (1.02%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 8 (0.43%) Android
6 8 (0.43%) Embedded Linux
7 6 (0.32%) FreeRTOS
8 5 (0.27%) Kali Linux
9 4 (0.21%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.21%) Mac OS X
10 2 (0.11%) Robot Operating System
10 2 (0.11%) ThreadX
10 2 (0.11%) VMS
10 2 (0.11%) Windows 10
11 1 (0.054%) AIX
11 1 (0.054%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 488 (26.11%) Problem-Solving
2 429 (22.95%) Continuous Improvement
3 379 (20.28%) Agile
4 343 (18.35%) AI
5 294 (15.73%) CI/CD
6 242 (12.95%) Analytics
7 240 (12.84%) Verification and Validation
8 238 (12.73%) Test Automation
9 237 (12.68%) Stakeholder Management
10 234 (12.52%) Migration
11 218 (11.66%) Mentoring
12 205 (10.97%) Decision-Making
13 198 (10.59%) Software Engineering
14 179 (9.58%) DevOps
15 175 (9.36%) Business Intelligence
16 174 (9.31%) Data Analysis
17 170 (9.10%) Machine Learning
18 167 (8.94%) Stakeholder Engagement
19 165 (8.83%) Roadmaps
20 158 (8.45%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 430 (23.01%) Python
2 367 (19.64%) SQL
3 84 (4.49%) C++
4 79 (4.23%) Java
5 75 (4.01%) C
6 59 (3.16%) JavaScript
7 55 (2.94%) Go
8 46 (2.46%) MATLAB
9 45 (2.41%) C#
10 28 (1.50%) Bash
11 27 (1.44%) PowerShell
12 24 (1.28%) Embedded C
13 22 (1.18%) Scala
14 18 (0.96%) Embedded C++
14 18 (0.96%) TypeScript
15 14 (0.75%) T-SQL
16 12 (0.64%) R
17 11 (0.59%) Data Analysis Expressions
18 8 (0.43%) ABAP
18 8 (0.43%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 394 (21.08%) Degree
2 321 (17.17%) Security Cleared
3 195 (10.43%) SC Cleared
4 119 (6.37%) BPSS Clearance
5 98 (5.24%) DV Cleared
6 83 (4.44%) Master's Degree
7 41 (2.19%) Computer Science Degree
8 38 (2.03%) CISSP
9 30 (1.61%) CISM
9 30 (1.61%) PhD
10 29 (1.55%) Chartered Engineer
11 28 (1.50%) HNC
11 28 (1.50%) PMI Certification
12 24 (1.28%) AWS Certification
13 23 (1.23%) ACCA
13 23 (1.23%) Azure Certification
13 23 (1.23%) CIMA
13 23 (1.23%) HND
14 19 (1.02%) SANS
15 17 (0.91%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 301 (16.10%) Data Quality
2 255 (13.64%) QA
3 63 (3.37%) Accessibility
4 54 (2.89%) GDPR
5 38 (2.03%) GRC
6 25 (1.34%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 23 (1.23%) IEC 61508
8 21 (1.12%) NIST
9 19 (1.02%) GxP
10 18 (0.96%) PMO
11 17 (0.91%) SLA
12 15 (0.80%) GAAP
12 15 (0.80%) IFRS
12 15 (0.80%) ISO 26262
13 12 (0.64%) ISO 9001
13 12 (0.64%) WCAG
14 11 (0.59%) GMP
14 11 (0.59%) SOC 2
15 9 (0.48%) COBIT
16 8 (0.43%) Automotive SPICE
System Software
1 76 (4.07%) Docker
2 69 (3.69%) Firmware
3 46 (2.46%) Active Directory
4 31 (1.66%) Embedded Firmware
5 28 (1.50%) Virtual Machines
6 21 (1.12%) vSphere
7 12 (0.64%) VMware Infrastructure
8 4 (0.21%) 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 (4.07%) Kubernetes
2 70 (3.75%) Terraform
3 39 (2.09%) Grafana
4 26 (1.39%) Functional Safety
5 20 (1.07%) Ansible
6 15 (0.80%) Prometheus
6 15 (0.80%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (0.54%) Cilium
8 7 (0.37%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 7 (0.37%) Kibana
8 7 (0.37%) Microsoft Intune
8 7 (0.37%) SCCM
9 6 (0.32%) Puppet
10 5 (0.27%) FortiGate
10 5 (0.27%) Nessus
10 5 (0.27%) Nmap
10 5 (0.27%) WMI
11 4 (0.21%) HP Fortify
11 4 (0.21%) Kubeflow
12 2 (0.11%) Argo
Vendors
1 263 (14.07%) Microsoft
2 111 (5.94%) SAP
3 104 (5.56%) Oracle
4 53 (2.84%) Salesforce
5 52 (2.78%) Databricks
6 46 (2.46%) ServiceNow
7 43 (2.30%) Cisco
8 38 (2.03%) Google
9 35 (1.87%) Red Hat
10 31 (1.66%) VMware
11 29 (1.55%) CrowdStrike
12 26 (1.39%) Palo Alto
13 24 (1.28%) EMC
14 22 (1.18%) Tenable
15 15 (0.80%) McAfee
16 14 (0.75%) Splunk
16 14 (0.75%) Workday
17 13 (0.70%) Adobe
17 13 (0.70%) Foundry
17 13 (0.70%) IBM