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

6 months to
15 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 90 77 188
Rank change year-on-year -13 +111 -2
Permanent jobs citing Validation 1,845 1,606 1,048
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.95% 3.67% 1.45%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.65% 4.11% 1.78%
Number of salaries quoted 1,098 493 482
10th Percentile £34,925 £38,750 £36,250
25th Percentile £42,500 £41,250 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year - -8.33% -7.69%
75th Percentile £73,750 £71,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £91,500 £93,625
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 69,561 39,049 58,759
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.70% 89.35% 81.24%
Number of salaries quoted 49,075 22,526 38,528
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £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 15 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 15 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 +70 507 £72,500 -6.45% 1,341
South East -23 416 £56,500 +5.12% 404
North of England +102 387 £55,000 +15.79% 226
North West +93 222 £55,000 +15.35% 130
Midlands -55 203 £44,000 -20.00% 204
South West -13 165 £53,500 +1.71% 212
East of England -67 137 £60,000 +5.26% 236
West Midlands +14 112 £44,360 -22.85% 134
East Midlands -63 90 £42,837 +0.79% 70
North East +7 85 £55,000 +57.14% 42
Yorkshire +14 80 £43,000 +1.18% 57
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 (3.31%) Apache Airflow
2 59 (3.20%) Apache Spark
3 57 (3.09%) 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%) ArcGIS
12 1 (0.054%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
12 1 (0.054%) Oracle Workflow
12 1 (0.054%) WebSphere
Applications
1 118 (6.40%) Microsoft Excel
2 64 (3.47%) 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
6 16 (0.87%) Spreadsheet
7 14 (0.76%) SOLIDWORKS
8 8 (0.43%) AutoCAD
9 5 (0.27%) Mathcad
10 4 (0.22%) Adobe XD
10 4 (0.22%) Sketch
11 3 (0.16%) Autodesk Inventor
11 3 (0.16%) LaTeX
11 3 (0.16%) OrCAD
11 3 (0.16%) Productboard
11 3 (0.16%) Stateflow
12 2 (0.11%) EPLAN
12 2 (0.11%) Revit
12 2 (0.11%) Solid Edge
Business Applications
1 41 (2.22%) SAP S/4HANA
2 38 (2.06%) Dynamics CRM
3 11 (0.60%) SAP MDG
4 10 (0.54%) SAP ERP
5 9 (0.49%) Oracle EBS
6 8 (0.43%) Oracle Applications
7 7 (0.38%) NetSuite
8 5 (0.27%) Elite 3E
8 5 (0.27%) iTrent
8 5 (0.27%) Loan IQ
8 5 (0.27%) SAP MDG-BP
8 5 (0.27%) Workday HCM
9 4 (0.22%) Oracle Financials
9 4 (0.22%) SAP MM
10 3 (0.16%) Oracle ERP
10 3 (0.16%) Teamcenter
11 2 (0.11%) SAP CO
11 2 (0.11%) SAP FI
11 2 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
11 2 (0.11%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 254 (13.77%) Azure
2 239 (12.95%) AWS
3 152 (8.24%) Power Platform
4 88 (4.77%) GCP
5 66 (3.58%) SaaS
6 60 (3.25%) Microsoft 365
7 57 (3.09%) Azure DevOps
8 51 (2.76%) GitHub
9 49 (2.66%) Amazon S3
10 46 (2.49%) Serverless
11 33 (1.79%) Dynamics 365
12 30 (1.63%) Entra ID
12 30 (1.63%) Microsoft Copilot
13 26 (1.41%) GitHub Actions
14 23 (1.25%) 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%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 66 (3.58%) Broadband
2 52 (2.82%) Firewall
3 51 (2.76%) DNS
4 32 (1.73%) Network Security
5 27 (1.46%) TCP/IP
5 27 (1.46%) WAN
5 27 (1.46%) Wireless
6 26 (1.41%) VPN
7 21 (1.14%) Ethernet
8 18 (0.98%) LAN
8 18 (0.98%) SD-WAN
9 17 (0.92%) MQTT
9 17 (0.92%) Wi-Fi
10 15 (0.81%) BGP
11 13 (0.70%) HTTP
11 13 (0.70%) Internet
11 13 (0.70%) OSPF
12 11 (0.60%) NGN
12 11 (0.60%) VLAN
12 11 (0.60%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 142 (7.70%) Power BI
2 57 (3.09%) Data Warehouse
3 53 (2.87%) PostgreSQL
4 52 (2.82%) Tableau
5 49 (2.66%) SQL Server
6 44 (2.38%) Metadata
7 42 (2.28%) Data Lake
8 33 (1.79%) MongoDB
9 30 (1.63%) Relational Database
10 27 (1.46%) Amazon Athena
11 25 (1.36%) 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 (6.34%) JIRA
2 107 (5.80%) Git
3 48 (2.60%) Jenkins
4 42 (2.28%) 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%) Rational Rhapsody
14 7 (0.38%) Burp Suite
14 7 (0.38%) Gatling
14 7 (0.38%) Hudson
14 7 (0.38%) MLflow
14 7 (0.38%) REST Assured
General
1 609 (33.01%) Social Skills
2 503 (27.26%) Finance
3 470 (25.47%) Analytical Skills
4 177 (9.59%) Aerospace
5 167 (9.05%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 166 (9.00%) Manufacturing
7 156 (8.46%) Electronics
8 108 (5.85%) Banking
9 99 (5.37%) Law
10 78 (4.23%) Retail
11 75 (4.07%) Public Sector
12 69 (3.74%) Marketing
13 66 (3.58%) Pharmaceutical
14 64 (3.47%) Organisational Skills
15 51 (2.76%) Automotive
16 50 (2.71%) Legal
17 46 (2.49%) Games
18 41 (2.22%) Telecoms
19 33 (1.79%) Influencing Skills
20 30 (1.63%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 343 (18.59%) Senior
2 257 (13.93%) Analyst
3 154 (8.35%) Systems Engineer
4 148 (8.02%) Lead
5 116 (6.29%) Test Engineer
6 106 (5.75%) Architect
7 99 (5.37%) Data Engineer
8 83 (4.50%) Business Analyst
9 81 (4.39%) Developer
10 70 (3.79%) Consultant
11 67 (3.63%) Software Engineer
11 67 (3.63%) Validation Engineer
12 63 (3.41%) Principal Engineer
13 61 (3.31%) Data Analyst
14 47 (2.55%) Data Scientist
15 46 (2.49%) Support Engineer
16 44 (2.38%) Embedded Engineer
17 41 (2.22%) IT Manager
18 40 (2.17%) Project Manager
19 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 (1.52%) .NET
6 28 (1.52%) XML
7 27 (1.46%) JSON
7 27 (1.46%) LDAP
8 23 (1.25%) Middleware
8 23 (1.25%) Pandas
8 23 (1.25%) 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 (0.98%) OpenID
12 18 (0.98%) React
Miscellaneous
1 137 (7.43%) Cloud Native
2 129 (6.99%) Onboarding
3 103 (5.58%) Management Information System
4 70 (3.79%) Data Centre
5 66 (3.58%) Product Ownership
6 55 (2.98%) Enterprise Software
7 53 (2.87%) Data Structures
8 51 (2.76%) Distributed Systems
8 51 (2.76%) Embedded Systems
9 50 (2.71%) Driving Licence
10 45 (2.44%) Algorithms
10 45 (2.44%) Low-Code
11 37 (2.01%) Analytical Mindset
11 37 (2.01%) Life Science
12 34 (1.84%) Legacy Systems
12 34 (1.84%) Video\Live Streaming
13 33 (1.79%) Robotics
14 31 (1.68%) AI Agents
15 28 (1.52%) Self-Motivation
16 26 (1.41%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 117 (6.34%) Linux
2 86 (4.66%) 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 (0.33%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.22%) Kali Linux
8 4 (0.22%) Mac OS X
9 3 (0.16%) Mac OS
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
1 485 (26.29%) Problem-Solving
2 428 (23.20%) Continuous Improvement
3 377 (20.43%) Agile
4 346 (18.75%) AI
5 293 (15.88%) CI/CD
6 245 (13.28%) Analytics
7 235 (12.74%) Stakeholder Management
8 232 (12.57%) Migration
8 232 (12.57%) Test Automation
9 228 (12.36%) Verification and Validation
10 217 (11.76%) Mentoring
11 208 (11.27%) Decision-Making
12 197 (10.68%) Software Engineering
13 176 (9.54%) Business Intelligence
13 176 (9.54%) DevOps
14 174 (9.43%) Machine Learning
15 172 (9.32%) Data Analysis
16 168 (9.11%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 166 (9.00%) Roadmaps
18 161 (8.73%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 435 (23.58%) Python
2 366 (19.84%) SQL
3 84 (4.55%) C++
4 79 (4.28%) Java
5 74 (4.01%) C
6 59 (3.20%) JavaScript
7 55 (2.98%) Go
8 45 (2.44%) C#
9 44 (2.38%) MATLAB
10 28 (1.52%) Bash
11 27 (1.46%) PowerShell
12 23 (1.25%) Embedded C
13 22 (1.19%) Scala
14 18 (0.98%) Embedded C++
14 18 (0.98%) TypeScript
15 15 (0.81%) T-SQL
16 12 (0.65%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 11 (0.60%) R
18 8 (0.43%) ABAP
18 8 (0.43%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 390 (21.14%) Degree
2 303 (16.42%) Security Cleared
3 179 (9.70%) SC Cleared
4 121 (6.56%) BPSS Clearance
5 98 (5.31%) DV Cleared
6 83 (4.50%) Master's Degree
7 40 (2.17%) Computer Science Degree
8 38 (2.06%) CISSP
9 31 (1.68%) Chartered Engineer
10 30 (1.63%) CISM
10 30 (1.63%) PhD
11 28 (1.52%) PMI Certification
12 27 (1.46%) HNC
13 24 (1.30%) AWS Certification
14 23 (1.25%) ACCA
14 23 (1.25%) Azure Certification
14 23 (1.25%) CIMA
15 22 (1.19%) HND
16 19 (1.03%) SANS
17 17 (0.92%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 306 (16.59%) Data Quality
2 249 (13.50%) QA
3 64 (3.47%) Accessibility
4 54 (2.93%) GDPR
5 38 (2.06%) GRC
6 25 (1.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 23 (1.25%) IEC 61508
8 21 (1.14%) NIST
9 18 (0.98%) GxP
9 18 (0.98%) 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 (0.60%) GMP
13 11 (0.60%) SOC 2
14 9 (0.49%) COBIT
14 9 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 15288
System Software
1 76 (4.12%) Docker
2 68 (3.69%) Firmware
3 45 (2.44%) Active Directory
4 30 (1.63%) Embedded Firmware
5 28 (1.52%) 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 (4.12%) Kubernetes
2 71 (3.85%) Terraform
3 37 (2.01%) 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 (0.33%) Microsoft Intune
9 6 (0.33%) Puppet
10 5 (0.27%) WMI
11 4 (0.22%) FortiGate
11 4 (0.22%) Kubeflow
11 4 (0.22%) Nessus
11 4 (0.22%) Nmap
12 3 (0.16%) HP Fortify
13 2 (0.11%) Rancher
Vendors
1 263 (14.25%) Microsoft
2 113 (6.12%) SAP
3 104 (5.64%) Oracle
4 54 (2.93%) Salesforce
5 52 (2.82%) Databricks
6 45 (2.44%) ServiceNow
7 41 (2.22%) Cisco
8 40 (2.17%) Google
9 36 (1.95%) Red Hat
10 31 (1.68%) VMware
11 29 (1.57%) CrowdStrike
12 25 (1.36%) Palo Alto
13 23 (1.25%) 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